8 billion trees criticism

8 billion trees criticism

Grasses are also less vulnerable to destruction by fire, drought, and disease. Environmentalist Sitara Parveen from the mountainous Hunza region of northern Pakistan is happy about the move. He argues that the best way to ensure there are enough trees standing to trap the carbon dioxide heating up the planet is to secure the political rights of people who depend on forests primarily indigenous peoples whose lands are frequently encroached upon by industry and governments. If you liked this story,sign up for the weekly bbc.com features newsletter, called The Essential List. Sally Archibald, an ecologist at Wits University in South Africa, says that planting enthusiasts often overlook the fact that people are using all this land that everyone thinks is available for planting trees. Its growing population needs resources that are depleting fast but given that the country is facing increasingly variable monsoons, receding Himalayan glaciers and extreme events including floods and droughts, meeting those challenges will prove extremely difficult. There are, however, environmentalists who support the project and dismiss the criticisms leveled against it. A study published this week in the journal PNAS found that the most effective way to protect the Amazon rainforest might be to leave it in the hands of its indigenous residents. The challenge will be finding ways to fit huge new forests into our societies in such a way that people accept them. Although it would take an enormous area of new trees to measurably heat the atmosphere at a global scale, Smart says in some cases the planetary reflectance loss from new trees may outweigh carbon sequestration gains. The most notable concerns about carbon offset projects that companies like Terrapass support include their verifiability, how long the advantages last, leakage, and the selling of empty carbon credits.2. The first issue is that trees are dark, at least compared to other things that might blanket the land, such as grass or snow. At present, Terrapass adheres to the Verified Carbon Standard (VCS), developed by Verra and Climate Action Reserve (CAR). The US-based corporation might reduce the CO2 emissions of its primary location to comply with American climate policies, but ramps up operations overseas. "It is not experts who are in charge of this project but bureaucrats who know less about forestation and causes of deforestation. Not only might tree planting fail to reliably sequester carbon, trees can also heat the atmosphere more than many other habitat types. Shortly afterwards she wrote an opinion piece for the New York Times headlined To save the planet, dont plant trees. Several ecologists were outraged that forest restoration was framed as the most effective climate change solution to date, arguing that it was a dangerously misleading distraction from the urgency of cutting fossil fuel emissions. Depending on soil types and climate, grasses often use less water to sequester soil carbon than trees do, and can do so faster and more effectively at higher temperatures. China is on track to plant 35 million hectares (87 million acres) of trees in its northern arid areas by 2050 to make a so-called Great Green Wall the size of Germany. The Swedish climate activist Greta Thunberg has made a film arguing for extra protections for the worlds forests, and for the replanting of those that have been cut down. One of the most widely-publicized is the Atlas of Forest and Landscape Restoration Opportunities published by the World Resources Institute (WRI), which delineates 2 billion hectares of what it terms degraded and deforested areas that it says are suitable for partial or full reforestation. We can find the places that are not doing well, or as well as expected, and learn from them, too.. However, they also have locations or partner with businesses, such as manufacturing plants, overseas. Some international bodies have also claimed that the project has created around 85,000 jobs. Forests can heal on their own if theyre allowed to, he says, and these forests end up being more resilient and more helpful in the climate fight than newly planted plots of trees. It provides invaluable data that organizations can use to improve their practices, and see how a project can do better in its planting, reporting, and monitoring of operations. We may need something thats ultra-large-scale industrial in 10 to 20 years.. part one. 8 Billion Trees - Facebook Tree planting 'has mind-blowing potential' to tackle climate crisis 1 trillion trees really is also a symbol for ecosystem restoration, he recently said. The message, then, is that trees can play a significant role in stopping dangerous climate change provided we plant them in the right places. Youre going to max out pretty soon if you only try to use forests. If successful, the platform could help move away from the carbon in, carbon out logic underlying many conservation projects. Since dark surfaces absorb more heat, a dark tree-covered surface will trap more of the Suns heat and warm the local climate. "Future papers in the series will build on the foundation of counting trees, extend the areas studied, and look ways to calculate their carbon content," said Tucker. Global deforestation rates & statistics by country | GFW. As an added assurance, buyers can visit the. These include counting the planets 0.4 sextillion nematodes, Earths most abundant animal. Forests are the best nature-based solution to climate change, he says, adding that trees also provide many benefits to people, like