Afforestation is establishing a forest on land that is not a forest, or has not been a forest for a long time by planting trees or their seeds. The term may also be applied to the legal conversion of land into the status of
royal forestA royal forest is an area of land where certain rights are reserved for a monarch or the aristocracy, usually set aside for hunting . The concept was introduced by the Normans to England in the 11th century, and at the height of this practice in the late 12th and early 13th centuries, fully...
.
The term
reforestationReforestation is the restocking of existing forests and woodlands which have been depleted.Leaves from trees emit oxygen as well as absorb carbon dioxide and other pollutants from our atmosphere. The demand of reforestation is increasing both for quality of human life reasons, biosphere support...
generally refers to the reestablishment of the forest after its removal, or planting more trees for example from a
timber harvestLogging is the process in which certain trees are cut down for forest management and timber.In forestry the term logging is sometimes used in a narrow sense concerning the logistics of moving wood from the stump to somewhere outside the forest, usually a sawmill or a lumber yard. In common usage...
. Since the
industrial revolutionThe Industrial Revolution was a period from the 18th to the 19th century where major changes in agriculture, manufacturing, mining, and transport had a profound effect on the socioeconomic and cultural conditions in the United Kingdom. The changes subsequently spread throughout Europe, North...
many countries have experienced centuries of
deforestationDeforestation is the clearance of naturally occurring forests by the processes of logging and/or burning of trees in a forested area. There are several reasons deforestation occurs: trees or derived charcoal can be sold as a commodity and used by humans, while cleared land is used as pasture,...
, and some governments and non-governmental organisations directly engage in programs of
afforestation to restore forests and assist in preservation of
biodiversityBiodiversity is the variation of life forms within a given ecosystem, biome, or for the entire Earth. Biodiversity is often used as a measure of the health of biological systems...
.
The
United StatesThe United States of America is a federal constitutional republic comprising fifty states and a federal district...
and northwestern
EuropeEurope is, by convention, one of the world's seven continents. Comprising the westernmost peninsula of Eurasia, Europe is generally divided from Asia to its east by the water divide of the Ural Mountains, the Ural River, the Caspian Sea, the Caucasus Mountains , and the Black Sea to the southeast...
have more forest cover than at the beginning of the twentieth century.
Afforestation is establishing a forest on land that is not a forest, or has not been a forest for a long time by planting trees or their seeds. The term may also be applied to the legal conversion of land into the status of
royal forestA royal forest is an area of land where certain rights are reserved for a monarch or the aristocracy, usually set aside for hunting . The concept was introduced by the Normans to England in the 11th century, and at the height of this practice in the late 12th and early 13th centuries, fully...
.
The term
reforestationReforestation is the restocking of existing forests and woodlands which have been depleted.Leaves from trees emit oxygen as well as absorb carbon dioxide and other pollutants from our atmosphere. The demand of reforestation is increasing both for quality of human life reasons, biosphere support...
generally refers to the reestablishment of the forest after its removal, or planting more trees for example from a
timber harvestLogging is the process in which certain trees are cut down for forest management and timber.In forestry the term logging is sometimes used in a narrow sense concerning the logistics of moving wood from the stump to somewhere outside the forest, usually a sawmill or a lumber yard. In common usage...
. Since the
industrial revolutionThe Industrial Revolution was a period from the 18th to the 19th century where major changes in agriculture, manufacturing, mining, and transport had a profound effect on the socioeconomic and cultural conditions in the United Kingdom. The changes subsequently spread throughout Europe, North...
many countries have experienced centuries of
deforestationDeforestation is the clearance of naturally occurring forests by the processes of logging and/or burning of trees in a forested area. There are several reasons deforestation occurs: trees or derived charcoal can be sold as a commodity and used by humans, while cleared land is used as pasture,...
, and some governments and non-governmental organisations directly engage in programs of
afforestation to restore forests and assist in preservation of
biodiversityBiodiversity is the variation of life forms within a given ecosystem, biome, or for the entire Earth. Biodiversity is often used as a measure of the health of biological systems...
.
The
United StatesThe United States of America is a federal constitutional republic comprising fifty states and a federal district...
and northwestern
EuropeEurope is, by convention, one of the world's seven continents. Comprising the westernmost peninsula of Eurasia, Europe is generally divided from Asia to its east by the water divide of the Ural Mountains, the Ural River, the Caspian Sea, the Caucasus Mountains , and the Black Sea to the southeast...
have more forest cover than at the beginning of the twentieth century. However, significant deforestation in South and Central America and in South Asia still continues.
