Reforestation Report

Are trees our best hope for fighting climate change?

Considering the range of innovations and ideas proposed to halt climate change, the humble tree may still be our most effective tool against carbon pollution. Photosynthesis removes carbon dioxide naturally and trees can store it. Despite all the advisories not to destroy trees for this very reason, we are cutting down forests at an unprecedented pace. Is therefore, the startlingly simple idea to grow more trees a solution that will work?

By Richard Forsyth

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ense forests perform a vital duty in the checks and balances for the ‘machine’ of nature to perform as it should. Forests provide carbon sinks which undertake a process called sequestration, which removes chemical compounds from the atmosphere.

However, around 7.3 million hectares of forest is levelled every year according to the United Nations Food and Agriculture Organization (FACO). To date, about half the world’s tropical forests have been levelled. One of the most devastating human activities, that drives accelerated climate change, is known to be the destruction of large forests, for agricultural land, resources or development.

Despite an awareness of this process, policy makers in the many areas where the forests reside too often favour short term economic development over the ‘less tangible’ climate advantages of leaving these regions alone.

Point in fact, the policies of Brazilian President, Jair Bolsonaro, have meant the rate of rainforest destruction has soared in the Amazon region with an increase of 88% compared to June 2018. This is worrying climate experts around the world, because The Amazon Basin is the world’s largest carbon sink after the ocean, absorbing 20% from our atmosphere. Ranching, building and mining are perceived as lucrative paths for development.

But it’s not just the Amazon that’s being stripped away. Indonesia has the most deforestation. Since the last century, Indonesia has cleared close to 16 million hectares of forest land, fuelled by a global demand

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for palm oil. Similarly, Bolivia has cleared land for its burgeoning soya industry and cattle ranching. In Peru, 80% of the destruction is illegal but none-the-less completely relentless. Other countries such as Thailand, the Democratic Republic of Congo, Russia, Mexico, Papua New Guinea, Sudan, Nigeria and many, many others have decimated forest lands in huge swathes. This is an undisputable global pattern of destruction, with no sign of abating. There is an estimate that in only 100 years all the rainforests may be completely gone.

There’s currently a lot of research funding flowing into innovative technologies that focus on removing carbon dioxide from the atmosphere. Whilst some are deployed today, others are in pilot phases or on the drawing board. The idea is that these devices, like great carbon hoovers, suck the carbon straight from the air and store it underground. But, views are now polarising in the scientific community that the best solution is in fact the simplest, plant more trees. This will compensate for those lost.

Trees, in fact all plants, have always played a vital role in climate regulation. They use carbon dioxide to generate energy, when they die some of the carbon is taken to the ground as it decays. Trees can be around 50 percent carbon in weight. With vast numbers of trees and over time, this leads to a net reduction of carbon in the atmosphere.

Reforesting the planet Thomas Crowther at the Crowther Lab, ETH Zurich, recently coauthored a paper which is featured in the Journal, Science, claiming

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Photograph by Andreas Gücklhorn

We all knew that restoring forests could play a part in tackling climate change, but we didn’t really know how big the impact would be. Our study shows clearly that forest restoration is the best climate change solution available today.

that reforestation, “…is so much more vastly powerful than anyone expected… By far, it’s the top climate change solution in terms of carbon potential.”

Crowther and his team analysed satellite imagery to locate forests and work out where they could possibly retake. The study generated the first global map of where trees can naturally exist in today’s climate and they calculated how many trees can exist in those places and how much carbon they can store. This is excluding agricultural and urban areas. The quantitative map shows how it is possible to offset climate change.

The globe-spanning assessment of satellite imagery focused on the potential for forestry to flourish in areas already cut down. The conclusion was that if saplings were allowed to grow in areas already cleared, this would increase forested regions by one-third and take out 205 billion metric tonnes of carbon from the 300 billion tonnes of carbon that has been released into the atmosphere as a result of humans, since the Industrial Revolution. Essentially, this means taking out two-thirds of emissions put there by Mankind since the 19th Century. They had found a powerful argument in this solution by nature.

So, just how many more trees could we pack in, in this hypothetical massive reforestation scenario. They concluded, taking into consideration current climate conditions, the planet could support 4.4 billion hectares of continuous cover, which means 1.6 billion more hectares than the current 2.8 billion hectares. Of these 1.6 billion, 0.9

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billion hectares fulfil the criterion of not being used by humans. To give this perspective – that’s an area around the size of the whole USA. It should be noted that these regions would not be grasslands, they are those places where trees could naturally proliferate into forest land.

According to Prof. Thomas Crowther: “We all knew that restoring forests could play a part in tackling climate change, but we didn’t really know how big the impact would be. Our study shows clearly that forest restoration is the best climate change solution available today. But we must act quickly, as new forests will take decades to mature and achieve their full potential as a source of natural carbon storage.”

The research indicates where in the world reforestation is best suited. The best six countries are: Russia (151 million hectares); the US (103 million hectares); Canada (78.4 million hectares); Australia (58 million hectares); Brazil (49.7 million hectares); and China (40.2 million hectares).

Crowther’s claim that this is “…the best climate change solution proposed to date,” has created renewed interest in the concept.

