Study uncovers concerning issue with common tree-planting projects — and they could backfire

Scientists are cautioning against a popular strategy to help achieve net zero carbon pollution, warning that the practice could wind up harming the environment as much as it helps. 

What's happening?

According to the study released in Science, researchers looked at the impacts of reforestation, planting trees in areas that previously had forests, and afforestation, planting trees in areas that previously didn't have forests, on reducing carbon pollution.

The assumption had long been that planting trees encourages and boosts the biodiversity of the areas where they are being placed. 

Instead, the study found that in areas where forests were not previously located, there was more benefit from not planting forests and instead rewilding those areas, allowing biodiversity to return.

In fact, planting forests in regions that were not previously forested was found to harm biodiversity, as the animals native to the regions typically didn't live in forests to begin with.

Why is this important?

Reforestation and afforestation are two significant ways to fight the changing climate, in what are known as land-based mitigation strategies, or LBMSs. By planting more trees around the world, we're absorbing more and more carbon dioxide from the atmosphere, reducing our carbon impact in the process. 

While reducing the impact of our changing climate does have a positive impact on wildlife and biodiversity, this study shows it can have a substantially negative impact on the local wildlife. Instead, projects should focus less on planting trees where there have not historically been trees and more on knowing what the landscape was like before we impacted it. 

The study's authors included in their research that "it is therefore critical that LBMS projects draw on local knowledge to accurately forecast potential biodiversity outcomes and ensure that in addressing climate change we do not inadvertently worsen the biodiversity crisis."

What's being done about forestation?

This isn't the first time researchers have realized that mindlessly throwing trees at the climate problem isn't as effective a solution as some may think. 

Other research, focusing specifically on planting trees in the Arctic, noted that afforestation in that region can actually accelerate the planet's heating rather than slow it down. While nothing has directly been done as a result of these studies, hopefully, they'll lead to more careful consideration of where and how we plant trees as we try to cool off our heating planet. 

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