Do We Replant

Planting Comparison

 

Planting a sapling offers only the potential for long-term storage of carbon:

• Mature hardwood trees require approximately 20m spacing (300m²) while saplings are planted as close as 1.5m centres (2.25m²). This means that only 1 in 140 planted saplings will reach maturity in 80 years time.

• Global warming requires immediate solutions as there are genuine concerns that action is already too late.

• Carbon capture is very inefficient when a tree is very young or old.

• It is unlikely that trees such as beech will survive for more than two or three decades given the current rate of global warming.

• Pollarding or coppicing is a much more efficient method of carbon capture, as the original root system can quickly build up new limbs that can again be used to provide new beams.