24th to 26th February 2021
Reforestation for Biodiversity, Carbon Capture and Livelihoods Conference
A milestone conference on future reforestation - hosted by Kew and BGCI
Bringing together a series of interesting global perspectives, to debate and challenge the myth that ‘all tree planting is good’ and to discuss best practices for protecting and restoring the world’s forests.
Opened by HRH The Prince of Wales its discussions are to raise the standard of reforestation globally and support discussions in the run up to – and initiatives arising from – the critical agenda-setting UN conferences (COP15 and COP26) later this year on new global biodiversity and climate change agreements.
In the light of the National Geographic’s grant award, Forest Air’s activity was highlighted as a tool to assist in surveys with scientists to help in the planning of future planting.
It's importance was highlighted prior to the conference by:
Professor Alexandre Antonelli, Director of Science at RBG Kew
“Forests are crucial to all life on Earth. They provide a home to 75% of the planet’s plants and animals, they provide us with food, fuels and medicine and are incredibly important for our mental health and wellbeing. But they are disappearing at an alarming pace; we lose an area of tropical rainforest twice the size of Wales every year. It is therefore fantastic that thousands of people and businesses are planting trees. Our paper doesn’t set out to say that tree planting is wrong, it is a brilliant solution to tackle global warming and protect biodiversity, when done correctly and effectively. Instead, we want our paper and upcoming conference to challenge the way we currently plant trees so that we can maximise impact and herald a new era for the world’s forests that benefits everyone. And whenever there’s a choice, we stress that halting deforestation and protecting remaining forests must be a priority.”
