A couple of weeks ago I posted a link to an article on tree-planting efforts in Guatemala, where farming, industry, and individuals’ need for fuel have led to massive deforestation. As some of you have pointed out, though, similar efforts of one kind or another are taking place around the world.
Many parts of the world, notably Europe and China, have decimated their forests, and government programs are now trying to reverse the process. The European Union pays farmers to turn farmland into forest, which has led to the reforestation of at least 6,000 square kilometers in the last two decades. In the early 1980s, China began requiring each citizen to plant a tree a year, and while enforcing that law is difficult, an estimated 47,000 square kilometers of trees have been planted as a result.
This week, the English-language version of China’s People’s Daily reported on progress in the Ningxia region in north-central China. According to the article, the region has reclaimed 733 square kilometers of land once considered “desertified” and has reduced the amount of soil pouring into the Yellow River by 40 million tons per year. In the last five years, the article reports, more than 4,000 square kilometers have been afforested. (“Afforestation” generally means planting trees in areas that were not previously forested, as opposed to “reforestation,” replanting trees in an area where they had been cut down.)
Are you aware of other efforts at reforestation or afforestation? How are they being funded? How well are they working?