However, despite the paper’s message of hope in an increasingly hopeless situation, such a solution would also require a drastic cut to emissions in parallel to be effective. Whilst this is a grand and some say unrealistic idea, the traction from the media of the report shows a willingness, at least, to highlight ways out of our current climate crisis, when we are facing ever more bleak assessments of our path into climate chaos.

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Seeds of hope The idea of reforestation is specifically targeting areas that have been cleared, to let the trees regrow or planting them systematically. This is fundamentally different to the term afforestation, which means planting trees in locations where there were previously none.

Afforestation is also proposed as part of the overall solution by the Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change (IPCC) to keep global warming to 1.5C above pre-industrial levels. However, afforestation is not nearly as effective as growing natural forests. Forests contain a wider range of plant species that occupy all heights and spaces, so there is more surface area for capturing sunlight for photosynthesis, where they absorb CO2 to generate energy. Forests are also intended to be left alone whereas timber grown will almost always be harvested systematically, leaving significant gaps in effectiveness as new trees have to mature all over again, in the cycle. It cannot be emphasised enough, despite all the quibbles of either attempting reforestation or afforestation, as a part of a larger global solution, growing trees will mean a positive impact for climate.

Afforestation projects have in fact had a significant push in recent years, all around the world. In 2006 the United Nations Environmental Programme (UNEP) launched the Billion Tree campaign, simply put, with the target to plant a billion trees by 2007.

This was achieved, and with a sense of optimism around potential,

brought about new targets, starting with the 2008 campaign to grow 7 billion trees – which was also achieved. Since 2016 a total of 14.2 billion trees have now been planted. China, India, Ethiopia, Pakistan, all planted more than a billion trees in this endeavour, whilst Mexico, France, Turkey, Peru, Nigeria and other countries achieved high three-figure million numbers. It’s interesting to see China lead this movement too, as the world’s fast-tracked economic powerhouse, which has also been widely blamed for much of the industrial pollution that fuels climate change.

From 1990-2015 China planted more new forest than any other country in the world, equating to 79 million hectares and more than $100 billion in afforestation investment. Many farmers were encouraged to transform their farmland into forests. The initiative was called Three-North Shelter Forest Program but is also known as The Great Green Wall.

Importantly this was not all done for reasons of altruistic accountability to the world. The main reason for this effort had much to do with avoiding encroaching desertification, where fertile land degrades to wasteland desert. The Gobi desert is expanding at an alarming rate, damaging agriculture significantly. The hope is the planted trees will survive long enough to retain moisture, and eventually stabilise the soil. So far, many of the trees have not survived.

This is a difficult battle.

Any threats to food security and human habitation quickly become very practical and serious problems for populations and that’s when governments pay attention. Perhaps that is why it feels like we are at a different kind of cross-roads with how climate change is, and will be, viewed. The effects of climate change are very much occurring today.

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Any threats to food security and human habitation quickly become very practical and serious problems for populations and that’s when governments pay attention. Perhaps that is why it feels like we are at a different kind of cross-roads with how climate change is, and will be, viewed. The effects of climate change are very much occurring today. The hypothetical arguments are no longer ideas but realities.

Eventually, climate impact, land degradation, weather emergencies, food security, mass migration – all the fallout from climate-related resource mismanagement, creates very tangible national security issues that affect countries’ economies and citizens in drastic ways.

With this in mind, afforestation and reforestation will surely remain ‘on the table’ as simple counterbalances to climate effects, where countries stand to lose sustainable sources of food production or regions where people can live.

Does one person count?

On a last note. There is an inspirational story that’s worth sharing about reforestation. Whilst we can see how big data, governments and campaigns can potentially lead to redefining landscapes and growing forests, even one determined person can create huge impact.

There’s a wonderful story that gained traction around 2012, with help from documentary makers, about a man called Jadav Payeng, who single handedly and successfully reforested an area

covering around 550 hectares. He was left to tend The Mulai Reserve on Majuli Island in the Brahmaputra River near Kokilamukh in the Jorhat district of Assam, India. The island was suffering from severe soil erosion on its banks and the speculation was it would end up submerged. The government had all but given up on it as a lost land. However, Jadav began planting bamboo, followed by a variety of other plant species. Some thirty years on from his oneman reforestation project, and his fertile forest, rich in plant life, is now also home to Indian rhinoceros, reptiles, deer, rabbits, birds and even elephants. Jadav earned the nickname of Forest Man in India and showed how reforestation and the ecosystems and animals that come as a result, just requires perseverance.

Jadav’s efforts shows us three things. Firstly, where forests have lived before, even when it looks unlikely, they can often thrive again and secondly, anyone can do this kind of work. Planting trees is not a science reserved for government bodies and scientific groups, it’s simply gardening and nature does most of the work for us.

Lastly, he showed us, this works. Where there was nothing – there is now a healthy ecosystem, with benefits beyond the tree’s carbon adsorption, where animals proliferate, plants co-exist and the environment has been successfully regenerated. He showed the world what we can do in terms of regenerating nature, with all its benefits. It just takes the will.

The Gobi desert is expanding at an alarming rate, damaging agriculture significantly. The hope is the planted trees will survive long enough to retain moisture, and eventually stabilise the soil. So far, many of the trees have not survived. This is a difficult battle.

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