IJF to groom Bhutanese Judokas to meet international standards

Kodokan Judo Institute (KJI) President, Haruki Uemura is the World Promotion Director of the International Judo Federation (IJF). He has been in charge of the Japanese Judo National Team for 24 years. He won the “All Japan Championship” in 1973 and 1975 followed by a gold medal for Japan in the Open Category at the 1976 Summer Olympics in Montreal defeating Great Britain’s Keith Remfry. 

Haruki Uemura talks to Kuensel reporter YK Poudel about judo. Excerpts. 

How did you become a judoka? 

As a child, I was overweight lacking power and speed in any physical activities. Troubled by this, my father suggested starting judo after consulting with my teacher.

In high school, I met a teacher who introduced me to the real judo: a visually impaired sensei who taught me the art of ‘sound’ in judo.

My sensei said, “Sound cannot lie. The sound of throwing, the sound of footwork, and the sound of Uchikomi (repeated training).”

Following his instructions during practice, I completed each step, a Uchikomi of 500 times every day.

My first tournament was at Meiji University where I was defeated in my first match itself. Disappointed with the outcome, I planned to stop my Judo career, but that’s when Kaminaga Sensei, a renowned figure in Japan advised: “If you do, as well as others, you will only be as good as others. If you don’t have the talent and expect to perform better, you need to work double what others do.”

Then I promised myself not to compromise on my training, and to practise 20 minutes more than others every day.

After my graduation, I chose to work for a company located in Nobeoka, far from Tokyo and Osaka, that lacked training partners, and conditions of training which was not a well-established place for judokas.

I was introduced to the book “Reversible Thinking”. The book gave me hints and new awareness – a chance to think deeply about my judo – the challenges that I must overcome. Gradually, I became a regular player and was able to reach All-Japan Championship.

These practices and determination became my weapon to convert my weaknesses into strengths and perform better.

What brought you to Bhutan? 

This is my first official visit to Bhutan. The visit is aimed towards acknowledging the growth of judo in Bhutan which is a sport of mind and concentration where Bhutanese can bring great achievements.

The first edition of the “Jita Kyoei Judo Cup” was held in Thimphu on March 26. The tournament indicates the significance of co-existing in harmony and cooperation with others. This great principle of harmony and cooperation is the concept of jita-kyoei or mutual prosperity for self and others. “Jita Kyoei” is a Japanese phrase that means mutual welfare and benefit.

PC: BJA

The visit is aimed at promoting the values of the sport throughout the world. Our mandate is to bring good senseis to all countries across the world as the teacher is important for every sport.

Moreover, the KJI provided Bhutan Judo Association (BJA) with a medal as recognition for enhancing the spirit of fair judo and dedication over the years.

PC: BJA

What are the recommendations for Bhutan Judo Association?

Bhutan started judo in 2011 and became a member of IJF in 2016. In these seven years, BJA is growing at a rapid stage with great achievements over the years. Recently, a Bhutanese Judoka in Japan took part in Tokyo Olympics, which is a great sign in major international tournaments.

For any accomplishment, strong basics are a must. Bhutanese judokas are keen and fast learners. We expect them to plan, research the trend of performance over the years, and identify the areas where they have advantages. The players should focus and train on those particular techniques to stand out in the tournaments.

To all the young judokas in Bhutan, we want them to understand the importance of: persistence; doing every ordinary session seriously and doing it well;  and doing everything with a motive to improve.

What is the significance of “Reversible Thinking” beyond daily training?

The process of developing martial arts training in Japanese term is called “Shu, Ha, Ri”.

“Shu” is the first stage, where you learn the basics. “Ha” is the stage where judokas train with a variety of people and gain experience in forms and techniques. “Ri”, is the last stage where one brings in individual skills to shine out in tournaments.

Each technique has a proper sequence. They must fully understand each technique’s sequence. Especially for kata, the movement is slow making it necessary to keep the balance in the correct position.

