Afforestation

Picture of a sapling planted in a reforestation project (Environment Buddy)

What is Afforestation?

Afforestation is the process where trees are planted in areas with no forest coverage. With drastic increase in temperatures due to global warming, afforestation has shown potential for reducing carbon emissions and is a solution for global warming. Not only does afforestation allow for more tree species and commercial benefits, but it also increases biodiversity and restores any lost ecosystems. With afforestation, environmental protection and preservation of natural forests serves as a way to conserve these forests and enforce proper management. Advantages to afforestation include: sustainable supply of resources for local businesses, prevention of soil erosion, combating air pollution, increasing employment, and creating more carbon sinks. In particular, afforestation creates carbon sinks which play a significant part in reducing carbon emissions. Therefore, afforestation can contribute to our goal of reaching a 3 GtCO2 per year reduction and limiting the average temperature rise of 2 degrees Celsius.

USDA Forest Service announced in 2020 a National Ten Year Urban and Community Forestry Action Plan to promote prevention and management.

Will afforestation make an impact on emissions?

In order to determine the projected reduction of carbon emissions by 2050, we accounted for the amount of hectares of land available and 11.9 tons CO2 per hectare which was estimated from values by Ross Gorte (mentioned below). Following this and estimating the percent of contribution from reforestation projects in the US, calculations resulted in reductions of 0.5 GtCO2/year which is a significant part of our goal of reaching the 3 GtCO2/year by 2050.

How much resources does afforestation need?

A major contributor for afforestation is the amount of land available in the US and its land requirements. According to Ross W. Gorte, a specialist in Natural Resources Policy, in order to achieve 1 billion metric tons of CO2 offsets, 84 million hectares of land available will be required [3]. In 2003, the USDA also reported that there are 728 million hectares of undeveloped land but areas incapable of forest development should be taken into consideration [3]. To evaluate high-end estimates, a quarter of undeveloped land must be a part of the afforestation project in order to achieve sequestration while low-end estimates could potentially decrease cropland, pastureland, and private rangeland.

Visual of the start of a reforestation project (Carthage News)

Is afforestation easily implementable in the US?

From observing the Technology Readiness Level (TRL), the TRL for afforestation ranges from 8-9 (early deployment to commercial support). Afforestation is a well established solution with full potential of reducing carbon emissions. Due to there not being any afforestation projects in the US, there are current reforestation projects in the US. For example, reforestation projects are prevalent, especially in the Midwest. According to the Illinois Office of Mines and Minerals, around 445 and 1093 hectares were set aside for reforestation and woody-wildlife [6]. In addition, seven state governments in the Midwest planted 27 million trees on previous mining fields [6]. Not only did these reforestation projects rehabilitate land but also increased the overall quality of soil and wildlife habitats. With the planting of these trees, new tree growth will contribute to sequestering future carbon emissions which influence our goal of limiting the average temperature to 2 degrees Celsius.

What are some potential risks and issues with the public?

Despite afforestation being a large carbon sink, it is important to address its potential risks and issues. Some disadvantages to afforestation include the following: losing land for urban development, improper forest management leading to loss of biodiversity, and littering due to ecotourism. Also, competition between afforestation and land use could disrupt the food supply. In terms of issues with the public, one would be the fear of incentivizing reforestation projects that are poorly designed and managed, causing more carbon emissions. In addition, reforestation projects should definitely account for Native American lands and learning their way of forest management. For example, the US Forest Service partnered with Native American tribal leaders to encourage proper management of land. This is due to the fact that fire suppression has increased wildfire risks, especially in California. Without controlled burns, thick vegetation can grow and dry, thus kindling fires in the hotter seasons.

US map of forest service regions with tribal relations (Landscape)

Are there proposed policies used today?

The US Forest Service, under the US Department of Agriculture, has laws, regulations, and policies that address proper forest management. Due to common reforestation projects with very little afforestation projects, policies that can be implemented would be establishing initiatives and regulations for afforestation projects in order to get government funding support. For example, the Forest and Range Renewables Resources Planning is an established public land policy that accounts for management and protection of public lands. The Bankhead-Jones Farm Tenant Act establishes regulations for land conservation and monitoring reforestation projects and preservation of wildlife. Forestry Laws are also prevalent in the US where programs such as US Environmental Protection Agency and US Forest Service Law enforcement play an important in enforcing regulations and federal laws.

References

1. Soomro, A. Afforestation; Importance, Advantages & Disadvantages. Current efforts! https://www.environmentbuddy.com/plants-and-trees/what-is-afforestation-importance-advantages-disadvantages/ (accessed Dec 5, 2020).

2. https://www.nap.edu/resource/25259/Negative%20Emissions%20Technologies.pdf (accessed Dec 5, 2020).

3. Gorte, R. W. U.S. tree planting for carbon sequestration https://fas.org/sgp/crs/misc/R40562.pdf (accessed Dec 5, 2020).

4. 2020 urban and community forestry challenge cost share grant program https://www.fs.usda.gov/managing-land/urban-forests/ucf/2020-nufrigp (accessed Dec 5, 2020).

5. https://www.researchgate.net/publication/277928846_Investing_in_negative_emissions/figures?lo=1 (accessed Dec 5, 2020).

6. Afforestation in the Midwestern United States https://lcluc.umd.edu/hotspot/afforestation-midwestern-united-states (accessed Dec 5, 2020).

7. Ferri, A. 5 Reforestation Projects in the United States - nature’s packaging https://www.naturespackaging.org/en/5-reforestation-projects-united-states/ (accessed Dec 5, 2020).

8. Laws, regulations & policies https://www.fs.fed.us/forestmanagement/aboutus/lawsandregs.shtml (accessed Dec 5, 2020).

9. https://www.hg.org/forestry-law.html (accessed Dec 5, 2020).

10. Nix, S. Federal and state forestry assistance programs https://www.thoughtco.com/forestry-assistance-programs-1343052 (accessed Dec 5, 2020).

11. Stanford University. When Planting Trees Threatens the Forest: Poorly Designed Tree-Planting Campaigns Could Do More Harm than Good. Science Daily. June 22, 2020.

12. Sommer, L. To Manage Wildfire, California Looks to What Tribes Have Known All Along. NPR. August 24, 2020.

13. EarthTalk: Reforestation projects https://carthagenewsonline.com/news/lifestyle/earthtalk-reforestation-projects/ (accessed Dec 5, 2020).

14. http://www.landscope.org/downloadFile/?id=9 (accessed Dec 5, 2020).