What exactly is a rainforest?
And why do we keep hearing about Amazon Rainforest?
Rainforest is a forest that receives large amounts of rainfall. Every continent on the planet, apart from Antarctica, has a rainforest.
They cover just 6% of the planet’s surface but are home to more than half of the species.
The heat and humidity of rainforests causes frequent and intense rainfall.
Plants then soak up the rainwater and release it back into the atmosphere through evaporation and transpiration.
This in turn helps keep the climate rainy and humid.
Amazon is the largest rainforest in the world, twice the size of India and home to at least 10% of the planet’s species.
It is one of our strongest defences against climate change as it stores around 150-200 billion tons of carbon.
This is roughly equivalent to four to five years worth of global carbon emissions from the burning of fossil fuels.
Amazon has lost 18% of its tree cover due to ranching, farming and mining activities.
At this pace, scientists believe that it could soon reach a tipping point where it cannot act as a rainforest.
This is called dieback.
If dieback happens, the rainforest would release much of the carbon that it currently stores into the atmosphere, exacerbating the climate crisis.
Imagine- we have forced a forest to become an agent of climate change.
The soon that I had mentioned above- that’s in 15-20 years. I am honestly scared! What do you think?
In this week’s edition, I have covered stories of 3 startups that are helping with rapid reforestation of our lost forests⬇️
There lies an opportunity…We have around 6 billion hectares of usable land on the planet. But due to wildfires, deforestation and abandoned agriculture efforts, around 2 billion hectares are degraded- an area the size of the US and China combined. This degradation impacts 3.2 billion people annually. If used wisely, an area of this size could solve some of the most pressing issues on the planet- increasing carbon emissions, food crisis, and damaged ecosystems.
Making reforestation data-driven…Netherlands-based Land Life Company is on a mission to help restore this degraded land globally. It’s taking a data-driven approach to make reforestation cheaper and more efficient. Apart from combating climate change, their efforts would also provide a livelihood for local people. In the first few critical months, the plants are kept in a cocoon (bottom left image below) that holds 25 litres of water and prevents the plants from weeds, animals and birds, harsh heat and dry winds.
The team starts the reforestation process by assessing the land using drones and satellites, and by collecting data from climatic and soil samples.
They then select the tree species that are suited to the locations where they are planted.
The seedlings are then placed in the Cocoon which enhances their chance of becoming a fully grown tree.
And then…Within 6-12 months, the young trees are ready to come out of the cocoon (literally) and thrive independently. Land Life Company is running around 20 projects on four continents with most of their large-scale plantings taking place in Spain, the US and Australia. They also helped to recreate Sudan’s tree cover in a project jointly run by the country’s forestry commission and the United Nations Refugee Agency (UNHCR).
Upward trending…The amount of carbon dioxide released by humans has been increasing since the pre-industrial era. It has reached a stage where it is more than what can be naturally absorbed. On top of that, the planet loses 13 billion trees(our natural absorbers) per year but regains less than half of them.
Restoring forests through drones…Flash Forest is using tree-planting drones to restore forests and fight climate change. These drones work faster and are cheaper than humans and shovels. One drone operator has the potential to plant 100,000 seed pods per day vs a human who might typically be able to plant around 1,500 trees in a day by hand. The company aims to bring the cost down to 50 cents per tree and is on a mission to plant 1 billion trees by 2028.
Initially, the mapping drones survey the area and identify the best places to plant(based on the soil and existing plants).
Then, a swarm of drones precisely drops the proprietary seed pods- nutrient-rich soil packed around three pre-germinated seeds (left image below).
These seed pods are also designed to store moisture which helps the seedlings survive during months of drought.
It’s not over yet…The company has an effective monitoring process in place. After planting, they return to track the progress of the seedlings. The idea is to ensure that the trees are actually sequestering as much carbon as they had planned. The team has developed its own machinery, tooling and processes and produces around 100,000 pods a day.
What’s my footprint?…The carbon footprint calculator market has been booming for the last few years. You can simply share some of your daily activities around food, living and transportation and these calculators tell you your carbon footprint in a few minutes. Businesses can do this exercise as well. And then on the other hand, there are a lot of companies that help you offset this carbon by planting trees or investing in carbon removal technologies. But…
How do we keep a track of that?… That’s where Spanish startup Reforestum comes in. They help companies and individuals to fight against climate change by offsetting their environmental impact through certified forestry projects. A layer of trust and transparency is added to the carbon offset process by showing companies and individuals the reforestation projects in real time.
Their R&D department has experts that monitor forests with satellite images in near real time.
They look at tree variety, the local climatic conditions, the soil type and many other parameters to calculate the amount of carbon the forest is storing.
The profit generated from the forest(if any), after the maintenance costs, is equally distributed amongst its shareholders.
Spreading its wings…Their first forest, located in the Picos de Europa, was born in 2017. It was a crowdfunding campaign where 865 ‘reforesters’ from all over the world had invested. Now the brand works on several projects in Spain and in the Peruvian Amazon and Indonesia.
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