In Bhutan, young school-going girls are also members of BJA, which is good. Seeing them perform equivalent to boys gives a sense of the gender equality and opportunities Bhutan has in the future.

According to teachings from Jigoro Kano, who founded judo in 1882, there are four methods of learning: kata, randori, kogi, and mondo. Kata is the basics and applying fundamental principles. These basic principles are critical for randori, the second step. Through kogi there is knowledge and with mondo there is understanding and analysis.

Judo has no final goal. It remains continuous no matter how long we are involved in the sport and no matter the role or level we have reached.

PC: BJA 

This story was published on Kuensel (March 31, 2023): https://kuenselonline.com/ijf-to-groom-bhutanese-judokas-to-meet-international-standards/

RAM NAVAMI: The Birth of Lord RAMA

... Ram Navami is one of the most auspicious festivals celebrated by Hindus every year. 

PC: India Vilas

March 30, Thursday, this year marks the birth of Lord Ram, who is also said to be the seventh avatar of Lord Vishnu.

Lord Vishnu is one of the trinity of the three most important Hindu Gods (Shiva, Vishnu and Brahma).

According to the sources, Ram Navami falls on the ninth day of Shukla Paksha (the brighter half) of the Chaitra month.

Since Lord Ram was born on the ninth day of Chaitra month in the noon (Madhayhna period or the middle of the day), his birthday coincides with the ninth day of Chaitra Navratri when devotees of Maa Durga end their fasting.

What is the need for Solutions Journalism?

… A learning experience that I learnt from the booklet Solutions Journalism

 

 

Journalism’s predominant theory of change is that pointing out social problems will spur reform. Journalists act as whistle-blowers and expose wrongdoing in society, but have little role to play beyond that.

 

This theory of change is insufficient.

 

It is increasingly inadequate for journalists to simply note what’s wrong and hope for society to create better laws or provide proper oversights. The world’s problems are just too complex and fast-changing. People must learn about credible examples of responses to problems in order to become empowered, discerning actors capable of shaping a better society. In this context, journalism must augment its traditional role, spotlighting adaptive responses to entrenched social ills.

 

Solution journalism makes existing journalism more accurate and complete. Journalism that fails to cover responses to social problems provides an inaccurate and biased view of reality – one that can actually harm society. By regularly highlighting problems and ignoring responses to them, journalists convey a false sense that people haven’t tried to fix things, or don’t know how to do any better.

 

These stories are structured as “Howdunnits,” – someone achieved results that are newsworthy; what did they do that others did not?  Solution stories are more likely to be shared on social media. This partly makes the readers, listeners or viewers feel powerful, less likely to tune out, and less apathetic about problems.

 

By showing how different institutions approach problems, solution journalism can advance the public discourse. Rather than only focussing on what “he said, she said”, delving into the voices of the people is important. People and institutions don’t change the system just because a journalist points out their problems – they try to counter with what they did statements; they need models for change – so do societies.  

Swayambhu Ganesh Temple

… Hati-Dunga (The Elephant Rock)

 

Rationale

This sacred site was discovered after an earthquake in November 1980. There is a naturally formed Ganesh Statue along with many other divine forms. Ganesh sits majestically with his trunk in the natural holy spring water.

 

As I was invited to attend an event at Bhutan Stroke Foundation, I wrongly went following Google Maps and landed at the Bhutan Kin-nyam Party office at Motithang.

 

Google maps in Bhutan really require some serious support, maybe Druk GPS may come to the rescue as I have seen Facebook posts on training on using GPS and maps.

 

So, you may have heard a certain place in lower Motithang being referred to as Hati-Dunga (The Elephant Rock) but have you seen it? 

 

Hati-Dunga is named after a more prominent rock and a space around it. It doesn't look so much like an elephant if not for the colour and the eyes drawn over it but it's regarded as a place of worship by the Hindus.

 

It may be associated with Lord Ganesh. 

 

The furious dogs around the place were barking heavily almost like I am a thief trying to steal something.