improving health and creating [forestry-related] job opportunities.. Can we really solve the climate crisis by planting trees? Despite what 8 billion trees says, they're usually connected to buying a timeshare, joining a vacation club, or entering into some other sort of contract. Will They Affect the Climate? Because of this, the report has larger implications for the carbon marketplace at large. secure the political rights of people who depend on forests. But critics believe that it is an unsustainable and expensive waste of resources. South Africa has recently faced critical water shortages affecting major cities that have been exacerbated by invasive trees, and the government spends millions of dollars annually on a program called Working for Water to remove them from key watersheds and conservation areas. Terrapass is one of many US carbon offset companies that have been under increasing scrutiny in recent months. Terrapass is one of many US carbon offset organizations that have been under increasing scrutiny in recent months. The reports authors state, Our analysis of crediting errors demonstrates that a large fraction of the credits in the program do not reflect real climate benefits. This means that the state overestimated its offsets by a staggering 30 million tCO2e. The UK government has planted millions of trees over the last decade, and has pledged another million between 2020 and 2024. Everyone with a smartphone will be able to show where their purchases came from, says Crowther. Terrapass. The skepticism isnt related to anything Terrapass has done particularly, but growing public uncertainty about the carbon marketplace. Systematic over-crediting of forest offsets. CarbonPlan. The repeated assessment of soil carbon stocks is currently too time-consuming and expensive to use at the scale that would be required to verify stocks for carbon credits. This includes restoring wetlands and other ecosystems, and minimising emissions from farmland, but the biggest contributors by far were preserving existing forests and reforesting degraded areas. "In my area people are being encouraged to plant trees which would help prevent natural disasters as well as providing a healthy environment," she told DW. As a result, planting more trees typically makes the land darker. If you plant trees there, youre losing livelihoods, youre losing future opportunities, and youre damaging natural biodiversity., Many planting proponents acknowledge that trees can have negative effects, but that putting the right trees in the right places can sequester carbon, rebuild forests, and enhance agricultural productivity. Please view our privacy policy for more information. Key Takeaways. "Imagine billions of trees and calculate the total cost, which could have been diverted for clearing the river banks, ensuring the flow of water from rivers that would have led to natural growth of trees without spending any money," he said. So how much can trees really help us solve our climate problem? Harry Beugelink via Shutterstock, But even with these caveats, Archibald says that making maps of potential tree cover like the Crowther Labs and WRIs, and offering large offset payments to developing countries to plant trees, places those nations in an unfair position. The researchers investigated 102 million upfront IFM (improved forest management) credits, representing approximately two-thirds of Californias entire offset program. This scatters sunlight back into space, cooling the planet. But a growing number of scientists are warning that these massive projects can wreck natural ecosystems, dry up water supplies, damage agriculture, and push people off their land. So we, as scientists who disagree, are now working to identify valuable ecosystems where planting trees would be a bad idea.. They also highlighted multiple mistakes. That global initiative could help his project scale this up to 50 to 60 billion trees across the country, Sadhguru said on the panel. Planting 60 Billion Trees in the U.S. | World Resources Institute This means planting trees only helps stop climate change in certain places. Last month, a global review of tree-planting initiatives in the tropics and subtropics since 1961 found that while dozens of organisations reported planting a total of 1.4 billion trees, just 18% mentioned monitoring and only 5% measured survival rates. Everyone [in restoration] wants to do good. But the idea of planting individual trees isolates them from the microbes in the soil, the birds, the animals and the other plants that are necessary.. This equates to nearly one-quarter of the programs worth: about $410 million dollars. 8 Billion Trees was born on November 10th, 2018. Trees are a natural carbon sink. She also claimed that if the project succeeds, it could change local rainfall patterns. In India, leading environmental groups opposed a project to plant 2 billion trees in the Cauvery river basin supported by the Leonardo DiCaprio Foundation. For the world to win in the fight against climate change, the best carbon offset providers like Terrapass have the potential to be a strong contender with tree planting offset options, as long as they remain transparent and provide real, positive ecological change that can be measured in the carbon offset marketplace. 