WEBINAR: Can tree planting save our planet?

29 September 2020. 13:00-17:00 CEST. Digital Forum: Can tree planting save our planet?

CIFOR-ICRAF in collaboration with the Global Landscapes Forum, hosted a half-day digital forum that brought scientists, forestry experts, community leaders, investors and policymakers together to share insights and scientific evidence to important tree planting initiatives and how to build back better following the Covid-19 pandemic. By sharing CIFOR-ICRAF’s 70 years of experience across the global South in supporting successful tree planting and connecting efforts on biodiversity and landscape restoration, sustainable economic development and dismantling inequality, the forum aims to highlight the many ways to make tree planting good for people and the planet.

You can watch the recording on FACEBOOK

Tree planting has become the latest trend in tackling the climate crisis, motivating legions around the world to tap the incredible carbon absorbing potential of trees. Business and political leaders from Salesforce CEO Marc Benioff to Canadian Prime Minister Justin Trudeau have pledged to plant billions - even trillions - of trees across the planet as a fix for runaway carbon emissions and degraded landscapes. Plant trees, save the planet. READ CONCEPT NOTE

• Welcome : Vania Olmos Lau 
• Opening remarks Robert Nasi - CIFOR Director General/CIFOR-ICRAF Managing Director 

Introducing Resilient Landscapes 

• Howard-Yana Shapiro 
• Yvonne Aki Sawyerr 

Busting the myths and tackling the realities of tree planting

Planting a trillion trees: a feel-good exercise or an important mission to save the planet? What does it take to make tree planting successful? The discussion investigated some of the misconceptions about tree-planting and looked at the pathways to restoring landscapes and growing trees that provide the greatest chance of success – for people and the planet. 

• Moderator: Cora van Oosten 
• Susan Chomba
• Wanjira Mathai
• Thomas Crowther
• Agus Justianto 
• Reflections  Jad Daley 

Financing tree planting and proper valuation of natural assets  and investments 

Besides the few headline-grabbing big pledges from companies this year, tree planting and landscape restoration at scale have struggled to attract sufficient investment. And yet, investment opportunities abound with commitments by governments to restore hundreds of millions of hectares through agreements like the Bonn Challenge and the New York Declaration on Forests, in addition to growing willingness among companies to make their supply chains more sustainable. This session considered where investments in tree planting are happening and where the opportunities remain untapped. Investors – public and private – discussed their interests and their challenges. 

• moderator: Leona Liu 
• Bonnie Norman
• Boris Saraber
• Tanja Havemann
• Caroline van Tilborg
• Tor-Gunnar Vagen 
• Elizabeth Wanjiru Wathuti - Youth tree planting 

Putting tools and technology into farmers’ hands: 

stories from the field Landscape restoration is often a long-term and costly exercise. CIFOR-ICRAF have developed two important mobile tools for farmers and restoration practitioners plant the right tree in the right place for the right purpose, and collect information on how farmers are managing and protecting trees on their farms. CIFOR-ICRAF experts explained how the vegetationmap4africa and the Regreening Africa App can help those involved in landscape restoration make better decisions. 

• Roeland Kindt
• Tor-Gunnar Vagen
• Muhammad Ahmad 

From planting to natural regeneration: best approaches to tree growing 

Tree planting techniques and technology, from species selection to considering natural regeneration, can help reduce costs, improve survival rates while connecting communities. This second session considered what trees make the most sense under different climate scenarios, the role of biodiversity, where do we plant which tree species – or let nature do the work through natural regeneration.  New technologies, their applications to the future of tree planting and restoration were discussed. 

• moderator: Ramni H Jamnadass 
• Nicole Schwab
• Lauren Fletcher
• Harrie Lovenstein
• Joice Ferreira 
• Marlito Bande -Rainforestation
• Sarah Lillie Anderson - Tree equity
• Tony Simons - Closing Remarks ICRAF Director General/CIFOR-ICRAF Executive Director 

Related:

CIFOR’s FORETS project, financed by the European Union, is turning degraded lands into a source of sustainable livelihoods in the Democratic Republic of the Congo.