Afforestation in areas of degraded soil
In some places, forests need help to re-establish themselves because of
environmentalThe natural environment, commonly referred to simply as the environment, is a term that encompasses all living and non-living things occurring naturally on Earth or some region thereof....
factors. For example, once forest cover is destroyed in arid zones, the land quickly dries out and becomes inhospitable to new tree growth. Other critical factors include
overgrazingOvergrazing occurs when plants are exposed to intensive grazing for extended periods of time, or without sufficient recovery periods. It can be caused by either livestock in poorly managed agricultural applications, or by overpopulations of native or non-native wild animals...
by
livestockLivestock are one or more domesticated animals raised in an agricultural setting to produce commodities such as food or fiber, or labor...
, especially animals such as
goatThe domestic goat is a subspecies of goat domesticated from the wild goat of southwest Asia and Eastern Europe. The goat is a member of the Bovidae family and is closely related to the sheep: both are in the goat-antelope subfamily Caprinae. There are over three hundred distinct breeds of...
s, and over-harvesting of forest resources. Together these may lead to
desertificationDesertification is the degradation of land in arid and dry sub-humid areas, resulting primarily from man-made activities and influenced by climatic variations...
and the loss of
topsoilTopsoil is the upper, outermost layer of soil, usually the top to . It has the highest concentration of organic matter and microorganisms and is where most of the Earth's biological soil activity occurs. Plants generally concentrate their roots in and obtain most of their nutrients from this layer...
; without soil, forests cannot grow until the very long process of soil creation has been completed - if
erosionErosion is a gravity driven process that moves solids in the natural environment or their source and deposits them elsewhere...
allows this. In some tropical areas, forest cover removal may result in a
duricrustDuricrust refers to a thin hard layer on or near the surface of soil, usually a few millimeters to a few centimeters thick.It is a general term for a zone of chemical precipitation and hardening formed at or near the surface of sedimentary bodies through pedogenic and non-pedogenic processes...
or
duripanA duripan is a diagnostic soil horizon that is cemented by illuvial silica into a subsurface hardpan. It is similar to a Fragipan, Petrocalcic Horizon, and Petrogypsic Horizon in that they are all firmly cemented and pose management restrictions. In soil descriptions they are most often denoted...
that effectively seal off the soil to water penetration and root growth. In many areas, reforestation is impossible because people are using the land. In other areas, mechanical breaking up of duripans or duricrusts is necessary, careful and continued watering may be essential, and special protection, such as fencing, may be needed.
Brazil
Because of the extensive
AmazonThe Amazon rainforest , also known as Amazonia, or the Amazon jungle, is a moist broadleaf forest that covers most of the Amazon Basin of South America...
deforestation during the last several decades and ongoing, the small efforts of afforestation are insignificant on a national scale of the Amazon Rainforest.
China
China has deforested the majority of its historical wooded areas. China has reached the point where timber yields have declined far below historic levels, due to overharvesting of trees beyond sustainable yield. Although it has set official goals for re-forestation, these goals were set for a 80 year time horizon and are not significantly met by 2008. At present, however, China is trying to correct these problems by projects as the
Green Wall of ChinaThe Green Wall of China, also known as the Green Great Wall or Great Green Wall , will be a series of human-planted forest strips in the People's Republic of China, designed to hold back the Gobi Desert.
, which aims to replant a great deal of forests and halt the expansion of the
Gobi desertThe Gobi is the largest desert region in Asia. It covers parts of northern and northwestern China, and of southern Mongolia...
. A law promulgated in 1981 requires that every Chinese citizen over the age of 11 plant at least one tree per year. As a result, China currently has the highest afforestation rate of any country or region in the world, with 47,000 square kilometers of afforestation in 2008 alone. However, the forest area per capita is still far lower than the international average. An ambitious proposal for China is the
Aerially Delivered Re-forestation and Erosion Control SystemThe Aerially Delivered Re-forestation and Erosion Control System is a proposal designed to counter and reverse desertification in any arid area but in particular the Gobi and other deserts in central China...
and the Proposed sahara forest project coupled with the
Seawater GreenhouseThe Seawater Greenhouse is a technology for creating fresh water from seawater in arid regions, using an adapted greenhouse that also provides suitable food-growing conditions...
Europe
Like China, Europe has also deforested the majority of its historical forests. The
European UnionThe European Union is an economic and political union of 27 Member States, located primarily in Europe. Committed to regional integration, the EU was established by the Treaty of Maastricht on 1 November 1993 upon the foundations of the pre-existing European Economic Community...
has paid farmers for afforestation since 1990, offering grants to turn farmland back into forest and payments for the management of forest. Between 1993 and 1997, EU afforestation policies made possible the re-forestation of over 5,000 square kilometres of land. A second program, running between 2000 and 2006, afforested in excess of 1000 square kilometres of land (precise statistics not yet available). A third such program began in 2007.
