On 05th June 2011, UNESCO Doha Office in partnership with Doha Bank jointly celebrated the World Environment Day to pay tribute to the “Forests: Nature at your Service”. Forests sustain economic growth. In 2004 trade in forest products was estimated at $ 327 billion.

Continued and uncontrolled deforestation therefore not only has devastating consequences for the environment, the wildlife and communities, but for economies around the world, and for our natural life-support-system. 2011 is the United Nations International Year of Forests, which has been declared in support of the Convention on Biological Diversity, the United Nations Framework Convention on Climate Change, the United Nations Convention to Combat Desertification and other relevant conventions dealing with the complexity of forest issues. Efforts should be made by concerned stakeholders towards the sustainable management of all types of forests, including fragile forest ecosystems, and that includes, of course, the highly important coastal forest type of mangroves concerted efforts should focus on raising awareness at all levels to strengthen the sustainable management, conservation and sustainable development of all types of forests for the benefit of current and future generations. Rather shockingly, 36 million acres of natural forest are lost each year. World Environment Day (WED) chose this year’s theme, ‘Forests: Nature at Your Service’, to encourage forest conservation and sustainable consumption for green growth, and in support of the UN International Year of Forests. Preserving forests throughout the world has to be in our collective consciousness so as to change our lifestyles. As a resource, forests provide many important natural resources, such as timber, fuel, rubber, paper and medicinal plants. Forests also help sustain the quality and availability of freshwater supplies. More than three quarters of the world’s accessible freshwater comes from forested catchments. Water quality declines with decreases in forest condition and cover, and natural hazards such as floods, landslides, and soil erosion have larger impacts.