Fashion has a deforestation issue. More than 200 million trees are logged every year and turned into cellulosic fabric such as viscose, according to Canopy, a campaign group on a mission to save the world’s forests. Currently, forests in Indonesia, Canada’s Boreal, and Brazil are being logged for next season’s fashion and apparel.
Tackling this deforestation issue by reforesting and regenerating forest ecosystems is essential. But, it’s not quite as simple as just planting a tree. Although September — Arbor Month in South Africa — is all about celebrating planting trees, it is actually a bad time to plant trees in certain areas.
Winter rainfall Cape Town is currently going into our dry season, and fragile new saplings would be facing a hard, hot, and dry summer. Whilst the temptation to jump on the tree-planting bandwagon this month is inviting, follow Greenpop’s lead and make sure that you’re not just counting trees, but making trees count!
This Arbor Month, Greenpop is shining a light on the six ways they make trees count within their forest restoration and urban greening projects. Although Greenpop may be operating at a great scale (targeting 500,000 trees by 2025) there are certainly lessons here for all of us. Here are a few:
- Make sure you’re doing your research when selecting the sites, species, timing, and intentions of your tree planting.
- Pick non-invasive species, ideally indigenous and endemic.
- Plant them in the right seasons and with proper methods, and make sure to not disrupt other established ecosystems like fynbos or rangelands.
- Avoid token or symbolic tree plantings if they won’t have ongoing care and maintenance, and work together with local partners and stakeholders to ensure we’re all pulling together to restore ecosystems, guard biodiversity, uplift communities, and combat climate change.
If you’re uncertain about your tree planting plans, rather support established and reputable tree-planting initiatives in your area. Did you know, you can sponsor a tree in one of Greenpop’s reforestation projects, and receive a personalisable tree certificate with the GPS coordinates of your sponsored tree? To learn more, click here.
If you want to get your hands dirty, first look out for local regreening schemes, plant days, or volunteering opportunities already operating in your city or area.
About Ask Emma*:
Ask Emma* is a new monthly series where Emma Jones-Phillipson answers your questions about climate change and the environment. (*From time to time, Emma may also call upon her network of colleagues and peers, to ensure you’re getting the best possible answer from the most authoritative sources)
Emma is a gender, policy, and climate adaptation specialist with extensive experience providing technical assistance and developing, implementing, and assessing projects and policies in least developed countries (LDCs) in Sub-Saharan Africa, the Middle East, South East Asia, Eastern Europe, the Caribbean, and the Pacific for a range of clients including South African and international NGOs, UN agencies, and various LDC country governments.
- To submit a question to Emma for next month email her at emmajpsa@gmail.com
- Images supplied by Greenpop from their 10th annual Reforest Fest.
