The Land & Climate Podcast

Why can't we 'just plant trees'?

Economy Land & Climate Insight Team

Afforestation projects are being used worldwide as a nature-based solution to climate change.  Afforestry is the practice of planting trees on otherwise arid, barren land. Harvard scholar Rosetta Elkin explains how large-scale tree planting in otherwise treeless environments rarely makes ecological sense. In many instances throughout history, these projects have also been used as instruments of colonial forestry, used by the coloniser as a way of staking claim to the land. Elkin argues for a better understanding of our ecosystem on the scale of one single tree rather than whole forests.

Further Reading


Click here to read our investigation into the UK biomass supply chain, or watch a clip from the BBC Newsnight documentary.