What is a Forest Footprint?

With catch phrases like "carbon footprint" coming to the forefront of current environmental issues, understanding new terminology helps you contribute to discussions about global health.  Deforestation is part of the environmental discussion, and "forest footprint" reflects the impact of companies or individuals on our forests.

According to Forest Footprint Disclosure, a forest footprint is technically defined as "the total amount of deforestation caused directly or indirectly by an organisation or product." Therefore, in other terms, a forest footprint is similar to the popular term "carbon footprint." The destruction of forests is what people analyze in terms of how much environmental damage a particular company, service, item, etc. has caused. People might even want to calculate their own forest footprints. 

Companies do not always know that they are involved in deforestation. Soemtimes materials to make goods are purchased unknowingly from an area that is involved in large amounts of deforestation. The only way to know how much deforestation one is causing is to be aware of ones own forest footprint. A forest footprint is both the literal and metaphorical mark left on the forest.

Deforestation

There are dozens of reasons to know about our contributions to deforestation. For example:

• Animals who live in forests lose their natural habitats, leading to lower reproduction rates and endangering the species.  Extinction may even be a possibility.
• Plants which thrive in forests also are threatened. 
• The effects of global warming are heightened.
• The properties of the soil in the area are destroyed.

Clearly, deforestation affects animals, plants, soil, and global health. To read more about all of the detrimental effects of deforestation, visit Think Quest's Environmental Problems Caused by Deforestation website.