The study showed that species benefited more when their neighbouring trees were very different – for example deciduous trees which shed their leaves in autumn, thrived when planted next to evergreen trees, only amplifying the interconnectedness of the tree root systems and their being able to access resources more efficiently. To put this in context, of 100,000 trees planted, 30,000 will die.”Īccording to a new analysis of 273 species around the world, forests would be able to store more carbon if they contained a diversity of tree species. We need to be thinking about flood retention and natural regrowth. “Farmers will sell the land, and they won’t be working with the land anymore and what we don’t want to see is trees mono-planted solely for offsets. So we can’t reliably store the carbon – it feels short-termist. “Ironically in California, Microsoft invested in planting trees for carbon offsetting, which caught fire because of forest fires because of climate change. Are we thinking far enough ahead? 100 hectares is currently a big tick on a large company’s carbon offset budget. Sat in my favourite window seat, and holding the phone to my ear, a tall sycamore caught my eye, its leaves waving in the breeze, reminding me of the custodianship responsibility we must now take for the environment given where the human-centred approach has gotten us thus far.Ĭalvin’s methodical voice brought me back to the conversation: “The problem we have is increasing the multi-functional use of trees. To find out more I spoke to Calvin Jones, Professor of Economics at Cardiff University. Trees connectedness through root systems. Thus having the opposite of the desired outcome by planting the trees. However, while this could seem productive, this results in decreasing nutrients from the soil and a diversity of bacteria which are crucial in the fertility and natural balance of soils.
Given trees’ innate ability to do just that, there is a danger of trees being planted as part of an agricultural mono-cultured standard, meaning that the same trees will be planted in one place en masse. The report came after concerns were raised that companies may be attempting to ‘game the system’ by investing in farmland to offset carbon emissions which are then being lost to agriculture in Wales.Ĭarbon offsetting refers to the process of reducing or removing from the atmosphere, carbon dioxide or greenhouse gas emissions, as a type of compensation for emissions made.
However, a recent report suggested that many larger corporations are racing to plant trees to appear greener on paper, with the Welsh Affairs Committee warning that greater transparency and information is needed around the purchase of viable farmland in Wales by corporations utilising carbon offset schemes. Lee Walters, Deputy Minister of Climate Change has since announced the need to plant 86 million trees in the next decade in a bid to tackle the climate emergency. Since this announcement was made, Wales has developed an ambitious decarbonisation plan which since the inception of its Pledge Campaign back in 2019 has received 139 pledges from businesses, across Wales’ vibrant society to the public sector and its schools.
“Our sustainable development and environmental legislation is already recognised as world leading and now we must use that legislation to set a new pace of change.” “No nation in the world has yet fully grasped this challenge but just as Wales played a leading role in the first industrial revolution, I believe Wales can provide an example to others of what it means to achieve environmental growth. Wales was the first country in the world to declare a climate emergency back in 2019 when MS Lesley Griffiths, Minister of Rural Affairs and North Wales and Trefnydd, said: If you were to dissect the ground below, you’d see a map of the forest, which in her book ‘Braiding Sweetgrass’ scientist Robin Wall Kimmerer calls, ‘the viscera of the forest.’ĭespite the peacefulness of my surroundings, these trees are on the front line of the fight against climate change, championed as one of the few viable solutions to reducing the carbon in the atmosphere in our global race for Net Zero status. The root system of a tree is like a labyrinth, an interconnectedness where mature and established trees nurture saplings.Īlthough I’m mindful that the reserve is manmade, there is an abundance of variety, from my favourite oak to sycamore and rowan trees. Leaning against a mature, sturdy oak for support I notice first its height, and then imagine the complexity of what is going on underground.
Just a stone’s throw from my cottage in rural north Wales is a secluded reserve, somewhere where you go to get away from the noise of the traffic from the A55, somewhere where you can breathe.
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