2. What A Waste: Online Retail's Big Packaging Problem - Forbes As soon as you get down onto the land, theres people living there and they have aspirations for how they want to live their lives that maybe dont involve tree-planting, says Spracklen. For humans and wildlifes sake, verifying forestry carbon offsets is a non-negotiable step. There are people at odds with science and believe that such conservation and restoration efforts are not necessary. They get new lives because you know, the World Economic Forum is talking about it, he says. A study published in July 2019, led by Thomas Crowther of ETH-Zurich in Switzerland, estimated the world has room for an extra 0.9. We encourage you to research and examine these records to determine their accuracy. Theres still a question mark, says Beerling. You have to be careful where you do reforestation, says David Beerling of the University of Sheffield in the UK. But a growing number of scientists and environmentalists are challenging this narrative on tree-planting. He told DW that authorities first need to carry out an empirical study into the availability of water. A plantation site for the 10 Billion Tree Tsunami Project in the Khyber Pakhtunkhwa province of Pakistan. (n.d.). Did the government plant tens of thousands of trees in northern areas of the country? However, the states analytical blunder isnt representative of Terrapasss legitimacy or suspected lack thereof. This, to many, smacked of colonialism: By not excluding conservation areas and traditional rangelands, they say, these maps promote the idea that Africas natural heritage can be turned into industrial tree plantations to offset the rich worlds carbon emissions. Forests cannot be planted in isolation, he told DW, they need to have a canopy and understory where medicinal and herbal plantsmay flourish. The researchers determined this area by mapping land with sufficient rainfall to support trees, but that is not currently occupied by forests, agriculture, or urban areas. 8 Billion Trees is a carbon offset company that runs large-scale planting operations in the Amazon Rainforest. (n.d.). Then the carbon storage blows all the rest out of the water. Law agrees, saying the effects of aerosols are also a red herring. Put simply, where will people and nations allow the large-scale planting of trees? How would planting 8 billion trees every year for 20 years affect Earth Teenager Is on Track to Plant a Trillion Trees - Science Restoring trees to the landscape is truly a win-win for the climate and communities but we need to start planting now for new . But even as the arboreal campaigns have grown, dozens of scientists have warned that planting all those trees could potentially cause more harm than good. Planting 1 trillion trees might not actually be a good idea The project has banned those animals from those areas meaning that more wildfires can be expected in the future. Droughts, wildfire, and insect and disease outbreaks are becoming more frequent, and forests are being replaced by grassy shrublands after these disturbances, mostly because its now too hot and dry for new generations of saplings to survive. Vox. Retrieved July 17, 2021, from: https://carbonplan.org/research/forest-offsets-explainer, 5United States Department of Agriculture Forest Service. In fact, some planting projects are clearly legitimate without them, because they have government contracts or otherwise. Portfolio audit. Hassan Abbas, an expert in environmental affairs, says that the plan to plant ten billion trees is being executed without any proper planning. (Image) 6 Scientists have begun their own public relations battle against numbers-driven, large-scale tree planting. Nobodys against trees, said Benioff, adding, This is a time of action, not words. All of this makes it easier to offset your carbon footprint, and aids in the pursuit of furthering the mission to heal the planet and save animals. 'I've never said we should plant a trillion trees': what ecopreneur 8billiontrees scam? : r/Scams - reddit Data on the outcomes of conservation projects, available to academics, will facilitate a better understanding of what does and does not work in restoration ecology, he hopes. Others have attempted far more dramatic feats: in 2016 one Indian state planted 50 million trees in one day, while in July last year Ethiopia claimed to have planted 350 million in a day. The team mapped how tree crown diameter, coverage, and density varied depending on . Grasslands, especially waterlogged grasslands, can be shown to hold much more carbon than tree-covered landscapes if subsurface carbon is included in estimates, says Archibald. "Many saplings planted in Gujranwala burnt within no time due to intense heat,'' said the senior government official. They point to flaws in the studies that have inspired large-scale programs, and say that harmful types of tree planting are regularly conflated with beneficial natural forest restoration. Launched in 2019, the project with support from the United Nations Environment Programme is aiming to plant 10 billion trees by 2023. Research shows that these non-native trees can consume significantly more water than native plants and can dry up rivers and wetlands. All sorts of technological approaches have been proposed, but trees are an obvious contributor. || 8 Billion School - YouTube Ive never in my life said we should plant a trillion trees. Between 2003 and 2016, lands under indigenous control had the smallest losses of carbon because the forest stayed intact and regrew in places that had been disturbed. The current focus on trees rather than grasses is partly a result of technological limitations: Its far easier and cheaper to measure above-ground carbon held in vegetation than carbon held below-ground in soil. Read about our approach to external linking. For them, the government has taken positive action in the right