The United Nations on Wednesday launched a campaign to raise awareness of the vital role trees and wood products play in sustaining the livelihoods of millions of people around the world. The launch of the International Year of Forests at a ceremony in New York was accompanied by the release of a report calling for the need to change the "generally poor perception" of wood products, according to dpa. Consumers often feel guilty about using wood, thinking it is ethically unsound to cut down trees, it said. But in fact the forest industry is an important part of a "greener" economy, according to the report, prepared by the Rome- based UN Food and Agriculture Organisation (FAO). "Wood and wood products, as natural materials, are made from renewable resources that store carbon and have high potential for recycling," FAO said in a statement. The FAO report also stressed that urgent action was needed to protect forests that sustain local livelihoods in the face of climate change.
