Since 1970 there’s been a shocking 79% average decline in species – including gorillas, orangutans, hornbills, and so many more – that rely on forests for survival. The new Forest Stripes show the crisis facing our world’s forests in one striking image.

Forest Species Stripes

The Forest Stripes were created by environment charity WWF and based on the biodiversity stripes approach, which themselves were inspired by the Climate Stripes. The new image from WWF was made in collaboration with the University of Reading, ZSL and the University of Derby. They show the crisis facing our world’s forests:

• There’s been a shocking 79% average decline in species that rely on forests.
• We are failing forests and the species that rely on them for survival.
• Since the global pledge to end deforestation by 2030 was made, an area of tropical rainforest twice the size of Wales has been lost.
• We are now spending at least 100 times more public funding on environmentally harmful subsidies ($378 billion – $1trillion) than we are on finance for forests ($2.2bn).
• Where tropical forests are under the stewardship of Indigenous Peoples and local communities, forests are better protected and deforestation and degradation are lower.

Despite every pledge to protect them, forest loss and degradation are still getting worse. We have to do to bring our forests back to life. WWF’s new major report, Forest Pathways, shows just how much we’re failing our forests and sets out exactly what needs to be done to bring them back to life. Find out more about forests here.

Global warming, biodiversity loss, and forest species loss 1970-2018

When combined, the trio of climate, biodiversity and forest stripes tells a devastating story of environmental crises and the scale of the challenge. As the planet warms biodiversity has been lost to a critical level. With forests crucial to help avoid the worse climate consequences and wider decline of biodiversity.

The root cause is the failing human-nature relationship. Once, forests provided food and shelter for many and were trusted to meet our needs as a giving parent. A worldview still found in Indigenous communities.  For example, trees of the forest have great importance for the Co Tu of Vietnam. They have souls and are personified as gods, creating a culture of protecting forests. Similarly, to the Nayaka, the animals of the forest (now represented by the forest stripes) were sentient beings, persons and co-dwellers.

From a modern perspective, such relational worldviews are often grossly misunderstood as a primitive worldview. Yet today, we’re failing nature and ‘relationally framing’ the technology we use – the objects of the concrete jungle, rather than the forest. Although we no longer see the forest as a giving parent, the forest still provides. Even in urban locations, the amount of forest near a person’s home relates to the structural integrity of the amygdala, a key centre for processing emotions within the brain. Forests also help manage our moods and keep us well. You can read more about such stories in Reconnection.

At the heart of efforts to protect forests is our relationship with the rest of nature. A deep emotional and meaningful bond with nature and a relational worldview are essential.  For example, people with a closer connection with nature are more willing to do more for conservation work in the forests. In the forest of life, the human tree casts much shade – but must also be a source of hope.