direction. Retrieved July 17, 2021, from: https://fas.org/sgp/crs/misc/RL34560.pdf, 3Carbon Market Watch. Trees are an integral part of many animals livelihood, supplying food and shelter most importantly. Its implications were intoxicatingly hopeful. And many struggle because they dont have the right information, adds Crowther, who is to co-chair the UNs Decade on Ecosystem Restoration. If the issue did arise, the fault would lie with that individual business, not a company like Terrapass. Conserving, restoring and growing 1 trillion trees by 2030. Trees will definitely help us slow climate change, but they wont reverse it on their own. As the trees grow they pull in CO2 through their leaves and convert it into carbohydrates, which they use to grow. In particular, last year one research group claimed we can plant a trillion extra trees and remove a quarter of the carbon dioxide currently in the air. Its dangerous to conflate restoration with adding trees, says Archibald, of Wits University, because often restoration means taking trees away.. In Cambodia, a Battered Mekong Defies Doomsday Predictions, How Weather Forecasts Can Help Dams Supply More Water, In Scramble for Clean Energy, Europe Is Turning to North Africa, As Millions of Solar Panels Age Out, Recyclers Hope to Cash In. These chemicals stick together to form tiny floating particles called aerosols, which have complicated effects. They had already issued a lengthy response to criticisms in the journal Science, explaining that they did not mean reforestation was a potential magic bullet or a substitute for reducing fossil fuel use. The fifth most populous country in the world with over 24% of its people living in poverty, Pakistan is one of the states most vulnerable to the changing climate. Organizers of the Cauvery tree-planting project have said the criticism against it is a baseless opinion that contains blatant untruths and loose comments with no backing in facts. It says the trees will revive the river by increasing water retention. But the reaction we need to give to those people is: youre doing this totally wrong because youre lacking ecological information. The tree is just the symbol of ecosystem restoration., Researchers have identified South Africa's Kruger National Park (seen here) as suitable for planting trees, even though it is mostly a natural open savanna ecosystem. The skepticism isnt related to anything Terrapass has done particularly, but growing public uncertainty about the carbon marketplace. Many struggle because they dont have the right information.. Theyre politically popular, media-friendly, and often have stunning numbers attached: In 2019, Ethiopia claimed to have planted 350 million saplings in less than 12 hours, smashing the world record for trees planted in a day. The buzz generated by big international campaigns can give prestige to projects that have been rejected on the ground. We collect and match historical records that Ancestry users have contributed to their family trees to create each person's profile. Non-native eucalyptus and pine species are commonly used in tree planting projects worldwide because they grow fast in a range of climates, but the fact that so-called ecological restoration projects are planting billions of these saplings makes no sense to ecologists who have witnessed their negative impacts. A total cumulative of 165 billion tonnes of removal will be needed by 2050 in order to align with the 1.5C pathway, according to BeZero Carbon Liked by Tarick Belahbib Ce mardi 4 octobre 2022, le Prix Nobel de physique vient d'tre attribu alain aspect, directeur de recherche CNRS mrite au Laboratoire Its hard to predict how many trees theyll kill in the near future and how much carbon that will put into the atmosphere, but its likely to be considerable. We would like to show you a description here but the site won't allow us. After the initial media blitz rallied excitement for the seemingly simple climate solution, a group of 46 scientists, including Fleischman, responded to the study with their critique. Instead of that guy from Salesforce saying, Im going to put money into planting a trillion trees, Id like him to go and say, Im going to put my money into helping indigenous people in the Amazon defend their lands, Fleischman says. (2019, July 5). A study finds 1.8 billion trees and shrubs in the Sahara desert. The Pakistani government claims to have already planted over a billion trees as part of its ambitious plan, as well as having created around 85,000 jobs. Many Pashtuns grew alien eucalyptus on their pastures because it paid more than the traditional rentals. Its up to us to make our own maps, she says. Billion Tree Tsunami Programme Khyber Pakhtunkhwa. AI analysis of satellite images sees trees and shrubs where human eyes can't. Congressional Research Service. First off, 8 Billion Trees is not a charity, which means contributions are not tax-deductible. So, what exactly is Terrapasss place in the carbon offset marketplace? Many do successfully achieve that. (n.d.). The most notable concerns about carbon offset projects that companies like Terrapass support include their verifiability, how long the advantages last, leakage, and the selling of "empty" carbon credits. "I have seen the planting of thousands of trees in my own area," she said. Some 40,000 hectares of forest are being destroyed every year, the senior official said. Ecologists overwhelmingly agree forests have an important role to play in climate crisis mitigation alongside peatlands, wetlands and other solutions despite disagreement over the carbon