This Dutch scheme is using free trees to tackle climate change

This article is brought to you in association with the European Parliament.

• Replanting saplings and shrubs could provide a free and sustainable source of trees.
• A Dutch organisation has already replanted 250,000 trees and aims to spread its circular forest-management initiative throughout Europe.
• The EU aims to plant 3 billion more trees by 2030.

Planting more trees is one of the simplest ways we have to limit climate change and remove carbon from the atmosphere. But, with many examples of replantation projects around the world, tree nurseries could soon struggle to keep up with the demand for saplings, one Dutch organisation believes.

Meer Bomem Nu has come up with a new and free source of young trees. It is collecting young trees and shrubs from areas where they aren’t wanted and giving them away to civilians and farmers to replant.

A single tree may produce many saplings each year, but not all of these will survive to become fully grown trees. They might be in a poor position, for example, competing with other trees for sunlight and resources. And these young trees are often unwanted or so abundant that a portion can be taken away without any negative impact, the organisation says. Similarly, cuttings and saplings can be taken from shrubs and bushes.

The organisation has dug up and rehomed seedlings that were growing too close to paths, overshadowing other plants or were in the way of new building work. By moving these naturally occurring young trees to better locations they can flourish, providing an affordable, quick and sustainable source of new trees. https://www.youtube.com/embed/fpnHsC-Va4Y?enablejsapi=1&wmode=transparent

Circular forest management

Meer Bomem Nu works with thousands of volunteers and has already transplanted 250,000 trees into 800 new fields and gardens. In winter 2021 it is planning to reach a million, and there are hopes this ‘circular’ method of planting could become more widespread throughout Europe.

“I don’t know how short we are in getting nurseries in place, but we don’t need them; we just need more circular forest management. Everywhere along the path, left and right, is always cleared of shrubs and trees. Replant it! My dream is that every council will open a tree hub where foresters can bring their stuff, and people who want a free tree can come,” Hanneke van Ormondt, the campaign manager of Meer Bomen Nu, told The Guardian.

Planting more trees

Europe has pledged to plant 3 billion more trees by 2030 with the aim of helping combat climate change and biodiversity loss.

What’s the World Economic Forum doing about deforestation?

Halting deforestation is essential to avoiding the worst effects of global climate change.

The destruction of forests creates almost as much greenhouse gas emissions as global road travel, and yet it continues at an alarming rate.

In 2012, we brought together more than 150 partners working in Latin America, West Africa, Central Africa and South-East Asia – to establish the Tropical Forest Alliance 2020: a global public-private partnership to facilitate investment in systemic change.

The Alliance, made up of businesses, governments, civil society, indigenous people, communities and international organizations, helps producers, traders and buyers of commodities often blamed for causing deforestation to achieve deforestation-free supply chains.

The Commodities and Forests Agenda 2020, summarizes the areas in which the most urgent action is needed to eliminate deforestation from global agricultural supply chains.

The Tropical Forest Alliance 2020is gaining ground on tackling deforestation linked to the production of four commodities: palm oil, beef, soy, and pulp and paper.

Get in touch to join our mission to halt to deforestation.

The volume of forested areas in Europe has increased since 1990, according to Forest Europe, the body that coordinates political process and cooperation on forest policies in the continent. However, the rate of increase has fallen off and concerns have been voiced over the logistics of meeting tree-planting targets.

It is also important to note that although trees function as a crucial carbon store, they only do so while they are alive. So, deforestation has become a significant source of carbon emissions. One recent study suggested deforestation was so rife in parts of the Amazon rainforest that areas were emitting more carbon than they were absorbing.