Want to plant billions of trees? Invest in nurseries first

Want to plant billions of trees? Invest in nurseries first

Governments and companies are preparing for mass reforestation, with The Reforestation Hub showing that 133 million acres of forest across the US could be reforested.

Reforestation will require billions of seedings, though

Nurseries face significant challenges to meet this demand for seedlings.



As the world barrels towards 1.5 degrees of planetary warming, healthy forests are coming into laser focus as the best nature-based solution for slowing climate change. In the United States, the opportunity to create healthy forests is enormous. The Reforestation Hub shows that 133 million acres across the country could be reforested.













Kuldeep Singh, the Nursery Manager at L A Moran Reforestation Center, inspects seedlings





Image: Luciane Coletti / American Forests











But as governments, companies and others gear up for mass reforestation, through such initiatives as the 1t.org U.S. Chapter that is led by my organization and World Economic Forum, a big question remains: Where exactly will we get billions of seedlings to grow what we need on the land that has the highest potential for reforestation (66 million acres)? We will need a whopping 34 billion seedlings to do that by 2040?



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