In
PolandPoland , officially the Republic of Poland , is a country in Central Europe . Poland is bordered by Germany to the west; the Czech Republic and Slovakia to the south; Ukraine, Belarus and Lithuania to the east; and the Baltic Sea and Kaliningrad Oblast, a Russian exclave, to the north...
, the National Program of Afforestation was introduced by the government after World War Two, when total area of forests shrank to 20% of country's territory. Consequently, forested areas of Poland grew year by year, and on December 31, 2006, forests covered 29% of the country (see: Polish forests). It is planned that by 2050, forests will cover 33% of Poland.
Iran
Iran is considered a low forest cover region of the world with present cover approximating seven percent of the land area. This is a value reduced by an estimated six million hectares of virgin forest, which includes
oakAn oak is a tree or shrub in the genus Quercus , of which about 400 species exist. "Oak" may also appear in the names of species in related genera, notably Lithocarpus...
,
almondThe Almond is a species of tree native to the Middle East. Almond is also the name of the edible and widely cultivated nut of this tree...
and pistacio. Due to the soil substrates that exist in Iran, it is difficult to achieve afforestation on a large scale compared to other temperate areas endowed with more fertile and less rocky and arid soil conditions. Consequently, most of the afforestation is conducted with non-native species, leading to
habitat destructionHabitat destruction is the process in which natural habitat is rendered functionally unable to support the species present. In this process, the organisms which previously used the site are displaced or destroyed, reducing biodiversity. Habitat destruction by human activity mainly for the purpose...
for native
floraIn botany, flora has two meanings. The first meaning, flora of an area or of time period, refers to all plant life occurring in an area or time period, especially the naturally occurring or indigenous plant life...
and
faunaFauna is all of the animal life of any particular region or time. The corresponding term for plants is flora.Zoologists and paleontologists use fauna to refer to a typical collection of animals found in a specific time or place, e.g...
, and resulting in an accelerated loss of biodiversity.
See also
- Forestry
Forestry is the art and science of managing forests, tree plantations, and related natural resources. The main goal of forestry is to create and implement systems that allow forests to continue a sustainable continuation of environmental supplies and services...
- Deforestation
Deforestation is the clearance of naturally occurring forests by the processes of logging and/or burning of trees in a forested area. There are several reasons deforestation occurs: trees or derived charcoal can be sold as a commodity and used by humans, while cleared land is used as pasture,...
- Reforestation
Reforestation is the restocking of existing forests and woodlands which have been depleted.Leaves from trees emit oxygen as well as absorb carbon dioxide and other pollutants from our atmosphere. The demand of reforestation is increasing both for quality of human life reasons, biosphere support...
- Agroforestry
Agroforestry is an integrated approach of using the interactive benefits from combining trees and shrubs with crops and/or livestock.It combines agricultural and forestry technologies to create more diverse, productive, profitable, healthy and sustainable land-use systems.-Definitions:"Agroforestry...
- Buffer strip
A buffer strip is an area of land maintained in permanent vegetation that helps to control air, soil, and water quality and other environmental problems primarily on land that is used for agriculture. Buffer strips trap sediment, and enhance filtration of nutrients and pesticides by slowing down...
- Great Plains Shelterbelt
The Great Plains Shelterbelt was a project to create windbreaks in the Great Plains states of the United States, and was launched in 1934. President Franklin D. Roosevelt initiated the project in response to the severe dust storms of the Dust Bowl, which resulted in significant soil erosion and...
- Macro-engineering
In engineering, macro-engineering is the implementation of extremely large-scale design projects...
- Desertification
Desertification is the degradation of land in arid and dry sub-humid areas, resulting primarily from man-made activities and influenced by climatic variations...
- Proposed sahara forest project
- Sand fence
A sand fence is a structure similar to a Snow fence used to force drifting of sand to occur in a desired place. Sand fences are employed in desert and erosion control and for example to minimize the amount of sand drift on roadways.....
- Seawater Greenhouse
The Seawater Greenhouse is a technology for creating fresh water from seawater in arid regions, using an adapted greenhouse that also provides suitable food-growing conditions...
- Windbreak
A windbreak or shelterbelt is a plantation usually made up of one or more rows of trees or shrubs planted in such a manner as to provide shelter from the wind and to protect soil from erosion. They are commonly planted around the edges of fields on farms. If designed properly, windbreaks around a...
- Deforestation during the Roman period
The rise and fall of the Roman Empire encompasses the time when Rome was the leading contributor to deforestation in the Mediterranean. Whereas the Mediterranean was largely "prehistoric" in 1000 BC, it was definitely "historic" by 500 AD....