Forests are sources of wood products.
They help regulate local and regional rainfall. And forests are crucial sources of food, medicine, clean drinking water, and immense recreational, aesthetic, and spiritual benefits for millions of people. Pew Center report on land use Yet in many parts of the world, forests are being rapidly cleared for agriculture or pasture, destructively logged and mined, and degraded by human-set fires. Many people who make daily decisions about how to use forests rarely benefit directly from these ecosystem services. They often have far stronger financial incentives to clear or destructively log forests than to conserve, restore, and sustainably use them.