Reforestation is the natural
or intentional restocking of existing forests and woodlands that
have been depleted, usually through deforestation.
Reforestation can be used to improve the quality of human life by soaking up pollution and
dust from the air, rebuild natural habitats and ecosystems,
mitigate global warming since forests facilitate biosequestration
of atmospheric carbon dioxide, and harvest for resources,
particularly timber.
The term reforestation is
similar to afforestation, the process of restoring and recreating
areas of woodlands or forests that may have existed long ago but were deforested
or otherwise removed at some point in the past. Sometimes the term re-afforestation
is used to distinguish between the original forest cover and the later
re-growth of forest to an area. Special tools, e.g. tree
planting bar, are used to make planting of trees easier and faster.
Management
Reforestation of large areas can be
done through the use of measuring rope (for accurate plant spacing) and
dibbers, (or wheeled augers for planting the larger trees) for making the hole
in which a seedling
or plant can be inserted. Indigenous soil
inoculants (e.g., Laccaria bicolor) can optionally be used to
increase survival rates in hardy environments.
A debatable issue in managed
reforestation is whether or not the succeeding forest will have the same biodiversity
as the original forest. If the forest is replaced with only one species of tree
and all other vegetation is prevented from growing back, a monoculture
forest similar to agricultural crops would be the result. However, most
reforestation involves the planting of different feedlots of seedlings taken
from the area often of multiple species. Another important factor is the
natural regeneration of a wide variety of plant and animal species that can
occur on a clear cut. In some areas the suppression of forest fires
for hundreds of years has resulted in large single aged and single species
forest stands. The logging of small clear cuts and or prescribed burning,
actually increases the biodiversity in these areas by creating a greater
variety of tree stand ages and species.
For harvesting
Reforestation need not be only used
for recovery of accidentally destroyed forests. In some countries, such as Finland, the
forests are managed by the wood products and pulp and paper industry. In such an
arrangement, like other crops, trees are replanted wherever they are cut. In
such circumstances, the industry can cut the trees in a way to allow easier
reforestation. The wood products industry systematically replaces many of the
trees it cuts, employing large numbers of summer workers for tree
planting work. For example, in 2010, Weyerhaeuser
reported planting 50 million seedlings.
In just 20 years, a teak plantation in Costa Rica
can produce up to about 400 m of wood per hectare. As the natural teak forests
of Asia become more scarce or difficult to obtain, the prices commanded by
plantation-grown teak grow higher every year. Other species such as mahogany grow
slower than teak in Tropical America but are also extremely valuable. Faster
growers include pine,
eucalyptus,
and Gmelina.
Reforestation, if several native
species are used, can provide other benefits in addition to financial returns,
including restoration of the soil, rejuvenation of local flora and fauna, and
the capturing and sequestering of 38 tons of carbon dioxide per hectare per year.
The reestablishment of forests is
not just simple tree planting. Forests are made up of a diversity of species
and they build dead organic matter into soils over time. A major tree-planting
program in a place like this would enhance the local climate and reduce the
demands of burning large amounts of fossil fuels for cooling in the summer.
For climate change mitigation
Forests are an important part of
the global carbon cycle because trees and plants
absorb carbon dioxide through photosynthesis.
By removing this greenhouse gas from the air, forests function as
terrestrial carbon sinks, meaning they store large amounts of carbon.
At any time, forests account for as much as double the amount of carbon in the
atmosphere. Even as more anthropogenic carbon is produced, forests remove around
three billion tons of anthropogenic carbon every year. This amounts to about
30% of all carbon dioxide emissions from fossil
fuels. Therefore, an increase in the overall forest cover around the world
would tend to mitigate global warming.
There are four major strategies
available to mitigate carbon emissions through forestry activities: increase
the amount of forested land through a reforestation process; increase the
carbon density of existing forests at a stand and landscape scale; expand the
use of forest products that will sustainably replace fossil-fuel emissions; and
reduce carbon emissions that are caused from deforestation and degradation.