 

The place is surprisingly so welcoming. It is developed and managed so well within a campus wall with a gate that's protected with a lock. Sadly, I could not meet anyone and inquire about it or get inside.

 

There is a tiled footpath inside the gate to circumambulate the sacred rock.

Maybe there is an assigned pujari (kenyer) who manages things because the smell of the butter lamps lit and incense burning was peaceful.

 

Is it a popular visitor destination for local Hindu devotees and Indian tourists?

 

Pic by Passu sir

 

Not to forget a blue-coloured traditional, magnificent house promisingly a traditional house that we, nowadays we cannot even find in southern Bhutan. I told our driver who was accompanying me that the house there resembles the traditional lhotsampa house that was prominent in the south. I tried looking for someone to talk with regarding the house and the Hati-Dhunga but there was no one.

 

The urge to narrate this story has remained in me. I definitely want to learn more from the locals regarding it during the next visit.

Trans Bhutan Trail - The Historic pathway for travellers

 ...  After decades of disrepair, the path reopened to adventurous trekkers

The historic 250-mile Trans Bhutan Trail (TBT) reopened this fall after decades of disuse following the construction of more convenient and direct highways in the 1960s. Timed to coincide with the reopening of the country to international travellers after Covid, ambitious thru-hikers are now welcome to trek its length along the southern end of the Eastern Himalaya where the trail winds through villages, fortresses, past temples and rice paddies, over suspension bridges and through forests, into the wilderness and alongside capital cities as it stretches nearly from one border in the west to another in the east. The TBT is a true cross-country trek, and one that celebrates the kingdom’s past, present, and future.

The Trans Bhutan Trail dates at least as far back as the 16th century according to Rabsel Dorji, the trail’s head of marketing. And over that time, 

Hikers will experience a variety of landscapes throughout the TBT, from rugged mountain passes to rhododendron forests to the expansive wilderness, but the trail also passes through dozens of villages, temples, and major cities. Depending on the section of the trail, hikers can stay at campsites with permanent tents and showers or three-star hotels in the towns the trail passes through served many purposes: In the trail’s early days, it functioned as a religious pilgrimage route used to spread Buddhism, and soldiers and armies marched along the trail. Garps—legendary couriers you might call some of the world’s earliest thru-hikers—ran its length to share secret messages and deliver mail. The economy depended on the route to provide access to trade. And monarchs walked it—and continue to walk it—to meet with their people and unite the nation.

But over the past six decades, the construction of highways across the country sent the trail into neglect. And while sections of it remained in use for local work and recreation, time and nature erased miles of the path. That changed in 2019, when the king of Bhutan, Jigme Khesar Namgyel Wangchuck, announced that the country would rehabilitate its most storied long path.

Making it happen would take three years of hard work. As of September 28 of this year, the TBT’s entire length is open for locals and international travellers to hike, bike, or run.

Not only does the TBT offer a physical connection between villages and communities after decades of disconnect; it exists because of a collaboration between a slew of organizations: government, non-profit, and community. The Bhutan Canada Foundation, an organization that supports various initiatives related to education, culture, and democracy, spearheaded the project. The Tourism Council of Bhutan, the Royal Government of Bhutan, local governments and communities along the trail, the National Land Commission, the Scouts Association of Bhutan, public agencies, and volunteers from the DeSuung organization all came together to restore the trail. 

The Bhutanese people were more than a little involved, too. Many volunteered on restoration projects, but the government offered jobs to some 900 citizens, most of whom were unemployed tourism professionals or from local communities directly impacted by the pandemic.

According to Dorji, hikers who tackle the trail will get to experience not just Bhutan’s terrain, but its history and modern-day culture as well. Local ambassadors share their stories of the trail in villages, shops, and hotels along the way. QR codes line the trail, putting history and stories at hikers’ fingertips.

