Plant a tree

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A Coconut Palm

Without oxygen we cannot live for a moment even. Without oxygen, the animal world will die away. Trees make the oxygen and spread it in the air. While inhaling air we take the oxygen with it into our bodies and continue to live.

Carbon dioxide makes our atmosphere or rather our environment poisonous for us. Trees consume this carbon dioxide and thereby makes our environment safe for us.

Trees also give us many other benefits. We get fruit and flowers from the trees. Trees provide us with fuel and timbers. In summer, they bear the scorching rays of the sun and give us cool shade under them. Trees in our forests draw the rain from the clouds floating in the sky. Trees in our forests check the quick flow of rain-water and thereby check the occurrence of high flood in our rivers. On the other hand, this slow process of water-flow gives us good water all throughout the year through streams and streamlets with their sweet melodious music.

Trees conserve our soil. This soil-conservation is very important for our corn-fields. Trees make own land fertile by their fallen leaves. By their fallen leaves they make new soil for us. Most of the forest-products are the products from the trees in the forests, absentee of trees will cause a lot of harm to us and to our life. So the number of trees should be multiplied by the tree-plantation by us.

We should plant trees near our houses and near our villages for a forestation with a view to raising new forests. We should plant trees on the two sides of the roads and paths and on the four sides of our corn-fields. We should plant trees on all the vacant places in our village on towns where we live, and we should advise all to do so.

Trees are amazing things. They take in stuff we don’t like (carbon dioxide) and pump out stuff we do (oxygen) thereby helping our current fights against Global warming.

A treeplanter in northern Ontario.

And yet we get rid of these amazing things every year. In fact, 33 soccer pitches of trees are cut down every minute worldwide. You can do something to help. And you don’t need to be able to tell your Dimmocks from your Titchmarsh to do it.

Treeplanting [[1]] is the process of transplanting tree seedlings, generally for forestry, land reclamation, or landscaping purposes. It differs from the transplantation [[2]] of larger trees in arboriculture, and the lower cost but slower and less reliable distribution of tree seeds.

It is a silviculture activity known as reforestation. It involves planting seedlings over an area of land where the forest has been harvested or damaged by fire or disease or insects. Treeplanting is carried out in many different parts of the world, and strategies may differ widely across nations, regions and individual reforestation companies. Treeplanting 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.

Because trees remove carbon dioxide from the air as they grow, tree planting can be used as a geoengineering technique to remove CO2 from the atmosphere.

By country

Canada

A cutblock fifteen years after replanting

Most treeplanting 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. Treeplanting 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."

Treeplanting is seasonal labour and has become a popular form of employment for young Canadian adults, many of whom spend their summers planting trees in order to pay their university tuitions. In British Columbia, where the season is longer, treeplanting is considered to be more of a career or profession than short term summer employment. Although treeplanting is both psychologically and physically challenging, hard workers can typically earn well above the average student income. However, the learning curve is quite steep, so many planters do not reap the attractive economic benefits their first season. This, combined with the need for the potential treeplanter to buy all of the equipment needed for the job (several hundreds of dollars worth), makes becoming a treeplanter a multi year investment for most.

A 21-year-old plantation of red pine in Southern Ontario.

Treeplanting crews often do not permanently reside in the areas where they work, thus much planting is based out of motels or bush camps. Bush camp accommodations usually consist of a mess tent, cook shack, dry goods tent, first aid tent, freshly dug outhouses, and a shower tent or trailer. Planters are responsible for bringing either a tent or car to sleep in. A camp also contains camp cooks and support staff.

Planting is carried out in accordance to the client's specifications, and planters are expected to learn the quality standards for each contract that they work on. Planted clearcuts are spot checked on a regular basis. Although quality concerns vary across contracts, spot checkers are typically looking for such things as: species appropriate site choice, species appropriate spacing, how tight the seedlings are in the ground, how straight the seedlings are, and whether or not the seedlings have been damaged. These concerns vary from region to region, and from contract to contract.

