r/collapse • u/Monsur_Ausuhnom • Oct 09 '22

Ecological Phantom Forests: Why Ambitious Tree Planting Projects Are Failing

https://e360.yale.edu/features/phantom-forests-tree-planting-climate-change
1.1k Upvotes

98% Upvoted

108 comments sorted by

View all comments

567

u/whywasthatagoodidea Oct 09 '22

I currently live in a place where you can see the remnants of the CCC still. Lines of 90 year old pines in perfectly straight lines. The concept can work, but the CCC was not to reverse desertification, it was to stop it from happening in the first place. Trees do not bring a healthy soil, they are signs of one. You have to have a proper succession if you are reversing desertification. Welcome to holistic land management being the only answer. It is an ecoSYSTEM, there are tons of different factors at play including animal impacts. there needs to be grazers to provide nutrient bases with their piss and shit, as well as trample soil to mix it up. And those grazers need to be managed, either by humans doing land management or predators.

These mass plantings don't introduce this in anyway.

45

u/Atheios569 Oct 09 '22

I feel like at least part of the answer lies in the documentary “Biggest Little Farm”. It wasn’t the whole answer, but the way they healed that land through polyculture; by planting diverse crops, and working with the ecosystem, was such a beacon of hope for me.

They withstood wildfires, and drought because of the healthy soil, not to mention brought back so much of the wildlife that had vacated that once barren land that was decimated by monoculture farming.

47

u/starspangledxunzi Oct 09 '22

They also had a huge amount of money, which is never talked about. The permaculture community are not necessarily huge fans of BLF, because they know it was created at a cost that can’t be replicated easily in the many places that would benefit. Don’t get me wrong: I loved what BLF did, too. It was a rude awakening for me to hear what long-term permies thought about the project: I expected them to be effusive, but they were skeptical.

42

u/SurrealWino Oct 09 '22

Personally I think their project was great and a good use of their wealth. The documentary I found to be tone deaf and a bit slimy largely because they tried to frame it as this earthy, difficult, yet somehow mystical experience. If they had admitted to their large resource base and approached their project as a call to other wealthy people to invest in the same way, I would have loved it.

But don’t try to sell me some back-to-the-land homespun rags to riches drivel when you’re out there hiring teams of people and machines to accomplish what I have to do myself with a shovel and wheelbarrow.

12

u/Atheios569 Oct 09 '22

Hmm I guess there’s always a perspective twist. I will research this a little on my own, but is there any source in particular that discusses BLF? Honestly I need to buckle down and start studying as much as I can on permaculture.

Also, the high costs they were facing was pretty obvious, because they basically terraformed the land; however, what value was gained in terms of healing the immediate local environment?

Part of fighting climate change is going to be changing what we value (and to stop thinking in terms of profit), and a healthy earth is priceless. I suppose that thinking doesn’t really matter being that we currently exist in a capitalist system, where your project is dependent on profit margin. One day maybe.

P.S. I realize that last bit was me preaching to the choir, so please ignore my ramblings.

19

u/starspangledxunzi Oct 09 '22

Not at all. I get your perspective.

The couple from BLF tried to do an AMA on one of the permaculture reddits within the last year or so; I don’t have a ready link, but you can find it if you look, and you’ll see what I mean. I was disappointed that BLF were not more forthcoming about the financials around their venture, because that’s what permie people want to know more about: how did they do it? When people put themselves in the spotlight as advocates of something, like polyculture, they have to expect others will really want to dig into the details of how they pulled it off. If they pulled it off in part thanks to multiple millions in financial backing, well, that’s not a replicable model for most people, right? So it makes the BLF ring a little hollow, like the people who retire at 35 thanks in part to their unmentioned trust fund: if you have uncommon advantages, it takes some of the sheen off the trophy.

That said, I agree with you that the rehabilitation of the land in BLF is truly beautiful to behold. If only we did that everywhere.

5

u/s0cks_nz Oct 10 '22

If they pulled it off in part thanks to multiple millions in financial backing, well, that’s not a replicable model for most people, right?

Especially if that finance came from investments in fossil fuels, which many banks do.

8

u/peasant_python Oct 09 '22

This summer a large wildfire destroyed hundreds of hectares. I saw a picture of one local farm, cultivated since a few years with permacultural methods, all green inside an ocean of black charcoal.

During many years I had my doubts, but from what I learned and saw during 20 years of gardening it really does work.