“The Trans Bhutan Trail represents a connection between Bhutan’s past, present, and future,” said Dorji. “It is the story of our forefathers, and how they walked on this trail to discover, to trade, to survive, to unite. It is the story of how our nation came to be, and how it continues to pave our way.” 

No permits are required to hike the trail, but international visitors are required to hire a guide—not just on the trail, but throughout all of Bhutan for the duration of their stay. The Trans Bhutan Trail, the entity responsible for the restoration and sustainability of its namesake trail, offers tour packages, but independent trekking is not allowed. You’ll also need to obtain a visa before your trip and you should expect to pay a $200 per-person, per-day Sustainable Development Fee (which is included in some of the guided treks). 

Spring and fall are the best times to visit, but any time of year hikers will need to plan travel carefully as only two airlines, Druk Air and Bhutan Airlines, are permitted to fly into Bhutan. What’s more, those airlines only serve a handful of airports in the region, including India, Nepal, Singapore, and Thailand.

While a visit to the kingdom isn’t cheap or easy, the cost of booking a guided itinerary on the TBT does well: After guides are paid, 100 percent of profits from each trip go back into protecting and developing the trail.

There are day-long itineraries that tackle picturesque sections, weekend trips that offer a taste of the region, cycling and trail running adventures, and, of course, a guided 35-day, full-trail trek that covers the entire 250 miles. Whichever you pick, you’ll be supporting a rebounding tourism industry in one of the most beautiful places on earth.

“The last three years have been very difficult for the tourism industry in Bhutan. However, it has given us the opportunity to also pause and rethink how we can be more resilient and better positioned for the future,” Dorji said. “For us Bhutanese, the last three years have proven what we have always known: The journey on the Trans Bhutan Trail is not just about walking on an ancient physical route—it is an exploration of ancient traditions, an adventure through our ecological inheritance, and a celebration of a unique cultural heritage.”

Article by: ALISHA MCDARRIS (Oct 24, 2022)

(https://www.backpacker.com/trips/adventure-travel/the-historic-trans-bhutan-trail-is-now-open-to-hikers/)

Telegram is Not Better Than WhatsApp

In 2020, Telegram, a “secure” messenger app became popular in Bhutan for two reasons. First, in June of 2020, the Indian government banned several apps which included WeChat, Bhutan’s old favorite. People thought this meant WeChat was a compromised app that needed to be replaced. Or they thought the Bhutanese government would follow suit and ban WeChat here too. Second, in January of 2021, WhatsApp announced that it would be sharing data with Facebook. The announcement was a reminder/clarification of sorts about data-sharing that WhatsApp has done with Facebook since 2016. But that did not matter. Users on social media swore to leave the platform and find alternatives. Over the next 72 hours, over 25 million users registered on the platform, including many in Bhutan. But the truth is that Telegram is not the secure messenger it markets itself to be, and people should not feel more secure about this app than WhatsApp.

End-to-End Encryption
Think of end-to-end encryption as a secret coding method. Your friend writes or records a message for you (End 1). This message is converted into a secret code and sent to your phone (End 2). Once the file is on your phone, the message is decoded back into plain English/Dzongkha. The decoding mechanism needed to translate the message is only shared by the two ends (your phone and the sender’s phone). No one in the middle has access to this decoding system. What that means is even if someone were to intercept the coded message, they will not be able to translate it. This encryption system is what makes a lot of these “secure” messenger apps safe. So, any app that markets itself as such should have that system in place by default. WhatsApp does. Signal does. WeChat doesn’t, and it might surprise you to know that Telegram doesn’t either.

To be fair, there is a way to turn on this End-to-End encryption on Telegram, but there are still a couple of issues to contend with. Firstly, when you market yourself as a “secure” app, your users will expect the security to come by default. So, most users will not know that the app isn’t end-to-end encrypted and they would not bother turning on the feature. Secondly, turning on the feature is not intuitive. Instead of a single button to press that turns all your conversations into end-to-end encrypted, you must do it individually. Click on a contact’s name, click settings, then click “start secret chat.” On your chats screen, you’ll have two chats with that contact: one with a “lock” on it. This is end-to-end encrypted. The other isn’t. Third and most problematic is the fact that none of your Telegram groups are end-to-end encrypted. There is no way to turn on the feature either. So, if you fled WeChat because you were worried about security issues, then Telegram was more of the same.

