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Africa: Global Tree Pledge Frenzy Threatens Ancient Grasslands
SciDev.Net, 7 July 2020
Grassy ecosystems are under fire. Aisling Irwin investigates the world's booming tree campaigns. Read more »
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Africa: Planting Trees Will Not Solve the Climate Crisis
New Frame, 24 March 2020
South African scientists say African governments have been misled into massive tree planting schemes by the Global North misreading Africa's grasslands. Megafires and drought… Read more »
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Africa: What Would It Really Take to Plant a Trillion Trees?
UNEP, 23 August 2019
Tree planting is capturing the minds of those who look for fast climate action. Earlier this month, the Ethiopian Government announced a new world record: thousands of volunteers… Read more »
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Africa: When Tree Planting Actually Damages Ecosystems
The Conversation Africa, 26 July 2019
Tree planting has been widely promoted as a solution to climate change, because plants absorb the climate-warming gases from Earth's atmosphere as they grow. World leaders have… Read more »
How Global Tree Pledge Frenzy Threatens Ancient Grasslands
Ancient Madagascan grasslands are falling victim to a trend to afforest the world that has gripped political leaders from Madagascar to Ethiopia, and from Turkey to the United States, according to botanist Cédrique Solofondranohatra, a PhD student at the University of Antananarivo and Kew Madagascar Conservation Centre. While there are many reasons to restore ecosystems, mostly to do with bringing back their ability to supply human needs such as wood, fish or water, one new imperative stands out: to absorb more carbon.
InFocus
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It's Arbor Month in South Africa and the government has encouraged its citizens to get their hands dirty and plant trees. Dedicating a month to tree-planting may seem a laudable ... Read more »
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The massive effort is part of Prime Minister Abiy Ahmed's Green Legacy Initiative, which aims to plant more than 4 billion trees between May and October, or 40 trees per person. Read more »
Vigna pygmaea, in Mwekera, Zambia. This species flowers after fires fueled by grasses.
