Plant a tree. Or maybe a billion?

[GliderGuider]

The UN wants us to plant a billion trees this year. Plant one or two yourself and help out.

The United Nations Environment Programme (UNEP) is launching a major worldwide tree planting campaign. Under the Plant for the Planet: Billion Tree Campaign, people, communities, business and industry, civil society organizations and governments will be encouraged to enter tree planting pledges on this website with the objective of planting at least one billion trees worldwide during 2007.

http://www.unep.org/billiontreecampaign/

[Botany]

1. Very smiplistic ....

Planting trees is a good a thing but planting the right tree in the right spot
is much more complex. Also in may cases the best thing for the ecology is to
thin out the trees,

[Redstone]

2. Well, planting trees where you KNOW there were trees before people cut them down

ought to be pretty simple, yes?

And there are a LOT of places exactly like that around the world. I doubt VERY MUCH that this could turn out to be a negative thing.

Redstone

[GliderGuider]

3. Perhaps not so much simplistic

as simple, yes?

From a planetary perspective, planting trees everywhere (like there were before we came on the scene) doesn't seem to be a terribly bad idea.

It takes less than a day to plant a few trees. Make them fruit trees and you'll do both the planet and yourself a nice favour a few years down the road.

[girl gone mad]

6. Trees weren't everywhere...

before we came along. Trees are weeds where I live. They shade out native grasses and wildflowers that the local wildlife depends on, as well as suck up huge amounts of water. Humans brought the trees here, along with a lot of other exotic plants, some of which have become a real nuisance in the wild.

I think it would be much more responsible for the UN to encourage people to landscape with native plants rather than to just plant trees willy-nilly.

[kestrel91316]

7. Forests are perfectly capable of "thinning" trees out themselves. Unless

you are talking about tree plantations. Those are FARMS and require human intervention to maximize profits.

We need more forests and fewer tree plantations, IMHO. The former are better insurance against ecosystem collapse.

[dweller]

4. competing with Mother Nature are we?

seems nature has the capabilities to 'plant' enough on its own. . . those seeds and cones and nuts keep falling afterall.

wouldn't it be a freak if we jumped in and planted a couple of extra billion alongside with her, and cooled this planet back down to the operating temperature she loves best?

i mean, it's just oxygen afterall.

:)
dp

[mopinko]

5. my biggest disappointment with bill and al

was that they did not do this. still wonder why. it can't be that they didn't think of it. it is as plain as the nose on your face.