Improving Reforestation for Biodiversity, Carbon Capture and Livelihoods
From 24 - 26 February 2021, over 600 delegates attended a conference on improving reforestation for biodiversity, carbon capture and livelihoods. Creating biodiverse ecosystems, combatting the climate crisis and alleviating poverty are three core values of LEAF, so the conference perfectly fitted our agenda. Members of LEAF were amongst those attending the conference, gaining many scientific insights on how to optimise our restoration efforts to meet these three goals.
The conference began with a welcome from the Director of Science of Royal Botanic Gardens, Kew, Prof. Alexandre Antonelli, before ten golden rules for restoration were outlined. These include maximising restoration to meet multiple goals, using native tree species wherever possible and using research-driven techniques, all key components of LEAF’s work. The conference was then formally opened by two key advocates of reforestation: HRH The Prince of Wales and President Carlos Alvarado Quesada of Costa Rica. The words from the Costa Rican president were exceptionally poignant as Costa Rica has dramatically reversed its fortunes by overcoming high deforestation rates and becoming one of the most forested countries worldwide by championing forest restoration programmes. Finally, opening words were provided by the main conference sponsor, Sky 0, and the Chair of Trustees of the Royal Botanical Gardens, Kew.
The conference started in earnest with a session on tree planting for carbon sequestration. Prof. Simon Lewis began by showing that forest restoration can make a considerable difference to removing carbon from the atmosphere, but current targets will only offset 4% of present-day carbon emissions. He emphasised that reforestation was a solution, but not the complete solution to overcoming the climate crisis. Four subsequent case studies highlighted how reforestation could be done to optimise carbon capture in landscapes from Brazil, Kenya, UK and the Philippines.
Session two emphasized the importance of planting the right tree in the right place. The theme of a series of talks showed why using native species was critical and that exotic species should be used sparingly, if at all, in reforestation programmes. This reflected the views of Prof. Simon Lewis from earlier in the day, who showed that the carbon captured by tree plantations is immediately released back into the atmosphere after it has been harvested so cannot provide a long term carbon sink. Again, presentations from across the world showed how use of native species can return many benefits to both wildlife and local communities.
The opening day concluded with a panel discussion looking at biodiversity restoration from the funders’ perspective. There was great debate about how we should do restoration, with different funders looking for different things. Some identified carbon as critical, whilst others wanted biodiversity. The discussion ended with a closing statement from Dr Jean-Cristophe Vié, who stated that trees are simply majestic and should be protected for this alone. Indeed, many of the species that LEAF are trying to protect are magnificent, but without intervention would sadly be lost forever.
The Ten Golden Rules for Reforestation
The second day of the conference gave the opportunity for various restoration projects from around the world to showcase their work. The morning focused on case studies from Asia and Africa, whilst the Americas were highlighted in the afternoon. There were many interesting examples of how to do effective reforestation, including using fruit trees for local revenue in Tajikistan, generating wildlife corridors in Costa Rica and restoring trees to farms in Brazil.
Day 2 also featured a discussion around policy, where creating the right legislature at the right scale was identified as of key importance. Different policy is required at local, national and global scales and that targets, whilst important, should not be the only action of governments. The effective policy implemented by Costa Rica was showcased as an exemplary example of good policy. The day also featured a stunning and inspirational video called “A dream of trees” that showed how a small research project run by an Indian PhD student led to a career defining moment and the restoration of Indian rainforests. The film highlighted the complexity of a rainforest and how the connections between plants and animals was crucial for the return of a fully functioning rainforest.
Reforestation is not just about tree planting, and this was highlighted in a further session on day two. Here, the importance of natural forest regeneration was shown, as well as how much of the land can regenerate by natural processes alone. In fact, vast areas of land were shown to be suitable for natural regeneration by Dr Robin Chazdon, who also showed how it can also be the most economically viable option for reforestation in many places. However, despite some speakers showing how natural regeneration can restore incredible biodiversity, other speakers showed it was insufficient to return a forest to its original state. Many threatened tree species are already too endangered and without active intervention, they cannot survive and prosper once more.
Key themes on the final day were technology and seeds. The morning began with a session on new technologies for restoration and monitoring. Dr Stephen Elliot showed how drones could automate restoration, both in terms of planting seeds and monitoring their recovery. Dr Roeland Kinddt then highlighted how data science has been transformed in recent years with many new databases, apps and R packages available to restoration practitioners. Meanwhile, Kirsty Shaw from Botanic Gardens Conservation International (BGCI) showed important tools to ensure biodiversity is central to reforestation programmes. These included the global tree search - a list of all known tree species, the global tree assessment - a database of the threat status of all known trees, and plant search and garden search - directories of plant collections and botanic gardens.
Following presentations on technology, the focus shifted to seeds, where talks on seed conservation, diversity and supply were all presented. One unifying theme throughout was the difficulty of obtaining sufficient high quality seeds for large scale restoration projects. Dr Kayri Havens from Chicago Botanic Garden showed this problem was not unique to developing countries, but was also an issue facing restoration projects in the United States.
Finally, the conference was ended by Dr Paul Smith, Secretary General of BGCI, who presented a conference declaration. Here discussion around the content of the declaration was debated, but the focus remained on using the right tree in the right place and the importance of applying sound science. LEAF is committed to following these principles and welcomes the growing cohesion behind science-based forest restoration.