Global tree planting plan unlikely to hit targets

International plans to restore forests in a bid to combat global warming are flawed and will fail to hit 1.5C climate targets set out in the Paris Agreement, new research has found.

The study, by scientists at the University of Edinburgh and University College London (UCL), reveals that almost half of the vast areas countries have pledged to cover with new trees are set to become commercial plantations.

The researchers said the move will seriously reduce expected carbon uptake and prevent climate change goals being achieved.

To limit global temperature rise to 1.5C requires rapid emissions cuts and removal of carbon dioxide from the atmosphere.

Countries are aiming to restore 350 million hectares of forest, an area larger than India, by 2030 in a bid to do that.

But experts say the wrong kind of planting is happening in many places.

Study leader Professor Simon Lewis, from UCL, said: “Plantations are much poorer at storing carbon than natural forests. To combat climate change, natural forest restoration is clearly the most effective approach.

“Well-managed forests can also help to alleviate poverty in low-income regions, as well as conserve biodiversity.”

The study shows natural forests hold 40 times more carbon than plantations and six times more than agroforestry – a mixture of trees and crops.