The Regional Secretariat for Science, Technology and Infrastructures will promote at Expolab – Lagoa Science Centre, a themed exhibition depicting the world of forests and the importance of forest ecosystems in human life.

The exhibition “Florestas – Paraísos de Biodiversidade” (Forests – Havens of Biodiversity) features contents that are easy to read and accessible to the public in general, using clear and rigorous terms from a scientific point of view. It also features image formats with a strong educational potential, such as information graphics, functional diagrams and species compositions as well as large-format panoramic landscapes for easy interpretation.

Moreover, a set of panels will be specifically created for children containing concise and easy-to-read information which has been specially adapted to these age levels.

This exhibition was organised with the purpose of celebrating the International Year of Forests, proclaimed by the UN. One should remind that the world’s forests cover nowadays 31 percent of the total land area of the planet, being the main havens of biodiversity. It is estimated that these diverse and complex ecosystems harbour more than 80 percent of all terrestrial species, now increasingly threatened by rapid deforestation and environmental change.

Forest ecosystems are vital for human beings not only for the fundamental role in regulating the water cycle, gases - such as oxygen and carbon dioxide – but also for the reason that more than 300 million people lives in forests and more than 1.6 billion human beings (almost 1/4 of the total population) depend directly on the forest and its products for their survival.

In this context, this exhibition will focus on the ecological biodiversity (habitats and ecosystems) as well as on the biological biodiversity (botanical and zoological) in forests, through two major modules dedicated to the World’s Forests and to Portuguese Forests (Present-day Forests). In addition, this display also provides an important contribution to the importance of the historical dimension of forest with the module Forests of the Past (prehistoric) as well as an opportunity to debate the issues of Climate Change and Conservation.

The exhibition opens in November during the Scientific Culture Week.