Storage
If you’ve ever used WhatsApp from your computer, you’d know that it requires your phone to maintain an internet connection at all times. This is because WhatsApp stores all messages on your phone and not on a central server. So, when you’re using WhatsApp from your computer, the computer is connecting to WhatsApp via your phone. This is different from how Facebook’s Messenger works, which can be used from any device and the entire history of your chat will be available. It is also why once you’ve deleted a picture you received on WhatsApp, the only way to retrieve is from your phone’s backup. With Messenger, you can just go back into the same chat and retrieve the lost image. This central storage system means that there is a copy of all your conversations with the company. In the event a hacker can access your login details, they can read all your conversations. Telegram and Messenger are examples of this type of storage. On the other hand, WhatsApp uses phone storage and is, therefore, more secure.

Metadata Storage
Metadata is data about your conversations, like your contacts, how many times you’ve contacted them, how long you contacted them for, members of groups you’re in, your location, their location, IP addresses, etc. This is the data that WhatsApp shares with Facebook. It is different from data about your conversations like the content of your messages, which is still off-limits for WhatsApp. Telegram also collects and stores metadata. So, if the reason you’re fleeing WhatsApp is that you don’t want your messenger app to collect that sort of data in the first place, then registering for Telegram is not the refuge you were looking for. Instead, if your issue was that Facebook would have access to your metadata but you’re okay with Telegram having it, then Telegram is fine. If it is the first case, and you’re looking for an app that does not collect data at all, then you’re looking for an app like Signal.

Signal
Signal is a private messaging app that is backed by security experts and advocates like Edward Snowden. The app is backed by a non-profit organization, meaning unlike WhatsApp (owned by Facebook) and Telegram (owned by the same Russian brothers that own VK), Signal is not trying to make money off its users. This app uses local phone storage like WhatsApp, uses default end-to-end encryption like WhatsApp, and does not store any data, not even metadata. In 2016, the US government subpoenaed Signal. Since the company doesn’t collect any data, the only information the US government received was the date of creation of the account and the last time the account was active. Nothing else.

