It has been known for some time that going big on tree planting might not be a silver bullet to fight climate change. But recent efforts in tree planting have shown that if not done properly, tree planting will not provide us even with the relatively limited decarbonization benefits that it has the potential for.
A study of tree plantation in Himachal Pradesh found that about one-third of the tree plantation budget was spent in areas with extensive southern exposure i.e areas that receive direct sun through most of the year. Here, dryness is likely to limit tree growth. In addition, many of the tree plantings in Himachal were poorly designed for meeting India’s climate mitigation goals.
Put simply, it was estimated that for every dollar that goes into tree plantation programmes, almost half is wasted - a waste of money, and, a waste of decarbonization efforts.
