Half of the forests that existed at the dawn of agriculture has since been destroyed.

Watch this stunning 7-minute film, Of Forests and Men–the official film for the launch of the International Year of the Forests, a global platform to celebrate people’s action to sustainably manage the world’s forests.

The United Nations mandated Yann Arthus-Bertrand to produce this film, shown during the plenary session of the Ninth Session of UN Forum on Forests (24 January – 4 February 2011) in New York.

More forest facts.

• * Forests cover 31% of total land area.
• * 30% of forests are used for production of wood and non-wood products.
• * Forests are home to 80% of our terrestial biodiversity.
• * We are cutting trees down by the millions to plant soybeans and produce millions of tons of meat.
• * Every second, 2 football fields worth of rainforests are lost.

Read more forest facts and the International Year of the Forests 2011 on my blog, I Count for myEARTH.