By: https://nyingnor.com/2022/08/25/telegram-is-not-better-than-whatsapp/

ChatGPT and AI Tools

n November 2022, OpenAI, a tech company in the US, launched its ChatGPT AI tool. Within five days, ChatGPT had 1 million users. This was the quickest any software had reached a user base of a million. It wasn’t just that many people were using ChatGPT, but also that many more were talking about it. Over the next few weeks, social media was buzzing with what ChatGPT was capable of. If you haven’t heard of ChatGPT by now, I would be very surprised. What is AI? AI stands for artificial intelligence. In the past, we used to think that an AI would be a supercomputer with the ability to feel things and have human-like consciousness. However, creating a computer like that is impossible, so humanity has instead focused on creating Machine Learning AI. What is Machine Learning? Think about how a child grows up and learns things. At the beginning, he has no idea that a stove is hot and dangerous to touch. So, his curiosity gets the better of him and he touches the stove. His hand burns. He is in pain. So, he learns not to touch a stove anymore. As he grows up a little more, he learns that the stove is actually safe to touch sometimes. By the time the child reaches his teenage years, he is aware of the nuances of when and where a stove is safe to touch. In other words, humans learn things through lived experience and by trial and error (of course, humans also learn things vicariously, i.e., through the live experience of others, but we’ll not talk about that for now). This trial and error learning method is how you learn to distinguish a cat from a dog. At the start of your life, you didn’t know what a cat was. And then your parents introduced you to one. Then as you grew up, you saw more and more cats, so much so that you now know what a cat looks like from memory. A Machine Learning AI is a computer that learns in a similar manner. Just like your parents taught you what a cat looks like, researchers teach computers to recognize cats in photos by making the computer look at millions of photos of cats. They can teach computers to know text like humans by showing millions of examples of human-human text interactions. The computers that can do all of these are what we now call AI. What Are Some Examples of AI? The most popular example of an AI is ChatGPT. It belongs to a model of AI called Large Language Models, which (as the “language” part of its name suggests) can generate human-like text. Go to Google, search for ChatGPT, and try it out for yourself today. If you want to write an email to someone but are worried that your English isn’t good, don’t worry about it. Just write that email in whatever English is natural to you, then go to ChatGPT and ask it to rewrite that email in proper English. You can even tell it to write the email in a specific tone (such as angry, respectful, confident, etc.) You can ask ChatGPT to write note sheets, essays, poems, anything. Another powerful family of AI is Generative AI. As I mentioned earlier, researchers need to show computers millions of examples to teach them what a cat looks like. Similar to how humans can imagine what a cat looks like based on their memory, AI can generate pictures of cats. Text-to-Image AI Tools such as DALL-E, Midjourney, and Stable Diffusion take prompts from humans and generate images. If you go to DALL-E on your phone or computer and ask it to generate a happy yellow cat sitting on a carpet in the mountains of Bhutan, basking in the sun, it will give you exactly that image. These models promise that their generated images will be unique every time and that different users will receive different images even when given the same prompt. If you want to make videos, generative AI tools such as Pictory AI can help. You can ask ChatGPT to write a script, then copy-paste that script into Pictory AI to create videos. If you are not happy with the sound of your video, tools such as Adobe’s Podcast can enhance voice recordings. This tool can clean wind sounds and make recordings sound like they were done in a studio. There are several other examples of AI tools, and I hope to write about more of them someday. However, for now, we need to look at the bigger picture related to AI. Outsourcing Thinking? As part of my job at Nyingnor, I have provided training in the digital space to many people in Bhutan, including journalists from every media house. Recently, I started teaching AI tools, and the feedback has been overwhelmingly positive. However, one recent comment got me thinking. Someone said that these AI tools make them feel like we are outsourcing thinking to computers and that they worry about our future. This comment is not isolated, and there is growing sentiment around the world that AI tools are dangerous and could make humans dependent on computers. My Thoughts All of this is valid, but I see it differently. Human history is full of comments like this. Socrates famously did not write things down because he thought the written word would make students lazy. When calculators were first invented, some people worried that they would make humans lose the ability to do their own math. The history of the world and our lives is cumulative. Every technology is built on pre-existing ones, and sometimes, that means new technology makes older ones obsolete. However, that is more than compensated for by the collective increase in human productivity. Thanks to the written word, many more people learned maths, science, and philosophy in Ancient Greece. When Gutenberg introduced the printing press in Europe, knowledge became more easily accessible to more people than before. Every time a new technology is invented, the collective productivity of humanity goes up. This should be our attitude towards AI. Of course, AI will make some existing jobs obsolete. As the CEO of a company that provides digital marketing services, I see that within the next few years, our graphic design services will see declining customer interest. However, we have to embrace AI and look for ways these tools can improve our efficiency. An example of this is how ChatGPT, which can code in many languages, is being used by some senior engineers to write small portions of their code. In our office, thanks to Adobe’s Podcast, we now spend little to no time improving sound quality. Thanks to DALL-E and other tools, we spend less time on graphic design. Thanks to ChatGPT, we spend less time on research. Thanks to Tome AI, we spend less time making our presentations fanciful. None of these tools mean that human input is redundant. It just means that we are more efficient than ever before. Since last year, I find that I am under less stress and that I have to work fewer hours than before. A part of this is thanks to improving my productivity and efficiency through the use of AI Tools. By: https://nyingnor.com/2023/03/15/chatgpt-and-ai-tools/

The need for a healthy forest for healthy people

 ...Why is there a need for healthy forests to have healthy people

There is clear evidence to show that spending time in forests reduces stress and lowers blood pressure and the risk of heart attacks, says the writer, Director, Forestry Division, Food and Agriculture Organization of the United Nations (FAO).

