New study shows regions with best potential to regrow trees and suck climate-heating CO2 from the air
New maps have revealed the best “win-win” opportunities across the world to regrow forests and tackle the climate crisis, without harming people or wildlife.
The places range from the eastern US and western Canada, to Brazil and Columbia, and across Europe, adding up to 195 million hectares (482 million acres). If reforested, this would remove 2.2bn tonnes of carbon dioxide a year, about the same as all the nations in the European Union.
Previous maps have suggested much larger areas have the potential for regrowing trees but were criticised for including important ecosystems like savannahs and not considering the impact on the millions of people who live in or depend on forests.
The researchers behind the new maps built on previous work but employed a deliberately conservative approach in order to shine a spotlight on those places with the highest potential and the fewest problems.
