A new report from Pure Advantage says that we are not planting enough trees here in New Zealand. They quote Environment Ministry figures which show that since 2008 our rate of forest removal has been greater than our rate of forest planting.
The 2015 Environment Aotearoa report showed that between 1996 and 2015 we lost more than 10,000 hectares of native and regenerating forest cover.
Planting the right trees helps our biodiversity to recover, helps to prevent erosion and improves the water quality of rivers. And of course trees absorb CO2, helping to reduce our net emissions of greenhouse gases.
This is happening because of ongoing conversion of forestry land to dairy farming – total intended deforestation by forestry owners is estimated at 67,000 hectares between 2014 and 2025. A staggering 91% of this intended conversion is for dairying.
Read more of the Pure Advantage report here.
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Mangroves are being destroyed by people. kelp forests by urchins. the sea fixes carbon too.