1. Background

Bhutan is a small, landlocked country with a total area of 3,839,400 ha situated on the southern slope of the Eastern Himalayas. The country is almost entirely mountainous with altitudes ranging from about 100 meters in the foothills to over 7,500 meters in the north. About 71% of the total geographical area is under forest cover (2,730,889 ha) and the constitution of Bhutan mandates maintaining at least 60% of forest cover in perpetuity. Bhutan’s extensive forest cover and pristine environment, coupled with its strong conservation efforts, have allowed the country to have exceptionally rich biodiversity with flourishing populations of some of the rarest flora and fauna on earth.

A global perspective on the forest: 

Today, more than half of the world’s population lives in urban areas. By 2050, this is expected to increase to almost seventy percent. Yet even people living in cities have begun to realize how vital access to forests, urban parks and green spaces is for our mental health and well-being.

There is clear evidence to show that spending time in forests reduces stress and lowers blood pressure and the risk of heart attacks. Last month, a new study by Italian universities suggested that simply breathing forest air can reduce anxiety due to the volatile compounds released by trees. In Japan, where more than nine out of ten people live in cities, “forest bathing” is part of the public health strategy. “Green prescribing” programs, a holistic approach to health and care, are also gaining momentum in many countries.

As we mark the International Day of Forests, it is worth remembering that there are many reasons to appreciate forests – and that even if we never set foot in them, forests keep us all healthy.

Forests help combat the biggest threat facing us today – climate change. Forests are huge carbon sinks, containing 662 billion tons of carbon. That is more than half the stock of carbon in soils and vegetation around the world. They also shield us from rising heat and extreme weather events. They regulate rainfall and protect against landslides and floods.

Forests also act as a natural barrier to the spread of disease from animals to humans. As deforestation continues, this barrier is fraying. More than 30 percent of new diseases reported since 1960 have been linked to changes in land use, including deforestation.

Our forests are also natural pharmacies. Around 50 000 plant species – many of which grow in forests – have medicinal value and are used by local communities to treat conditions from snake bites and diarrhoea to rheumatism and diabetes. But many common pharmaceutical medicines are also derived from forest plants – for example, cancer-treating drugs from the Madagascar periwinkle.

Our green spaces are the world’s gift to humankind.

Yet around the world forests and trees are at risk. Ten million hectares of forests are lost to deforestation each year, 90 percent of which is driven by agricultural expansion to feed a growing global population.

They are under threat from wildfires, pests and weather extremes. Fire affected approximately 98 million hectares of forest in 2015 alone. According to the Botanic Gardens Conservation International, about a third of the world’s tree species are at risk of dying out forever.

So, what can we do to keep our forests – and ourselves – healthy?

We must take a more hands-on approach to manage forests sustainably. We need to halt deforestation, but we also need to grow new forests using species and techniques that maximize their resilience. We need policies to ensure we can feed the world population without destroying forests in the process, boosting agricultural productivity rather than expanding the land needed. And we need to improve our understanding of the financial benefits of managing forests sustainably.

We must monitor natural forests and develop early warning and rapid response systems to stamp out disease faster. We must prevent the risk of wildfire long before the first spark flies.

And we must support the communities, living in and near forests, to have their rights over land and forest resources recognized. Often among the poorest in the world, these communities are best placed to manage our forests well.

The more urbanized society becomes, the more we must work together to remember that we are part of nature and that our health and well-being depend on it. We must act now to safeguard forests and ensure they remain for our own health and that of our children and future generations.

Author: 

https://asianews.network/why-we-need-healthy-forests-for-healthy-people-fao-director/#:~:text=Forests%20help%20combat%20the%20biggest,heat%20and%20extreme%20weather%20events.