At the beginning of our reforestation, we had determined the survival rate of the newly planted trees after 12 months on randomly identified plots and were very pleased with the high survival rate. Three years later, as a result of the 2020 hurricane season, we experienced nine months of flooding, some of which was several meters high, extending into March 2021. The vast majority of these trees, already several feet tall, will likely have died. Apart from the fact that we probably should have planted other varieties that are better resistant to water, this example shows that a survival rate has little meaning.
Global warming will increase droughts, drought, floods, storms, fires, and also infestations of insects, parasites, and fungi.
Our goal is to take carbon dioxide out of the air, and the best way to do that is with a stable forest ecosystem that keeps expanding on its own, so it keeps growing and taking more and more CO2 out of the air. With the donated trees – and we are, after all, planting up to 30 different species – we are laying the foundations for this ecosystem, which will be less vulnerable to global warming because of its biodiversity. The forests we plant should be as resilient as possible to the climate changes caused by the climate crisis because of their species diversity and their intact forest ecosystem. What is crucial is the intactness of the ecosystem and not so much the survival of the individual tree.
