For all the high-tech breakthroughs that help combat climate change, one analog method is proving particularly fertile: planting more trees. Creating new forests helps capture carbon dioxide—it also supports local wildlife, prevents soil erosion and reduces noise pollution. As climate initiatives become a growing priority, in part spurred by the Paris climate accord, countries and organizations are launching reforestation initiatives on astonishing scales.
The United Kingdom unveiled a £500 million, 25-year government project to plant 50 million trees.
In January, the United Kingdom unveiled a £500 million, 25-year government project to plant 50 million trees in a vast northern England corridor that's one of the country's least wooded areas. China's government this year will launch a project to plant trees that cover 6.6 million hectares (16.3 million acres)—an area roughly the size of Ireland. The project is part of China's effort to increase forest areas in the country from 21.7 percent to 23 percent by 2020, and then to 26 percent by 2030. And the African Forest Landscape Restoration Initiative, a joint initiative by 21 nations, seeks to cover 100 million hectares (247 million acres) with trees by 2030. The World Bank has earmarked US$1 billion for it.
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These ambitious projects can require extensive public stakeholder engagement and collaboration to navigate public-private partnerships. That's true, for instance, for the Atlantic Forest Restoration Pact program in Brazil, which aims to restore 1 million hectares (2.5 million acres) by 2020, says Doug Boucher, scientific adviser on tropical forest and climate initiatives, Union of Concerned Scientists, Washington, D.C., USA. “It can't be a top-down initiative. Ranchers, farmers, nongovernmental organizations (NGOs) and government agencies all have to agree on the goals.”
Greener Returns
Throughout all phases, countries and organizations should build public stakeholder buy-in by emphasizing wider social and economic benefits, says Bruno Locatelli, research scientist with the University of Montpellier in France and the Center for International Forestry Research, Lima, Peru. Doing so, such as highlighting the new lush landscape to explore or jobs that will be created, makes it more likely for projects to gain traction and for project managers to maintain long-term support. “Decide what value you hope to attain from these projects, then work with scientists, government agencies, NGOs and the local people to decide where and how the forest will be managed,” he says.
Conservation International employed that strategy after it partnered with the World Bank, the Brazilian Ministry of Environment and several other NGOs last year to launch the world's largest tropical reforestation project. The six-year initiative spans several Brazilian states in the Amazon and aims to plant 73 million trees in roughly 30,000 hectares (74,131 acres) by 2023.
To save money and earn buy-in from local stakeholders, the coalition of sponsors hired members of indigenous communities and small family farmers to execute the project. Planters are spreading seeds of native trees across the misused and burned land, which is a faster and less expensive method than planting individual seedlings. As many as 2,000 locals will help reforest any given hectare, with each participant earning US$700 per hectare reforested, Fast Company reported. The approach lets both project sponsors and local residents win.
“It can't be a top-down initiative. Ranchers, farmers, nongovernmental organizations and government agencies all have to agree on the goals.”
—Doug Boucher, Union of Concerned Scientists, Washington, D.C., USA
“The restoration process will generate jobs and income for local communities, not only during its implementation but also once it's done, through sustainable management of the area,” Rodrigo Medeiros, Conservation International's vice president of the Brazil program, told the Thomas Reuters Foundation.
Involving more stakeholders ultimately might take longer and require compromises on how resources are spent. But in the end, their buy-in will put projects over the top, Mr. Locatelli says. “When you focus on the combined benefits of reforestation, you can better analyze trade-offs and attract more stakeholders.” —Sarah Fister Gale