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RESTORING the world's for- ests on an unprecedented scale is "the best climate change solution available", according to a new study. The research- ers claim that covering 900m hectares of land – roughly the size of the continental US – with trees could store up to 205 billion tonnes of carbon, about two thirds of the carbon that humans have already put into the atmosphere. While the best solution to climate change remains leaving fossil fuels in the ground, we will still need to suck carbon dioxide (CO₂) out of the at- mosphere this century if we are to keep global warming below 1.5˚C. So, the idea of reforest- ing much of the world isn't as far-fetched as it sounds. Since the dawn of agricul- ture, humans have cut down three trillion trees – about half the trees on Earth. Already 43 countries have pledged to restore 292m hectares of degraded land to forest world- wide. That's an area ten times the size of the UK. But what the new study advocates is refor- esting something like ten times that amount. Rewilding habitats and refor- esting may be easier in the fu- ture as the world is already be- coming a wilder place in many areas. This may seem a strange prediction, given that the global population will grow from 7.7 billion to 10 billion by 2050, but by then nearly 70% of us will live in cities and will have aban- doned rural areas, making them ripe for restoration. In Europe already, 2.2m hectares of forest regrew per year between 2000- 2015, and forest cover in Spain has increased from 8% of the country's territory in 1900 to 25% today. Massive reforestation isn't a pipe dream and it can have real benefits for people. In the late 1990s, environmental deterio- ration in China became critical, with vast areas resembling the Dust Bowl of the American Midwest in the 1930s. Six bold programmes were introduced, targeting over 100m hectares of land for reforestation. Grain for Green is the larg- est and best known of these. It reduced soil erosion and stabilised local rainfall patterns. The ongoing programme has also helped to alleviate poverty by making payments directly to farmers who set aside their land for reforestation. Better yet, the new study sug- gests that bringing back 900m hectares of forest wouldn't im- pact on our capacity to reserve land for growing food. This is certainly possible, and in line with other estimates. Reforesta- tion may even result in produc- tion from farmland increasing, as was found in China when more stable rainfall and fertile soil followed the return of forests. No solution without emission cuts There should be more scepti- cism about how much CO₂ 900m hectares of new forest could store though. The paper insists on 205 billion tonnes of carbon, but this seems too high when compared to previous studies or climate models. The authors have forgotten the car- bon that's already stored in the vegetation and soil of degraded land that their new forests would replace. The amount of carbon that reforestation could lock up is the difference 24 OPINION maltatoday | SUNDAY • 14 JULY 2019 Prof. Mark Maslin & Prof. Simon Lewis Can reforesting an area the size of the US avert Senior Professional Officer - Notary Public Jobplus Permit Number – 546/2019 In possession of a law degree and a valid warrant to practice as a Public Notary in Malta and Gozo. Having previously worked in other legal roles. CAREER OPPORTUNITY Lands Authority is seeking applications from interested persons to fill the following position: WE ARE RECRUITING ESSENTIAL Qualifications Experience Interested persons are kindly requested to submit a letter of application and a detailed CV only by email, as one pdf document to: hr.la@landsauthority. org.mt by Monday 29th July 2019. Emails are to indicate the position being applied for and the name of the applicant in the subject. Applications will be acknowledged and treated in strictest confidence. For more information visit the link below: https://landsauthority.org.mt/about-us/careers/ Radically reducing carbon emissions and absorbing the carbon that's already in the atmosphere will be necessary to avert catastrophic climate change How all of that new forest would look, alongside what's already there Where the billion hectares of forest could be planted – excluding desert, farmland and urban areas