Achieving the first strategy would
require enormous and wide-ranging efforts. However, there are many
organizations around the world that encourage tree-planting as a way to offset
carbon emissions for the express purpose of fighting climate change. For
example, in China, the Jane Goodall Institute, through their
Shanghai Roots & Shoots division, launched the
Million Tree Project in Kulun Qi, Inner
Mongolia to plant one million trees to stop desertification
and help curb climate change. China has used 24 billion metres squared of new
forest plantation and natural forest regrowth to offset 21% of Chinese fossil
fuel emissions in 2000. In Java, Indonesia each newlywed couple is to give
whoever is sermonizing their wedding 5 seedlings to combat global warming. Each
couple that wishes to have a divorce has to give 25 seedlings to whoever
divorces them.
The second strategy has to do with
selecting species for tree-planting. In theory, planting any kind of tree to
produce more forest cover would absorb more carbon dioxide from the atmosphere.
On the other hand, a genetically modified tree specimen might grow
much faster than any other regular tree.[11]:93
Some of these trees are already being developed in the lumber
and biofuel
industries. These fast-growing trees would not only be planted for those industries
but they can also be planted to help absorb carbon dioxide faster than
slow-growing trees.
Extensive forest resources placed
anywhere in the world will not always have the same impact. For example, large
reforestation programs in boreal or subarctic
regions have a limited impact on climate mitigation. This is because it
substitutes a bright snow-dominated region that reflects the sunlight with dark
forest canopies. A study from the National Center for Atmospheric
Research in Boulder, Colorado, USA, found that trees in
temperate latitudes have a net warming effect on the atmosphere. The heat that
dark leaves release without absorbing outweighs the carbon they sequester. On
the other hand, a positive example would be reforestation projects in tropical
regions, which would lead to a positive biophysical change such as the
formation of clouds.
These clouds would then reflect the sunlight, creating a positive impact on climate mitigation.
There is an advantage to planting
trees in tropical climates with wet seasons.
In such a setting, trees have a quicker growth rate
because they can grow year-round. Trees in tropical climates have, on average,
larger, brighter, and more abundant leaves than non-tropical climates. A study
of the girth
of 70,000 trees across Africa has shown that tropical forests are soaking up more
carbon dioxide pollution than previously realized. The research suggests almost
one fifth of fossil fuel emissions are absorbed by forests across Africa, Amazonia and Asia. Simon Lewis, a
climate expert at the University of Leeds, who led the study, said:
"Tropical forest trees are absorbing about 18% of the carbon dioxide added
to the atmosphere each year from burning fossil fuels, substantially buffering
the rate of change."
It is also important to deal with
the rate of deforestation. At this point, there are 13 billion metres squared
of tropical regions that are deforested every year. There is potential for
these regions to reduce rates of deforestation by 50% by 2050, which would be a
huge contribution to stabilize the global climate.[7]:1456
Incentives
Some incentives for reforestation
can be as simple as a financial compensation. Streck and Scholz (2006) explain
how a group of scientists from various institutions have developed a
compensated reduction of deforestation approach which would reward developing
countries that disrupt any further act of deforestation. Countries that
participate and take the option to reduce their emissions from deforestation
during a committed period of time would receive financial compensation for the
carbon dioxide emissions that they avoided. To raise the payments, the host
country would issue government bonds or negotiate some kind of loan with a
financial institution that would want to take part in the compensation promised
to the other country. The funds received by the country could be invested to
help find alternatives to the extensive cutdown of forests. This whole process
of cutting emissions would be voluntary, but once the country has agreed to
lower their emissions they would be obligated to reduce their emissions.
However, if a country was not able to meet their obligation, their target would
get added to their next commitment period. The authors of these proposals see
this as a solely government-to-government agreement; private entities would not
participate in the compensation trades.
Examples
It is the stated goal of the US
Forest Service to manage forest resources sustainably. This includes
reforestation after timber harvest, among other programs.
