This robot could help plant 1 trillion trees

This robot could help plant 1 trillion trees

Conservationists say we need to plant one trillion trees to help slow climate change.

Now a robot forester has been developed to help speed up reforestation.

The robot is capable of planting a hectare of trees in under six hours.

The vehicles can also be used to prepare the ground for planting, and can even plough snow.

Robots help us in many ways - from assembly lines to looking after the elderly. Now they're turning their attention to combating climate change by helping to plant trees.

Milrem Robotics, an Estonian company which started off building autonomous tanks, has developed an autonomous robot forester that can plant and nurture young trees. The new robot planter carries up to 300 saplings and can plant a hectare of forest in less than six hours.

Although the robot forester is primarily designed for working in commercial forests, the designers say they believe it could be used to restore natural forests too.

Tackling deforestation

Deforestation contributes 15% of all global greenhouse gas emissions, yet, according to the World Economic Forum's platform for the trillion trees community (1t.org), the amount of carbon captured by existing forests could be doubled simply by adopting sensible forestry practices.

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