Protect and Preserve the Forests
Since the 1970's humanity has demanded more of our biosphere than it can replenish. The current crises of climate and biodiversity are an effect of this "global overshoot." Forests are the single asset we currently have that may help us overcome both -- if we preserve and protect them. Yet, the industry and our government are prioritizing profit.
Please click on the buttons below to learn more about each topic.
A small overview or where we are today on forests and climate change and how we got here. A review of current legislative efforts and misinformation surrounding them.
A call to action!
Burning wood pollutes as much as coal (it's the same stuff!) However, technocrats and lobbyists have classified it as 'clean and renewable' and are working to convince your elected officials of the same. The woody biomass for energy industry is subsidized and incentivized by our governments, and indirectly by tax-payers who want to see their forests preserved, not clear-cut for pellets.
The older the forest, the more integral the ecosystem, the better the carbon absorption and retention. Forests and their soils are incredible and much needed carbon sinks.
Tree shelters increase seedling survival by up to 40% and are key as we plant 1 Trillion Trees globally. Unfortunately, often tree shelters are abandoned in plantings, leaving them to strangle a young tree or to decompose into microplastics.
A Global Design Challenge would generate awareness and solve the problem of producing viable, affordable, and fully compostable tree shelter options for all afforestation projects across the globe. Please click on the button to see how we envision such a challenge.
Most States are eagerly putting forests into 'conservation.' However, this often only means that the land, currently forested, will not be paved over. These forests become 'working forests' and are actively managed, i.e. logged. Experts agree that what we need now, for draw-down and biodiversity, is forest preservation.
Op Ed: Maryland Matters, 8/1/23:
Government officials need to do more to protect mature forests — and fight climate change
The Wood Vault is hailed by some as a solution to climate change: let trees scrub our air clean, then cut them down and bury any wood not needed deep underground or in a mound to sequester the CO2. However, this approach generates perverse incentives for unnecessary logging in the carbon trade market and it removes trees that are actively working to draw down pollution and provide valuable habitat. Importantly, it ignores emissions from logging, soil-C loss, Arbuscular Mycorrhizal Fungi die off, transportation, sorting, digging or building the vault, etc. It makes more sense to leave the trees in the forest to draw down CO2 and sequester it in the soils than to log them generating a lot of new emissions. Please click on the button to learn more!