The average BC planter plants 1 600 trees per day, but it is not uncommon for veterans to plant 2000-3000 trees per day while working in the BC 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. 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, treeplanting contractors will deduct some of the cost associated with the operation of the contract directly from the treeplanter'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 treeplanters end up owing their employer money for the first few pay periods.

Once inflation is factored in, real treeplanter earnings have declined for many years in Canada. This has adversely affected the sector's ability to attract and retain workers[3]. Higher wages and much better working conditions in many other industries, from construction, to oil and gas, and even information technology, has led to fewer Canadian young people wanting to plant trees.

Based on statistics for British Columbia, the average treeplanter: lifts a cumulative weight of over 1 000 kilograms, bends more than 200 times per hour, drives the shovel into the ground more than 200 times per hour and travels over 16 kilometers with a heavy load, every day of the entire season. The reforestation industry has an average annual injury rate of approximately 22 claims per 100 workers, per year. It is often difficult and sometimes dangerous. [Canadian health and safety with reference to treeplanting]

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 [Statistics about British planting]. Under the British system, in order to acquire the necessary permissions to clear fell, 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.

Planting is part of the rotational nature of much British plantation forestry. Productive tree crops are planted and subsequently clear felled. Some form of soil cultivation may take place and the ground is then restocked. Where the production of timber is a management priority, a prescribed stocking density must be achieved. For coniferous species this will be a minimum of 2500 stems per hectare at year 5 (from planting). Planting at this density has been shown to favour the development of straighter knot free logs.

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 treeplanting for conservation and climate change mitigation. While some work is carried out by private enterprise there are also planting days organised for volunteers. Landcare Research use planted forests for their EBEX21 system for greenhouse gas emissions mitigations.[Landcare Research]

United States

Trees for the Future is a non-profit organisation that plants trees in developing countries to improve land management.[Trees for the Future]

Role in climate change

The development of markets for tradeable pollution permits in recent years have opened up a new source of funding for treeplanting projects: carbon offsets. The creation of carbon offsets from treeplanting projects hinges on the notion that trees help to mitigate climate change by sequestering carbon dioxide as they grow. However, the science linking trees and climate change is largely unsettled, and trees remain a controversial source of offsets.

Climate impacts

Climate scientists believe that human-induced global deforestation is responsible for 18-25% of global climate change. The United Nations, World Bank and other leading nongovernmental organizations are encouraging reforestation, avoided deforestation and other projects that encourage tree planting to mitigate the effects of climate change.

Trees sequester carbon through photosynthesis, converting carbon dioxide and water into molecular dioxygen (O2) and plant organic matter, such as carbohydrates (e.g., cellulose). Hence, forests that grow in area or density and thus increase in organic biomass will reduce atmospheric CO2 levels. (Carbon is released as CO2 if a tree or its lumber burns or decays, but as long as the forest is able to grow back at the same rate as its biomass is lost due to oxidation of organic carbon, the net result is carbon neutral.) In their 2001 assessment, the IPCC estimated the potential of biological mitigation options (mainly tree planting) is on the order of 100 Gigatonnes of carbon (cumulative) by 2050, equivalent to about 10% to 20% of projected fossil fuel emissions during that period.

However, the global cooling effect of forests from carbon sequestration is not the only factor to be considered. For example, the planting of new forests may initially release some of the area's existing carbon stores into the atmosphere. Specifically, the conversion of peat bogs into oil palm plantations has made Indonesia the world's third largest producer of greenhouse gases.

Compared to less vegetated lands, forests affect climate in three main ways:

Cooling the Earth by functioning as carbon sinks.
Cooling the Earth by adding water vapor to the atmosphere and thereby increasing cloudiness.
Warming the Earth by absorbing a high percentage of sunlight due to the low reflectivity of a forest's dark surfaces. This warming effect, or reduced albedo, is large where evergreen forests, which have very low reflectivity, shade snow cover, which is highly reflective.

To date, most tree-planting offset strategies have taken only the first effect into account. A study published in December 2005 combined all these effects and found that tropical forestation has a large net cooling effect, because of increased cloudiness and because of high tropical growth and carbon sequestration rates.

