There were once 6 trillion trees on the planet, and we now have around 3 trillion, with the number continuing to decline as we continue to lose an average of 10 billion trees a year. Trees are not only crucial for wildlife and biodiversity, but they also play a huge role in managing our global climate by acting as carbon sinks.
The UN Food and Agriculture Organisation estimates that nearly 130 million hectares of forest have been lost in the time between 1990 and 2015. This deforestation accounts for nearly 25% of global greenhouse gas emissions, largely deriving from the destruction of the world’s forests for agricultural products.
With COP26 happening in Glasgow, all eyes are on our leaders to see how the world is willing to change to address these issues. One of the key measures to come out from COP26 so far has been an agreement on ending deforestation and committing to reforestation. The topic has been gaining prominence across the globe, especially with the ongoing destruction of the ‘lungs of the world’, the Amazon Rainforest.
Organisations such as the World Economic Forum’s Trillion Trees Movement has now had several companies sign up and pledge to plant millions of trees themselves by 2030, to complement their aims to reduce their carbon footprint. The pressure has been applied to world Governments on this area for a significant period of time and organisations such as the World Wildlife Fund, Birdlife International, World Economic Forum and Terraformation have been working together to build awareness and momentum behind tree planting with a target of planting one trillion trees by 2050.
Prior to COP26, the UK Government had committed to planting 7,000 hectares of woodlands within the UK. While these lofty ambitions are to be welcomed, recent experience has shown that there has not been the greatest planning or follow up when trees have been planted, as part of private contracts where land has been cleared to make way for projects such as HS2. Projects have not been given the due consideration and attention required to ensure that the trees being planted are right for the location, planted at the right times or given the correct care to ensure that they grow. It has been, to put it bluntly, a box ticking exercise that needs no afterthought, as organisations have met the requirement to plant ‘X’ amount of trees.
The UK Environment Secretary, George Eustice says about the plan: "We will make sure that the right trees are planted in the right places and that more green jobs are created in the forestry sector."
This is all very admirable, but the problem will still remain with the lack of funding available for training in this area. The UK needs an army of tree planters to carry out this work and a team to lead them in order for the goals to be achieved and for the projects to be successful.
As Jill Wagner, Chief Forestry Officer at Terraformation said: “Many grassroots restoration projects are led by people with deep personal passion, but not much formal training. Though passion is enough to get started, expertise is necessary to carry the work over the long haul. This is, in fact, my own story.” Without upskilling people to do the task, we are destined to fall short of targets.
While there are conflicting views of the impact of tree planting, with some scientists concerned that tree planting has limitations as a climate solution due to the lack of available space to plant such a large number of trees without harming the environment or people. Planting trees is not the silver bullet to the global climate issues, merely one of the tools that we can utilise and that can have a significant effect, if done correctly and planted in the right regions.
Sustainable forestry, however, is possible. The Rainforest Alliance define sustainable forestry as “the extent to which silvicultural practices mimic nature’s patterns of disturbance and regeneration”. Within the UK, Forestry England, Forestry Land Scotland and National Resource Wales all believe that well managed forests can last forever, be sustainable for the future and have plans in place to manage the UK’s existing forests based on the natural life cycle of trees.
Reforestation is an easy soundbite, but it alone will not address previous failures or to limit global warming to 1.5℃. This is a tool that can be used but global governments will need to work together to bring the use of fossil fuels down, change population behaviour and use laws to limit emissions and pollutions. This is a time of crisis and while individuals can change their behaviour, this is not enough, a coordinated plan across the globe is required and COP26 will hopefully be the start of this.
The UK already has many good practices in place and organisations are working to build on this for the future. This creates opportunities to make further improvements here and also lead the way globally.
We await with interest on the outcomes of COP 26 over the next week.
Article by Sean Duffy, Head of Industry Partnerships at Lantra.