- Are we doing enough to reforest the Earth and restore the health of the planet?
- How is done?
- Who is doing it?
- Is it enough?
- Where the money are coming from?
Tree Forest
Here is what I found
Tree planting is carried out in many different parts of the world, and strategies may differ widely across nations and regions and among individual reforestation companies. Tree planting is grounded in forest science, and if performed properly can result in the successful regeneration of a deforested area.
Reforestation is the commercial logging industry’s answer to the large-scale destruction of old growth forests, but a planted forest rarely replicates the biodiversity and complexity of a natural forest.
Australia
Australian forests have been heavily affected since European colonisation, and some attempts have been made to restore native habitats, both by government and individuals. Greening Australia is a national Non profit set up to run the “National Tree Program” initiated by the Federal Government in 1982. Greening Australia completed the 1 Billion Tree target and has gone on to become one of the major tree planting organisations in the country.
There is a strong volunteer movement for conservation in Australia through Landcare and other networks. National Tree Day is organised annually by Planet Ark in the last week in July, encouraging the public to plant 1 million native trees per year. Many state governments run their own “Million Tree” programs each year to encourage community involvement.
Canada
Most tree planting in Canada is carried out by private reforestation companies. Reforestation companies compete with one another for contracts from logging companies, whose annual allowable cut for the following year is based upon how much money they invest into reforestation and other silvicultural practices. Tree planting is typically piece work and tree prices can vary widely depending on the difficulty of the terrain and on the winning contract’s bid price. As a result, there is a saying among planters: “There is no bad land, only bad contracts.” 4 months of hard work can yield enough to live on for an entire year, but conditions are brutal.
The average British Columbian planter plants 1 600 trees per day, but it is not uncommon for veterans to plant up to 4,000 trees per day while working in the interior. These numbers are higher in central and eastern Canada, where the terrain is generally faster, however the price per tree is slightly lower as a result. Average daily totals of 2500 are common, with experienced planters planting upwards of 5000 trees a day. Numbers as high as 7500 a day have been recorded. Planters typically work 8–10 hours per day with an additional 1 to 2 hours of (usually) unpaid traveling time. Work weeks on British Columbian planting contracts are usually 4–5 days long, with 1–2 days off. In Ontario, work weeks are generally 5–6 days long, with 1 day off.
Quite often, tree planting contractors will deduct some of the cost associated with the operation of the contract directly from the tree planter’s daily earned wages. These imposed fees typically vary from $10 to $30 per day, and are referred to as “camp costs”. In some cases, rookie tree planters end up owing their employer money for the first few pay periods.
Great Britain
Planting in Britain is commonly referred to as restocking, when it takes place on land that has recently been harvested. When occurring on previously unforested land it is known as new planting. Under the British system, in order to acquire the necessary permissions to clearcut, the landowner must agree a management plan with the Forestry Commission (the regulatory body for all things forestry) which must include proposals for the re-establishment of tree cover on the land. Planting contractors will be engaged by the landowner/management company, a contract drawn up and work will typically take place from November to April when the transplants are dormant.
Planters are normally paid under piece work terms and an experienced worker will plant around 1500 trees a day under most conditions.
New Zealand
Kaingaroa Forest in New Zealand is the largest planted forest in the southern hemisphere. It is one of the many plantation forests planted since European settlement. The Monterey Pine (Pinus radiata) is commonly used for plantations since a fast growing cultivar suitable for a wide range of conditions has been developed.
Government agencies, environmental organisations and private trusts carry out tree planting for conservation and climate change mitigation.
While some work is carried out by private enterprise there are also planting days organized for volunteers.
I also found that a lot of conferences are spending money to talk about forestation instead of redirecting the money to the task itself.
Related articles
- Bill mandating would-be couples to plant trees gets nod from DENR (leytesamardaily.net)
- Planting Trees for the Queen’s Reforestation Project (armajflash.com)
- Environment to plant more than 2.5M trees during “reforestation month” (dominicantoday.com)
- Volunteers Wanted – Tree planting in Orlando Park (avca.ca)
- California residents look for shady parking spots this summer (myparkingsign.com)
- ‘Maring’ destroys 94 hectares of trees (rappler.com)
- Did you know about the Toronto Tree Planting Program? (thompsonsellsblog.com)
- In Rim fire’s aftermath, controversy over the recovery effort (latimes.com)
- Peter Mottek Supports the Reforestation efforts in Portugal (petermottek.wordpress.com)
- A Travel Experience Found Nowhere Else on Earth (prweb.com)
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