SMART REFORESTATION
Every minute that goes by, we lose 27 football fields of forests. Let that sink in.
Nature has always been kind to mankind by supporting life on Earth. A ‘give and take’ relationship is imperative to maintain a good ecological balance. However with urbanization and increase in population, mankind has forgotten to give back to nature. Humans have selfishly exploited nature for their own greed. We, as humans invented the chainsaw. And yet, we didn’t invent a technology to restore and plant that tree as quickly as we would chop it down.
Forest land covers approximately 30 percent of Earth’s area. But as deforestation continues to take its toll, we have already lost one-third of forest land. According to a study by NASA, if the present scenario continues, in a few hundred years there will be no rainforests left at all. Brazil, Thailand and the entirety of Africa stands in red alert. They lose around 18 million acres of forest land every year. To put things into perspective, it’s approximately the size of a country like Panama. That’s the ugly truth about deforestation.
Why is that an issue, you may ask. Firstly and most importantly, climate change. Forest loss contributes to about of 12 per cent of CO2 emissions. As forests get cleared down, we lose one of the major sinks of carbon on Earth, releasing a whooping billion tonnes of CO2 gas into the atmosphere. Secondly, around 250 million people that live in savannahs depend on forest land for their sustenance which has led to loss of arable land further resulting to poverty and hunger. Species of animals and birds are threatened as they are deprived of the natural canopy that forests provide. Wildlife species rely on these canopies which regulate the temperature on the ground. But as forest lands are ravaged, the blistering heat during the day and chills during the night make life difficult for the species. As forests disappear, the result is multi-dimensional. We burn billions of acres of rainforests to plant palm trees, and for what you may ask? To get a cooking oil with better shelf life.
Is reforestation the solution?
A 2016 study published in Switzerland suggests that Earth could support 1000 million hectares of trees, which would ultimately store 205 billion metric tonnes of carbon once they attain maturity. In other words, this accounts for 2/3rds of emissions since the Industrial Revolution. The study proves that reforestation is the ideal solution for climate change. However, the study did not account for the human-induced carbon emissions and the overestimated storage capacity of trees. If we don’t try to restore our ecosystem, we’re losing out on all the productive soil, clean air and the pulling down of carbon. It also seems the most logistically viable and affordable solution to restabilize our climate.
If it’s that simple, why can’t we start planting trees right away?
Bringing life back on Earth isn’t that easy. It requires a lot of manpower. To restore nearly half the amount of forest land that have been destroyed would require about 200 to 250 years of labour and millions of trees planted each year. Even though millions of trees are planted, it would take hundreds of years to mature. A mature forest is much better at carbon bio sequestration and has a rich overall ecosystem.
With so many things at stake, including the preservation of wildlife, people’s livelihoods, and potentially even the future of the Earth, new ways to address this issue needs to be thought upon. The scale of deforestation has gone too far. We can no longer just rely on traditional methods to restore the land. 600 billion trees are the target. But, the manpower-too less.
Why can’t we consider using AI, drones or blockchain as an efficacious solution? That way things can be done faster and would not have to depend entirely on labor force. Drones can plant 120 seed pods a minute, which is 2 trees per second and 500 billion trees by the end of 2060. With the advancement of computer technology, drones have emerged as an extensive tool specially in the field of reforestation. By combining digital intelligence with automation, the right species are combined at the right location, the drone does what it’s told. Not only does it speed up the tree planting process by firing seeds to the ground but monitoring the growth can also be done with the same drones.
So, how is it done?
Firstly, drones are made to fly above the target re-forest area to gather essential information such as topography, soil conditions. This helps in creating a 3D model having a precision rate of about 99.7%. With the existing satellite data, the above model is combined and analyzed by an algorithm to identify the most befitting location for planting. It also gives the most efficient planting patterns.
The drones then ‘fire’ biodegradable seed pods filled with germinated seeds into the designated spots, which they can do at a rate of 1 per second, allowing them to plant 100,000 seeds per day. Once activated by water, the seed pods penetrate the Earth and start growing. Also, they are 10 times faster and nearly 85 percent cheaper than manual labor. It also allows them to plant seed pods in diverse and hard to reach locations.
They just don’t plant trees but also help combat illegal deforestation. Drones are used to expose tropical rainforest destruction from land clearing for illegal plantations in national parks, sanctuaries, and reserves. The mapping and imagery gathered by the drones is sent to the concerned authorities that help stop illegal activities.
To give an example, Gramener is a company that is currently fighting against illegal deforestation and human related extinctions using artificial intelligence and machine learning. In 2019, they joined forces with a plantation company in East Asia to curb illegal deforestation. Until 2019, the plantation company manually inspected aerial photographs to identify the development of newly built trees in existing forest lands, but to analyze 100 acres of land it would take hours of inspection. With Gramener developing an artificial intelligence system, the process became much smoother and automated. The area of coverage was so large that automation made a huge difference.
Blockchain Project=Saving Trees
Yes, that’s right. In 2018, a group of German entrepreneurs revealed a blockchain based project called ‘Tree `Coin’. The aim is simple, to address deforestation by offering investors and participants the opportunity to purchase shares in the reforestation process. The overall goal is to plant 50 million trees-on 60,000 hectares-in 22 years. The participants will be able to buy security tokens called TREE.
In this project, a Eucalyptus Hybrid is grown. They are fast growing and grow up to 7 meters a year. The goal of the first 12 months is to plant 10 million eucalyptus hybrid trees on an area of 12,700 hectares.
After the 4th year, every 2nd tree is taken out, so that the standing trees have room to grow. Half of the trees are sold in the market. With half of the profit, new land is brought, and new trees are planted. 40% is paid to investors as dividends and the rest goes to social projects. After the 8th year, 35% of the remaining trees are taken out. And after the complete removal of trees in the 11th year, the cycle starts all over again, increasing the overall forest coverage area.
To sum it up, there’s still hope. While reforestation alone won’t be enough to mitigate climate change, it is the best solution available to us now.
The best time to plant a tree was 20 years ago. The second-best time is today. Let’s grab this opportunity and work towards restoring the Earth, as it was given to us.