accounting. World's #1 Fraud. His critique made the case that the amount of carbon the study said 1 trillion trees could sequester was about five times too large. Sign up for Verge Deals to get deals on products we've tested sent to your inbox daily. This practice involves increasing forests carbon dioxide storage capacity by altering forest management operations, such as the frequency of timber harvests. There are also further associated costs, a senior government official familiar with this project told DW on the condition of anonymity. Gujjars lost access to large grazing areas and were forced to sell their animals, abandon their traditional way of life, and seek low-paying jobs in distant cities. Any organization enrolled in a carbon offset program with genuine climate-friendly goals would try to prevent this. Women participating in Ethiopias mass tree-planting campaign in Addis Ababa last June. The verification process isnt just for confirming a projects validity. They still think forests play a role in solving the climate crisis their skepticism mostly centers around efforts to plant trees in places they werent before, or to plant large swaths of a single species to essentially create tree plantations instead of real forests. If the place should be a full forest, thats the level you should be restoring. (2021, June 15). There are also deeper problems, because trees have more than one way to affect the climate. In a 2017 study, researchers led by Bronsom Griscom, now at Conservation International, estimated the full potential of natural climate solutions. Uniting One World with 8 Billion Trees - UNA-USA As reported in Fast Company, about 165 billion packages are shipped in the US each year, with the cardboard used roughly equating to more than 1 billion trees (that's billion with a 'b').. They also crowd out native species and increase the fuel available to wildfires, making these more dangerous. Are Huge Tree Planting Projects More Hype than Solution? We want to protect and help Earth by planting and saving over 8 billion trees. He caught the eye of his Dutch backers, DOB Ecology, following his 2015 paper counting the planets three trillion trees, which remains the most authoritative estimate to date. A platform for the trillion trees community. | 1t.org But since the study was published, it has faced intense scientific criticism. Benioff views Crowther as a Steve Jobs of ecology, an ecopreneur who is using bold research to shine a light on natures potential to mitigate climate change and biodiversity loss. Earlier this year, he launched the platform Restor his lifes vision which brings together the latest data and thousands of conservation projects in a Google Maps of biodiversity. Taking stock of carbon. These figures have been widely criticised as overhyped and unreliable. Those grazing animals can help prevent wildfires, Mahmood Nasir explained. His lab has about 30 staff and an in-house public relations unit, and Crowther himself speaks on high-profile stages like TED and has access to wealthy businesspeople and top politicians. Additionality means that the offset project prevents a certain amount of carbon dioxide from entering the atmosphere. Volunteers plant trees on the edge of the Badain Jaran Desert on Chinas Tree-Planting Day on March 12, 2021 in Gansu Province. Carbon Footprint of a Laptop vs MacBook vs Desktop Computer vs iPhone In 2014 Unger calculated that, by chopping down forests from 1850 to the 2000s and thus preventing them emitting volatiles, we have created a cooling effect that slightly offset the warming from greenhouse gas emissions. Similar conflicts over land use exist in all countries. Dont use reforestation as an excuse for cutting down old-growth forests, because its no substitute., Even Thomas Crowther has backpedaled on tree planting. Are Huge Tree Planting Projects More Hype than Solution? * This article has been edited on 3 June 2020 to add details of the correction issued in Science on the paper by Thomas Crowther and his team. A graduate of the German University of Heidelberg, Parveen insists that this is the first Pakistani government to take environmental issues very seriously. In contrast, planting trees in snowy regions near the poles is likely to cause a net warming, while planting them in temperate climates like that of the UK, much of Europe and parts of the US may have no net effect on climate. But a growing number of scientists are warning that these massive projects can wreck natural ecosystems, dry up water supplies, damage agriculture, and push people off their land. Terrapass was conceived by Dr. Karl Ulrich and a team of 41 students from the University of Pennsylvania. More about Adam Welz, Never miss a feature! One solution, says Archibald, is better information. To view this video please enable JavaScript, and consider upgrading to a web browser that supports HTML5 video. They estimated that reforestation could remove three billion to 18 billion tonnes of CO2 per year. Needles of Blue Pine tree. Tree Planting to Rebuild Habitats and Offset Carbon At its core, 8 Billion Trees carries out large-scale tree planting and tree conservation operations to fuel positive environmental change and defend habi Planting trees, the team wrote, is one of the most effective carbon drawdown solutions to date. The founder of the foundation that launched it, yogi and author Sadhguru, joined Salesforces Benioff at a press conference for the trillion trees campaign in Davos. Tarick Belahbib - Sales Trader Environmental Commodities - LinkedIn

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