In Germany,
reforestation is required as part of the federal forest law. 31% of Germany is
forested, according to the second forest inventory of 2001–2003. The size of
the forest area in Germany increased between the first and the second forest
inventory due to forestation of degenerated bogs and agricultural
areas. In China, extensive replanting programs have existed since the 1970s.
Programs have had overall success. The forest cover has increased from 12% of
China's land area to 16%. However, specific programs have had limited success.
The "Green Wall of China", an attempt to limit
the expansion of the Gobi Desert is planned to be 2,800 miles
(4,500 km) long and to be completed in 2050. In Canada, overall forest
cover is increasing over the last decades.
In Borneo Dr Willie
Smits, bought up nearly 2000 ha of deforested degraded land in East
Kalimantan that had suffered from mechanical logging, drought and severe fires
and was covered in alang-alang grass. In a project called Samboja
Lestari an area was reforested.
The Groasis
Waterboxx was designed specifically to establish trees in areas undergoing
desertification. It collects dew and infrequent rain, and slowly releases it to
the plants roots, promoting deeper root growth.
Ma Yongshun (1914-2000), a forestry
worker who, during his career, chopped down 36,500 trees for China's
development, single-handedly planted more than 35,500 trees since the 1960s.
Each spring he would plant trees using his free time before work, after work,
during lunch time, and after his retirement. Later, at the age of 78 he
recruited the help of his family and thus he was able to fully fulfill his
promise to the mountain by planting, in total, more than 50,000 trees. By 1996
he had built a breeding base for trees of high quality. He had inspired many
people to help the environment and had taught many people to plant trees (his
students’ tree planting efforts have a success rate of 95%).
In India, Abdul Karim created a
forest out of nothing over a period of 19 years, using the same method as the
main character Bouffier. Also in India, Jadav
"Molai" Payeng, planted a forest sprawling 1,360 acres, now named
the Molai
forest, in Assam,
India.[22][23][24][25][26]
Similarly, concerned about global warming, Bhausaheb Thorat planted 45
million seeds after being inspired by the 1953 book The Man Who Planted Trees by French
author Jean
Giono. For this he started the Dandakaranya Abhiyaan
in June 2006 at Sangamner, Maharashtra, India (Sangamner is on Pune-Nasik
highway). UNEP has
taken notice of this campaign in its A Billion Tree Campaign in which almost 45
million seedlings have been planted. Harmony magazine's Tina Anil Ambani
has an article on Bhausaheb Thorat's global warming awareness efforts and his Dandakaranya
Abhiyaan in the December 2008 edition.
An organization called Trees for the Future has assisted more than
170,000 families, in 6,800 villages of Asia, Africa, and the Americas, to plant
over 35 million trees. Wangari Maathai, 2004 Nobel
Peace Prize recipient, founded the Green Belt Movement which planted over 47
million trees to restore the Kenyan environment. Shanghai Roots
& Shoots, a division of the Jane Goodall Institute, launched The Million
Tree Project in Kulun Qi, Inner Mongolia to plant one million trees to stop desertification
and alleviate global warming.
Criticisms
Reforestation competes with other
land uses such as food production, livestock grazing and living space for
further economic growth. Reforestation often has the tendency to create large
fuel loads, resulting in significantly hotter combustion than fires involving
low brush or grasses. Reforestation can divert large amounts of water from
other activities. Reforesting sometimes results in extensive canopy creation
that prevents growth of diverse vegetation in the shadowed areas and generating
soil conditions that hamper other types of vegetation. Trees used in some
reforesting efforts (e.g., eucalyptus globulus) tend to extract large amounts
of moisture from the soil, preventing the growth of other plants.
There is also the risk that through
a forest fire
or insect outbreak much of the stored carbon in a reforested area could make
its way back to the atmosphere. Reduced harvesting rates and fire suppression
have caused an increase in the forest biomass in the western United States over
the past century. This causes an increase of about a factor of four in the
frequency of fires due to longer and hotter dry seasons.
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