International Day of Forests Date in the current year: March 21, 2024

International Day of Forests was established to raise public and governmental awareness of forests and trees outside forests for the benefit of future generations. Annually about 32 million acres (roughly the size of England) of forests are lost. This results in climate change and declining of terrestrial biodiversity.

Prior to International Day of Forests similar observations existed, but they were held on different days. One of the first forest related observation was World Forestry Day established in November 1971 by the United Nations Food and Agriculture Organization. The other observation was Forest Day, that was observed from 2007 to 2012 by many countries on different days.

After the year 2011 was declared the International Year of Forests, all similar observations were gathered together to form International Day of Forests. This day features mass events raising awareness about the importance of forests in our life.