June 5th was World Environment Day, and my social media feed was full of photographs of people planting trees to commemorate it. Planting trees is a great photo op, and it is undeniable that you get a dopamine high when you plant the sapling, shovel earth to cover the hole and sprinkle water on it. I have loved doing it myself too.
What Is The Success Rate Of Tree Plantations?
However, how many of the people planting trees take adequate measures to ensure that the saplings survive? Merely planting trees is not enough. They have to be watered regularly for a few months till the roots go deep enough for the trees to be able to fend for themselves. Saplings planted after the onset of the monsoon might survive even without watering, but given how unpredictable the showers can be, back-up arrangements should be put in place.
The saplings need to be protected from goats, sheep, cows and other herbivorous animals which love the tender shoots of new plants. Even if the saplings survive long enough to establish themselves, they are often planted so close to each other, none of them attain their proper shape or girth. Though it has been estimated that only about 40% of saplings planted in mass tree plantation drives survive, we continue to focus on planting new trees.
From an environmental perspective, planting trees, especially on World Environment Day or as a part of a green challenge, is largely tokenism.
What Are The Environmental Challenges We Face Today?
The two greatest environmental challenges that we face today are climate change and loss of bio-diversity, and planting new trees does little to address either issue.
How do trees help reverse climate change?
Climate Change is the blanket term used to define long term shifts in temperature and weather conditions caused due to the increase in the concentration of gases that trap heat in the atmosphere. This is caused primarily due to the burning of fossil fuels, and it can be addressed through a two pronged strategy- reducing the use of fossil fuels and removing the carbon di oxide already present in the atmosphere. The rationale given for planting trees is that they absorb carbon di oxide from the atmosphere and sequester it in their trunks.
What we choose to ignore is the fact that when a lone tree is felled or dies due to natural causes, the trunk is exposed to the atmosphere and the sequestered carbon is soon returned to it. In forests, on the other hand, when a tree falls, it gets covered up by vegetation and foliage which traps the carbon di oxide under its layers and prevents it from being returned to the atmosphere. Therefore, planting individual trees does not help much because it is only in forests that the carbon that is sequestered in trees is permanently taken out of the atmosphere.
How do trees contribute to increased bio-diversity?
Most of the saplings used in tree plantation are of non-native trees, some of which are even invasive. A few years back, for instance, Conocarpus was extremely popular because it was fast growing and could be used to “green” an area in a very short time. However, the pollen from the tree causes respiratory ailments, its roots often invade water pipes, and it is not conducive to supporting any biodiversity.
It is now been recognized as a pest, and new plantations are discouraged. Similarly, the “wet bulb” effect which makes summers in the Deccan appear hotter than they are, is partially caused by the proliferation of non-native trees which transpire more than the trees which normally grow in the region.
More importantly, a group of trees alone cannot replicate a forest. Forests take decades to develop, and they include not just the trees, but the mosses and lichens, the shrubs and creepers, and the insects, reptiles, birds and mammals which depend on the forest for their food and habitat. It is unlikely that trees planted as a part of a plantation drive will grow into a forest.
Eucalyptus is a tree that is often planted in large numbers as a part of afforestation or compensatory forestation drives. While the straight rows of eucalyptus trees may look pleasing aesthetically, they are disastrous from an environmental perspective. The trees do not support much biodiversity, and since most of them are destined to be chopped down to feed paper factories, they do not permanently sequester carbon either.
The need of the hour is to protect existing trees and forests
Even if planting trees doesn’t make much of an impact from the environmental persepctive, isn’t it better to plant trees than to not plant trees? On the face of it, one would be tempted to agree. However, when we plant trees, we get lulled into complacency and feel we are doing something for the environment, while in fact we are not.
Instead of planting trees to commemorate various “days”, we should pledge to protect the existing trees and forests everyday. We should vehemently oppose the cutting down of decades old trees and forests in the name of ‘development’. While politicians and government authorities try to present a binary where protecting the environment comes in the way of development, it does not have to be a binary. With careful planning, it is possible to design development projects which do not have an adverse impact on the environment. However, this will happen only if a sufficient number of people start demanding that existing trees and forests shouldn’t be indiscriminately felled in the name of development.
Instead of merely planting new trees, let us also cherish and document the existing ones. About a year back, I started geo tagging old and mature trees. The trees are now on Google maps, and the first tree I tagged has received more than a thousand views. If we similarly document trees in our neighbourhood, we leave a record of the giants who give us so much.
I am certainly not making a case against tree plantation. I have planted many trees myself, most of them in honour of someone I lost as a way of keeping their memory alive.
All I am saying is that even while planting trees, let us not get lulled into the false belief that by planting trees we are doing our bit to save the planet. To truly save the planet, we need to do a lot more than just planting trees.
[The author is not an expert, and these are opinions she has gathered by reading various books and articles. Please do point out errors, if any.]