Stop Rainforest Deforestation

Considered as a state, forests are the third-largest emitter of carbon after China and the United States. 80% of biodiversity depends on protecting the forests. Some two-thirds of wildlife populations have already disappeared. Wood use and forest loss constitute immense climate problems! Forests are urgently needed as a carbon sink. The one-sided narrative of carbon storage in wood products and of the uses of wood as a substitute material thus detracts from sound and necessary action for climate and biodiversity protection. The “regenerative” sustainable energy source forest is too small. The current use intensity is aggravating our acute climate crisis. Clear-cutting and clear-cutting-like interventions are endangering the climate and biodiversity. Allowing trees to age, preserving deadwood, and allowing natural regeneration with adapted game populations would have a positive effect on climate and biodiversity, and help mitigate forest damage. We need ambitious action to achieve compliance with the Paris Climate Agreement. Forests should be part of the solution that would reduce our current emission by around 15%. Climate and biodiversity protection must become central political goals and instruments—cross-sectoral and authoritative at all political levels. There must be no climate protection at the expense of biodiversity protection.