Planting trees on land that was previously used for pasture or crops or on former industrial sites can be a triple win. Trees remove carbon dioxide from the air and store it in their trunks and branches, or in the soil when fallen leaves and twigs decompose. They boost soil health, clean up pollutants and reduce local flood risk. Tree farms provide wood for construction, reducing the pressure to harvest more wild forests.

Before establishing a farm on a particular plot of land it’s important to assess whether that land could be better used for something else - like regenerative agricultural spaces, wildlife areas or homes. Tree farms should not replace native ecosystems, and must be managed carefully and sustainably. 

It’s also important not to count tree farms as forests, since they don’t provide all of the benefits a more wild forest ecosystem does. Calculations of how much carbon a tree farm stores should take into account the fact that harvested trees will eventually degrade, which releases greenhouse gas emissions back into the atmosphere.

When you take this action, add 1 Tree token to the board if you have 3–4 Ecology tags in this card's stack or add 2 Tree tokens to the board if you have 5 or more Ecology tags in this card's stack.
You may take this action once per round.

• Tree Plantations on Degraded Land (Project Drawdown)

• Tree planting ‘has mind-blowing potential’ to tackle climate crisis (The Guardian)

• Trees As Infrastructure (Dark Matter Labs)

• Support legislation and local policymakers’ plans to create local tree farms where appropriate

• Buy furniture and other products made from sustainably sourced wood, if you can’t find second-hand and restored options.

• Join or start community stewardship projects to protect and manage local tree farms, woodlands and forests.