Trees grow three times faster in the tropics than in temperate zones; each tree in the rainy tropics removes about 22 kilograms (50 pounds) of carbon dioxide from the atmosphere each year.[[4]] However, this study found little to no net global cooling from tree planting in temperate climates, where warming due to sunlight absorption by trees counteracts the global cooling effect of carbon sequestration. Furthermore, this study confirmed earlier findings that reforestation of colder regions — where long periods of snow cover, evergreen trees, and slow sequestration rates prevail — probably results in global warming. According to Ken Caldeira, a study co-author from the Carnegie Institution for Science, "To plant forests outside of the tropics to mitigate climate change is a waste of time.".

His premise that grassland reflects more sun, keeping temperatures lower, is, however, applicable only in arid regions. A well-watered lawn, for example, is as green as a tree, but absorbs far less CO2.[citation needed] Deciduous trees also have the advantage of providing shade in the summer and sunlight in the winter; so these trees, when planted close to houses, can be utilized to help increase energy efficiency of these houses.

This study remains controversial and criticized for assuming dark colored trees might replace the frozen, white tundra in the upper northern hemisphere. Regular tree planting projects typically take place on lands that are only slightly different in color. The warming impact was also measured over hundreds of years, rather than a 30-70 year time horizon most climate experts believe we have to fix climate change.

Furthermore, the described warming effect (of temperate and boreal latitude forest) is only apparent once the trees have grown to create a dense 'close canopy', and it is at precisely this point that trees grown for offset purposes should be harvested and their absorbed carbon fixed for the long-term as timber.

Costs

While the benefits of treeplanting are subject to debate, the costs are low [[5]]compared to many other mitigation options. The IPCC has concluded that "The mitigation costs through forestry can be quite modest (US$0.1–US$20 / metric ton carbon dioxide) in some tropical developing countries.... The costs of biological mitigation, therefore, are low compared to those of many other alternative measures". The cost effectiveness of tropical reforestation is due not only to growth rate, but also to farmers from tropical developing countries who voluntarily plant and nurture tree species which can improve the productivity of their lands. As little as US$90 will plant 900 trees, enough to annually remove as much carbon dioxide as is annually generated by the fossil-fuel usage of an average United States resident.

Types of trees planted

An eucalyptus plantation.

The type of tree planted may have great influence on the environmental outcomes. Planting the wrong kind of trees, such as monocultures of eucalyptus where they are not native species, can devastate the lands of the local people. However, it is often much more profitable to outside interests to plant non-native fast-growing trees, such as eucalyptus or pine (e.g., Pinus radiata or Pinus caribaea), even though the environmental and biodiversity benefits of such monoculture plantations are not comparable to native forest, and such offset projects are frequently objects of controversy (see below).

To promote the growth of native ecosystems, many environmentalists advocate only indigenous trees be planted. A practical solution is to plant tough, fast-growing native tree species which begin rebuilding the land. Planting non-invasive trees that assist in the natural return of indigenous species is called "assisted natural regeneration." There are many such species that can be planted, of which about 12 are in widespread use, such as Leucaena leucocephala.

Selection of trees for plantation

We should make good selection of trees to be planted, in consideration of the nature of land and the kind of climate. Cocoanut trees grow well in the sea-coasts. Plantain trees grow well near the ponds. We should know which place is fit for which tree. To know this we should get our soil tested by the experts and plant the kinds of trees accordingly. Collection of plants to be planted should be made from the Government nurseries in consultation with the experts there.

Time for tree-plantation:

Generally, rainy season is the best time for tree-plantation. Most of the tree-plants thrive well in rainy season. Still then, we should seek advice from the Government agricultural experts about the appropriate time for the plantation of a particular kind of tree.

After-care:

Only planting the trees is not enough. Because, planted trees may be destroyed by animals or otherwise, or may die for regular service of water. So we should be particular about the after-care of the planted trees. We should be very careful about the newly-planted trees.

Benefits of planting a tree

Each tree you plant will provide oxygen for two people for the rest of their lives.

