We’ve long known the importance of forests.
Trees act as a carbon sink,
absorbing and holding on to carbon,
and preventing it from entering the atmosphere
and accelerating climate change.
Yet each year
15 billion trees are cut down.
In fact, we've lost 46% of the world's trees
since the beginning of human civilization.
So what does it take to bring back our forests?
Reforestation is helping to bring back trees
to areas that have lost their forests.
Around the world, countries have committed to restoring
350 million hectares of forest.
Latin American countries have pledged
to restore 20 million hectares of degraded forest,
and African countries have pledged
more than 100 million hectares.
When people think of reforestation
they often think of massive tree-planting efforts.
But really the fastest and cheapest way
of restoring degraded forests is
by encouraging natural regeneration.
Natural regeneration occurs in areas where dormant seeds,
or seeds that will be dispersed by nearby forests
start to regrow naturally without human intervention.
This method produces the greatest diversity of tree species –
increasing forest resilience
and resistance to pests and pathogens.
Natural regeneration should really be our default method
for restoring landscapes
because it is the best strategy that we have
to remove carbon from the atmosphere –
to do it rapidly
and to do it relatively cheaply.
There are almost one billion hectares
worth of forest restoration potential
on the planet.
One third shows substantial promise for natural regeneration.
The remaining two-thirds will require
more active forms of forest management,
like tree planting,
or climate-resilient agriculture,
including agroforestry
or silvopasture.
And the good news is that, according to a new study,
adding nearly one billion hectares of forests
could help limit global warming
to 2.7 degrees Farenheit (1.5 degrees Celsius).
Restoration is a Natural Climate Solution.
It's simple:
with more trees,
we will reduce climate change impacts.
But it is vitally important
that local communities, companies and countries
agree to keep forests standing
and help new forests grow.
If we want to save the planet,
we all have to work together —
that includes you, too!
There are a couple of things that you as an individual can do
to support the restoration agenda.
The first is to purchase deforestation-free products
and to look for products that were grown
in a regenerative way
like agroforestry coffee or agroforestry cacao.
The second is, if you have a lawn,
to explore options for planting native species
that sequester carbon
and that provide habitat for local wildlife.
And the last option
is to engage with your local policy maker
to encourage them
to develop policies that are science-driven
and encourage restoration in the most cost-effective ways.