By David Okul
May 26, 2019
Did you know?
• There are about 3 trillion trees in the world • 10 billion trees are lost each year • There were about 6 trillion trees before the rise of human civilization
Tree growing is one of the most pragmatic approaches to dealing with the challenges in climate change. The fact that plants absorb carbon dioxide in their growth means that they could assist in containing some of the carbon produced from human activities.
Tree planting is not only the easiest way of dealing with the climate crisis, but it is also among the cheapest. Suitable tree species could be strategically planted in areas without encroaching on cropland or urban areas. It is vital that tree growing activities avoid competition with food crops. Moreover, reforestation projects are more successful if they respect the local culture’s practices and avoid monoculture plantation forests.
Like most parts of the tropics, their is a huge potential of tree growing in most parts of the African continent
The potential for tree growing is real
Research shows that widespread tree planting on a global scale could remove close to 67% of the emissions in the atmosphere by human activities. It is estimated that 1.7 billion hectares of treeless land on which 1.2 trillion indigenous trees have the potential of growing. In terms of percentages, the area is 11% of the global landmass equivalent to the combined sizes of China and the United States.
As such, policymakers the world over should consider forest restoration as a fundamental climate change solution. Still, approaches of reducing emissions from fossil fuel burning and the destruction of forests are pertinent.
The good thing about tree growing (Silvica deliberately uses the term tree growing instead of tree planting) is that it requires very little for individuals to take action. It neither requires Donald Trump to start believing in climate change nor scientists to come up with solutions. It only requires individuals to start planting/growing trees in their lands or support organizations that undertake tree growing projects. Carbon capture would be most effective in the tropics where the canopy cover is 100%.
There is a challenge though. Many of the 1.7 hectares of treeless lands are already used for grazing livestock. Growing trees would present competing land uses between forestry and livestock husbandry. Nevertheless, restoring trees at low densities is not mutually exclusive with grazing. Some studies insinuate that sheep and cattle do better in the field.
Silvica promotes tree growing activities around East Africa. We provide technical consultancy services to projects that are interested in what they call tree planting. You can support Silvica by making a donation to enable us to raise awareness on climate change and other contemporary environmental issues.
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Further Reading
The Guardian
Bonn Challenge
WAC
David Okul is an environmental management professional with over 10 years experience on donor projects, conservation, forestry, ecotourism, and community-based natural resources management. When not working on active environmental management projects, I spend my time writing for Silvica on a variety of topics.
