This is interesting. An environmental study published on Monday that suggests that tree-planting projects can be counterproductive.
It all comes down to the fact that new forests tend to be monocultures which tend to reduce biodiversity without achieving the same levels of carbon sequestration, habitat creation and erosion control as natural forests.
“If policies encouraging tree plantations are poorly designed or poorly implemented, there is a great risk not only of wasting public money, but also of leading to losses in both terrestrial carbon and biodiversity,” said Eric Lambin, a researcher at UCLouvain and Stanford.
Unintended consequences and all that.
The researchers suggest that, rather than planting new forests, measures should be implemented to help promote the restoration of natural ecosystems.
Lightly Seared on the Reality Grill 
I think this is an old issue Paul. I remember the Forestry Commission being criticized for this in the 1970s in the UK. There is a new way though. https://www.theguardian.com/environment/2020/jun/13/fast-growing-mini-forests-spring-up-in-europe-to-aid-climate
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I’m sure you’re right — issues like this tend to get studied and re-studied because there are so many variables to take in to account. But it’s worth noting because I have seen people imply or assume that simply planting more trees is enough to offset all of our carbon emissions.
Thanks for the link. It’s an interesting article.
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