#Forests

Our forests are precious beyond imagination. We must protect them for the people living in them and people everywhere. Together we can be forest defenders and work towards their restoration for the benefit of all life on earth.

Biodiversity breakdown
The destruction of forests is driving a worldwide biodiversity and climate breakdown. Commodity-driven deforestation from raising cattle or planting soy and palm oil is a primary culprit. Mining, logging, forest fires and even climate change itself are also major culprits. Forests are home to hundreds of thousands of Indigenous Peoples who have been fighting to protect them for generations. Also, about 30% of the earth’s land is covered with forests, which are home to more than two-thirds of the world's land-based species.

Become a forest guardian
It’s time we all fight for forests. Today, more than ever, intact ecosystems are essential for our planet’s health and our own survival. We must stop deforestation now and restore the health of the world’s forests. Defending and rehabilitating our forests is the most economical and fastest way to reduce GHG emissions. Together and in solidarity with Indigenous Peoples and allies, you can help stop deforestation, forest degradation and restore forests to protect life on earth.

All articles

  • Peatland Forest in DRC © Daniel Beltrá / Greenpeace
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    Give the Congo Basin forest a chance

    Approaching the forest in the Congo, I am met with an overwhelming wall of green. Flying over it, I see the meandering rivers merging together. I see animals drinking from the rivers, frolicking with joy in the water. Walking into the forest, I hear a chorus of teeming life – birds, lowland and mountain gorillas,…

    Victorine Che Thoener
    3 min read
  • Forest near Lake Blecktjärnen in Sweden © Edward Beskow / Greenpeace

    The many faces defending the Great Northern Forest

    “Hi, would you like to have your photograph taken to help protect the Great Northern Forest?” Earlier this year, we took to the streets to ask people this very question. Our dream is that the critical forest landscapes in this beautiful forest should be protected.

    Ethan Gilbert
    2 min read
  • Brown Bear in Sweden © Günter Lenhardt

    How your tissue could be wiping away amazing forests

    You smell it first – the smell of recently splintered trees is so strong that it hits me long before I reach the logging site. The tree stumps are still sticky with resin. A few hours ago this was a lush forest with trees that had stood tall for over a hundred years. Now it…

    Lina Burnelius
    3 min read
  • Wiping Away the Boreal @Greenpeace

    Wiping Away the Boreal

    Human activities are currently driving the world’s species to extinction at up to 1,000 times the natural rate. To protect biodiversity and the functioning ecosystems that are vital to our wellbeing, we must reduce and ultimately halt our destruction and degradation of natural habitat.

    Greenpeace International
    2 min read
  • 'Our Voices Are Vital' Book Delivery to Publishers in New York © Stephanie Keith / Greenpeace

    What happened when we demanded that publishers hear the voices of 500,000 of you

    More than half a million people have stood up for free speech and for the Canadian boreal forest, raising their voices to call on the largest global publishers to pay attention and be our allies. 

    Amy Moas
    5 min read

  • We speak for the trees

    When Resolute Forest Products, Canada’s largest logging company, threw two multi-million dollar lawsuits at Greenpeace and Stand.Earth for speaking out for the protection of the Canadian boreal forest, people around the world did not sit idly by.

    Ethan Gilbert
    2 min read

  • Silent Spring, 2017

    In 1962, Rachel Carson published Silent Spring, drawing attention to the impact of DDT on bird populations. Her book inspired most nations to ban DDT by the 1980s. The ban and other protection efforts helped save some bird species from extinction, including the osprey, brown pelican, and white stork. However, fifty-five years after Carson's book,…

    Rex Weyler
    7 min read

  • Authors around the world stand up for free speech and forests

    Authors, journalists, poets and playwrights know that every time the right words are put to paper, or typed to a screen, our planet gets a little better. Because, without the right to express ourselves freely, we cannot make that positive change.

    Kat Clark
    4 min read
  • Clearcutting Free Speech

    Clearcutting Free Speech

    Canada’s Great Northern Forest is an ancient forest, shaped by forces of nature and stewarded by Indigenous Peoples since time immemorial. Also known as Canada’s boreal forest, it has some of the last large expanses of undisturbed natural forest, is home to threatened species, and is one of the world’s largest terrestrial stores of carbon.…

    Greenpeace International
    2 min read

  • To protect forests and free speech, lend your voice (literally!)

    Can you imagine a world where Greenpeace and other advocacy groups are no longer able to stand up for our forests, oceans and climate? A giant logging corporation called Resolute Forest Products is fighting to make this sinister vision a reality.

    Jill Pape
    2 min read