‘The planting of a tree is a gift you can make at almost no cost and trouble and it will far outlive the visible effect of any of your other actions, good or evil.’ So said Mr.1984, George Orwell.

Most often we plant trees to provide shade and beautify our landscapes. These are great benefits but trees also provide other less obvious benefits.

Trees make life nicer. It has been shown that spending time among trees and green spaces reduces the amount of stress that we carry around with us in our daily lives.

Hospital patients have been shown to recover from surgery more quickly when their hospital room offered a view of trees.

Even though you may own the trees on your property your neighbors may benefit from them as well.

Through careful planning trees can be an asset to your entire community.

Tree lined streets have a traffic calming effect, traffic moves more slowly and safely.

Trees offer many environmental benefits.

Trees give off oxygen that we need to breathe.

Trees helps clean our air.

Other benefits of tree planting

Eucalyptus Bridgesiana

Fighting poverty
Stops Desertification (See also Fight desertification)
Produces Fruits, Medicines, Alimentation, ...
The root system draws water to the surface
Regenerates the soil
Increases land's productivity
Improves Agriclitural practices
Off-sets CO2 levels, counteracting Climate Change
Creates Shelter
Counteracts Deforestation

So where to start?

You can visit Woodland Trust or Trees for Life or why not get hold of some Scots pine seeds and grow your own Christmas tree? You can gather round on Christmas morning and say - ‘That’s it. That’s my Christmas present to all of you for the next 100 years.

We are what we do

There are lots of plant a tree schemes out there but a good one is CO2 Balance which only plant British native trees in sites in Devon, Somerset and Cheshire. They also have a very good website called Tree Pics which helps you think about the beauty of trees.

How to plant a tree

The leaves of a Beech tree

1. Choose at least a 5-to-6-foot tree grown to nursery standards.

2. Select a site with enough room for roots and branches to reach full size. Avoid overhead and underground utilities.

3. Dig a planting area as deep as the root ball and 3 to 5 times its diameter. Add fertilizer or other soil amendments.

4. Set the root ball in the middle, even with ground level, but do not pack down the soil.

5. Water generously.

6. Stake the tree to flex with the wind. Mulch to within 6 inches of the tree trunk.

7. Water regularly to keep the soil from drying out.

For more tips on planting trees go to:

tree planting at wikipedia.org

Can trees be bad?

If tree planting isn't done properly it can have detrimental effects on the local environment and population:

Only planting and eucalyptus trees (the two most common plantation species) can lead to monoculture areas with poor biodiversity.

Trees can affect the water systems by sucking water out of the ground and evaporating it from their leaves. Reducing the flow of water can have effects downstream where less water would be available for plants and animals.

Plantations can increase the salinity of the soil, affecting the range of plant species.

When ground is cleared for forest planting, rotting organic matter in the soil releases a surge of CO2 into the air. This release could exceed the CO2 absorbed by growing trees for at least the first 10 years. Infact some new forests planted on wet, peaty soils may never absorb as much carbon as they spit out.

When wood rots it releases CO2. If forrest planted for CO2 capture is later burnt or felled (with the wood eventually rotting), the CO2 absorbed by the trees will be released back into the atmosphere.

Research has shown that old forrests absorb more CO2 than new ones, suggesting that preserving old forest is more effective than planting new ones.

How to keep trees good

If you want to support forestry make sure the plantation will use native species/promote biodiversity

Make sure it is protected from future logging or fire

When donating to a company offering carbon offset projects check the cash is actually needed to get the project off the ground · Check the project has the support of local people · Ensure it represents a cost effective way of reducing carbon - has a responsible company or not-for-profit organisation audited the project?

Consider supporting other carbon reduction options, such as funding energy efficient equipment or businesses selling low carbon technology

Conclusion:

Trees should be regularly planted to save the mankind and the animal world. Tree plantation and its after-care is a pleasing work too. We can get much pleasure in planting trees and in taking care of them. Students should plant trees in their school-compounds and in the front-yards, backyards and side-yards of their schools and near their own houses and in other places wherever possible. They should explain to their neighbours the goodness of tree-plantation and encourage them to plant and care new trees.