TREES FOR THE WORLD
What measures and structures are needed to plant one trillion trees as quickly as possible with a focus on biodiversity, sustainability, and communities?
That is the central question in the Trees for the World working group.
There are many wonderful initiatives dedicated to reforestation, but so far, it has not been possible to offset the annual loss of ten billion trees. Decisive and impactful action is required to emphasize the importance of forest conservation and achieve the planting of one trillion trees.
We need to accelerate and scale up the process of reforestation and ecosystem restoration, and we need to do it quickly. Tom Crowther, a renowned scientist at the University of Zurich and involved in the UNEP’s ‘Billion Tree Campaign,’ demonstrated that there is enough space on Earth to plant one trillion trees. According to the research, this number of trees can absorb about ten years’ worth of CO2 emissions. However, trees and forests do much more than that. They enhance and protect biodiversity, play a role in local climate, store excess water, prevent soil erosion, and provide food, shelter, medicine, and building materials for both animals and humans.
The working group has convened several times over three years (2019-2022), both physically and digitally. Various perspectives on the matter were explored, examining whether a concrete initiative could accelerate large-scale tree planting and investigating investment models that serve the same goal. The meetings were informative but, unfortunately, did not yield a concrete outcome. The leader of this working group is Lena Eeuwens: [email protected]