It's not just about planting trees to plant trees





Let's talk about planting trees. You may have just come to hear about recent efforts by individuals, groups, and even entire countries planting trees to combat climate change and cut atmospheric carbon dioxide (CO2). Last year, China began efforts to "increase the country's forest coverage from 21 percent of its total landmass to 23 per cent by 2020" (Independent), and deployed its army to plant trees. And just last month, Ethiopia led what is believed to be a world record in planting more than 353 billion trees in 12 hours, as part of "a wider reforestation campaign named 'Green Legacy'" (CNN). 

 According to a recent article in Discover Magazine, research estimates that atmospheric CO2 could be cut by 26 percent if forests are restored to their maximum potential. Research like this has led to earnest efforts in recent years to plant billions and trillions of trees, however that same article states that experts also warn that there's more to it than just planting trees.

 Scientists in Switzerland assessed the worldwide land available to hold more trees and determined "the planet has 0.9 billion hectares of land available to hold more trees", however they also say that not all areas that CAN be forested SHOULD necessarily be forested. So battling climate change requires strategy beyond planting as many trees as possible. In fact, according to the authors of the paper published in the journal Science, six countries alone hold more than 50 percent of the potential restoration area. Lucky for we potters who want to do our part, the United States is among those countries (along with Russia, Canada, Australia, Brazil, and China). 

 So while we will be focusing our efforts to share information on how you can help tree planting efforts in western North Carolina, we will also share resources for efforts being led around the world. Stay tuned to learn more about native trees that can be planted in WNC as well as any events and opportunities available to plant or have trees planted.

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