FOREST PROTECTION

A common saying in climate activism is “keep it in the ground,” which is referring to fossil fuels and how we should not be bringing them above ground to fuel our society.

But what about high-carbon dioxide-emitting energy sources that aren’t found in the ground? Somewhere from 5.1 to 8.4 gigatons of CO2 are emitted by tropical deforestation and forest degradation each year. This comes out to roughly 18% of anthropogenic, or human-generated, CO2 emissions.

What can we do about it? Project Drawdown explains their solution of “forest protection” as, “the legal protection of forest lands, leading to reduced deforestation rates and the safeguarding of carbon sinks.” A carbon sink is something that removes carbon-containing molecules from the atmosphere. This is one reason why trees are so essential to Project Drawdown’s scenarios on preventing climate change. Trees are carbon sinks. They absorb carbon and release oxygen, another benefit!

The best part about this solution is that it isn’t costly. Forest protection simply entails finding undegraded forest land and placing governmental bans on cutting them down. It’s a win-win.