The Challenges Facing Reforestation Efforts
Image by Ministry of Environment - Rwanda from Flickr
Reforestation is a way to improve forest health and combat deforestation, which is the permanent removal of trees to convert the land for non-forest use. Planting trees comes with many benefits: they provide the air we breathe, store carbon dioxide, and supply clean water. But reforestation isn’t as simple as planting a few trees and immediately reaping those benefits. There are struggles that come along with the process. (1)
One of those struggles is activities like illegal logging. In Africa, $17 billion (in USD) is lost annually due to this practice. Alongside illegal logging, forests are also cleared to expand land for fuel and food. As long as the food demands continue to rise without optimized agricultural productivity, the forests are at risk. Africa accounts for over half of global deforestation, even though they only have 17% of the world’s forests. (2, 3)
Voluntary codes of conduct are in place to combat deforestation and illegal logging, but they are often simply ignored. In order to stop these activities, regulations must be put into place that remove the profitability of illegal logging. If managed correctly, forests are a potential source of opportunity and wealth. The International Food Policy Research Institute discovered that agricultural growth reduces poverty roughly twice as much as growth in other sectors, on average. But without proper regulations, these activities are likely to continue. (2, 3)
Another struggle that reforesters face is the focus on quantity over quality. A lot of emphasis is placed on planting trees with little afterthought about making sure those trees grow successfully. If a project is planned incorrectly, in that it doesn’t take into concern the scientific, political, social, and economic matters, then it could have more of a negative effect than a positive one. (4)
Image by World Bank Photo Collection from Flickr
According to Lalisa Duguma, a scientist with World Agroforestry in Nairobi, Kenya, there are many factors that restoration projects need to consider, including where to plant the seeds, the best times of the year for planting, how to monitor growth, and who will care for the seedlings. Another question that needs to be addressed is if the trees are going to be planted in a developing country, how do you balance the economic and environmental needs of the country’s people? (4)
The latter question is something that Eden Reforestation Projects has made sure to answer with their reforestation work. In order to have a successful reforestation project, Eden Projects states, it must benefit the local community. Oftentimes deforestation in developing countries is due to people cutting down the trees for their survival. To combat this, Eden Projects employs local people to plant the trees. This gives people an income to rely on so they aren’t forced to cut down trees to make a profit. (5, 6)
To make sure reforestation is successful and the planting tree movement doesn’t lose steam from unsuccessful plantings, it’s important to conduct research and properly plan. This makes sure that money doesn’t go to waste and public goodwill isn’t lost. To help with reforestation efforts, we sell seedballs that make planting easier. Our pine, flower, and grass seedballs can be used to restore marshes, grasslands, wetlands, and forests.
Citations
(1) Derouin, S. (2019, November 6). Deforestation: Facts, causes & effects. Live Science. https://www.livescience.com/27692-deforestation.html
(2) Munang, R. (2016, February 23). Re-afforestation a game changer for Africa’s sustainable growth? This Is Africa. https://thisisafrica.me/africans-rising/re-afforestation-game-changer-africas-sustainable-growth/
(3) Africa Progress Panel. (2014, May 19). Africa Progress Report 2014 - Grain Fish Money: Financing Africa’s Green and Blue Revolutions. https://www.afdb.org/fileadmin/uploads/afdb/Documents/Project-and-Operations/Africa_Progress_Report_2014.PDF
(4) Gramling, C. (2021, July 14). Why planting tons of trees isn’t enough to solve climate change. Science News. https://www.sciencenews.org/article/planting-trees-climate-change-carbon-capture-deforestation
(5) Eden Reforestation Projects. (n.d.). The problem & the solution. https://edenprojects.org/the-problem-and-the-solution/
(6) Kerby, M. (2018, March 22). Reforestation: More than just planting trees. Chemonics International. https://www.chemonics.com/blog/reforestation-more-than-just-planting-trees/