In a statement released on the occasion of World Forestry Day and Forest Week, as well as World Water Day, TEMA Foundation drew attention to the fact that forest loss and water scarcity, both worsening due to human activities, affect vulnerable communities the most, especially women and children. TEMA Foundation Chair of the Board Deniz Ataç emphasized that protecting water and forests also means protecting social equality and economic resilience.
While forests and water resources form the foundation of ecosystems that sustain life, they also provide the invisible infrastructure of economic life and the guarantee of social well-being. Yet today, these natural assets, indispensable for the livability of our planet, are under greater pressure than ever before. The impacts of population growth and the human-driven climate crisis are making forests and water resources increasingly fragile. Looking at the bigger picture, urgent preventive action is needed.
This year, the United Nations designated the theme of March 21, World Forestry Day, which also marks the beginning of Forest Week, as “Forests and Economies,” and the theme of March 22, World Water Day, as “Water and Gender.” These two themes not only remind us that forests and water resources are part of natural systems, but also highlight that they form the basis of social equality and economic prosperity.
45 million people around the world make their living from forests
Forests, which provide countless ecosystem services ranging from carbon storage and climate regulation to soil protection and water production, are also one of the main components of human well-being and economic life. While 45 million people worldwide make their living directly from forests, the lives of billions depend on the food forests provide and the water cycle they regulate. It is not even possible to fully calculate the economic value of all these services.
However, forest loss continues unabated on a global scale. Between 1990 and 2025, approximately 489 million hectares of forest area were lost worldwide. Over the past 10 years, around 11 million hectares of natural forest, an area roughly equivalent to Türkiye’s Mediterranean Region, have been lost each year. As damage caused by wildfires continues to increase, the forest area affected by fires has doubled over the past 20 years.
Forest loss also weakens water security
The weakening of forests is not only an ecological loss, but also a serious risk in terms of water security. Forests are a crucial part of the water cycle, they protect watersheds, increase rainfall and water quality, and reduce the risks of drought and flooding.
Drawing attention to the critical importance of protecting forests for the sustainability of life, TEMA Foundation Chair of the Board Deniz Ataç said: “Forests are not merely made up of trees, they are natural systems that ensure the continuity of water, keep the economy standing, and make life possible. When forests weaken, water security weakens as well. Therefore, protecting forests means protecting water and the continuity of life.”
Water scarcity affects women and children the most
Inequalities in the distribution of water across geographical regions and countries deepen even further in social life. According to United Nations data, women and girls around the world spend approximately 250 million hours every day finding and carrying water. This leads to consequences such as interrupted education, economic exclusion, and time poverty, all of which deepen inequality.
Drought, water scarcity, and extreme weather events intensified by the climate crisis are also making living conditions even more difficult, especially for vulnerable communities.
Evaluating this situation, Deniz Ataç said: “Water scarcity is a crisis of inequality. Wherever access to water becomes more difficult, women and girls bear the greatest burden of care, and are forced to give up education, working life, and life opportunities. Yet access to water is not a privilege, it is a fundamental human right. If access to water can vary by as much as threefold between societies living under the same climate conditions due to governance-related reasons, this shows us that in solving water scarcity we must focus not only on infrastructure, but also on fair and participatory governance.”
The world faces the risk of “water bankruptcy”
A new report published by the United Nations University Institute for Water, Environment and Health reveals that the world has now entered a new era described as “global water bankruptcy.” According to the report, humanity is consuming rivers, lakes, and groundwater resources far faster than nature can renew itself, and many water systems are approaching a threshold that may be difficult to reverse. Warning against this alarming picture, Ataç said:
“Our world, with its shrinking freshwater resources, is facing the risk of global water bankruptcy. And without protecting forests, it is not possible to ensure water security.”
“Protecting natural assets is only possible through holistic policies that complement one another”
Deniz Ataç said that in order to ensure water security, it is crucial to stop treating water as a commodity to be bought and sold, to protect forest ecosystems, to manage watersheds through a holistic approach, and to recognize access to water as a fundamental human right:
“For a livable future in the face of the climate crisis, we need stronger policies that will stop forest loss, management of water resources based on an understanding that respects nature’s capacity to renew itself, and effective participation of women and local communities in water-related decision-making processes. Protecting natural assets, ensuring water security, and reducing social inequalities are only possible through holistic policies that complement one another.”
You know it, you are responsible!
TEMA Foundation