For years now, environmentalists have been preaching about protecting forests. They have stressed about the importance of trees and why illegal loggers should be band.
For quite some time now, governments have banded together to protect the little forest they have left, and it seems as if their efforts have been worthwhile. Great changes are being made.
According to staunch naturalist, John Muir, when it comes to the passage of the law that is designed to protect Yosemite Valley, the efforts will be worth it because “every pine tree will be waving his arms for joy” with the result.
This was his answer on the news from WWF. The foundation has set itself out to protect the natural rainforests all over the world. They have inspected what had happened to these green areas years before and have seen improvements. They have observed the regeneration of natural forests all over and said that it now covers an area the size of France, which is around 59 million hectares. This amazing improvement has been made over the last 20 years.
There are several scientific and conservation groups that have been engaged in the project. They said that the restored forest was tracked by making use of satellite data. While we still have a long way to go, the size of France does make a difference. This alone has the potential and the ability to absorb around 5.9 gigatons of carbon dioxide. The figures are more than the annual emissions found in the United States.
According to John Lotspeich, executive director of Trillion Trees, “This map will be a valuable tool for conservationists, policymakers, and funders to better understand the multiple ways we can work to increase forest cover for the good of the planet. The data show the enormous potential of natural habitats to recover when given the chance to do so.”
Researchers have delved deeper into the changes and said that about 1.2 million hectares of regrowth were seen in the forests that ran along Mongolia’s northern border. This isn’t exclusive to just Mongolia. Other areas have also benefited from the efforts. Canada and the central African basin were also seen to be regrowth hotspots. Moreover, the forestlands that ran along the Atlantic coast of Brazil, the area second in biodiversity only to the Amazon, saw an area the size of the Netherlands return back to trees. This was amazing when they observed the forest for the first time in the year 2000.
All the forests that are being tracked are natural. In fact, the NGOs have included in their data both areas that have needed not much more than to be left on its own to regenerate and the stands of trees that have needed active assistance from planters for regrowth. They purposely didn’t include those commercial plantations from the project they did.
The resulting satellite map, which was a joint effort between organizations such as WWF, Birdlife International, and Wildlife Conservation Society, is deemed to be an exploratory one. In fact, the contributors behind the project calling for it to be further evaluated and clarified in order to get a more accurate data.
There are many ways to address the problem of carbon emissions, but trees are a practical, effective, and inexpensive way to remove CO2 from the present atmosphere. While climate change has certainly been a problem, this is just one of the principles that scientists have designed to mitigating the worst effects of climate change.
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