Afforestation:
Afforestation is the planting of trees to create a forest on non-forest land. It is different fromreforestation, which is
replanting trees where a forest has been depleted. The main purposes for implementing afforestation are
commercial forestry and environmental restoration or preservation.
When afforestation is used for commercial purposes, it usually involves planting and harvesting of trees as
agricultural crops. Areas where this is done are known as plantation forests. Harvesting trees from plantation
forests helps to reduce deforestation in natural forests. On the other hand, there may be environmental
consequences if this tree-farming is done incorrectly. The fast-growing trees often chosen for plantation forests
consume large amounts of water and may deplete the area's water resources. Some types of trees also change
the physical or chemical properties of the soil, which can damage indigenous species. Thus, sustainable
commercial afforestation must take environmental factors into account to avoid damaging the local ecosystem.
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Sustainable afforestation is also vital when it is implemented for environmental purposes. The appropriate types
and amounts of trees to be planted vary depending on the environment, the climate, and the purpose of creating
forested areas. Major environmental purposes include soil conservation and water quality improvement. For
example, trees can be used to prevent soil erosion and reduce polluted runoff into nearby bodies of water. Trees
may also be planted to create windbreaks. During the Dust Bowl in the United States' Great Plains area, for
instance, the planting of long rows of native trees was encouraged in order to protect crops from the wind and
reduce the loss of topsoil.
Afforestation is sometimes considered as a method for stopping or slowing desertification. Desertification is the
deterioration of land in arid climates due to loss of vegetation and soil moisture. If done correctly, creating
forestland in areas in danger of desertification can slow erosion and reduce its spread. There are efforts in the
Gobi Desert in China and the Sahara in Africa to use afforestation to prevent the desert from claiming more land
area.
In China, at least 3,600 square kilometers of land is taken over by sands from the Gobi Desert every year. The
Green Wall is a massive, approximately 2,800 mile long tree-planting effort to prevent this. A similar Great Green
Wall stretching from Senegal to Djibouti is proposed to help stop the spread of the Sahara. Critics of both say,
however, that central planning would not be as effective as supporting local sustainable farming methods, since
such projects require taking widely varying local conditions into consideration.
Afforestation: Meaning, Importance and Current Efforts
written by: Atula Guptaedited by: Donna Cosmatoupdated: 10/18/2010
Afforestation is the effort to plant trees in barren lands so as to create a forest. It is important
because it helps check the over-use of natural resources by providing an alternative source
pool. Learn more about the process here.
What is Afforestation?
Afforestation is the process of planting trees, or sowing seeds, in a barren land devoid of any
trees to create a forest. The term should not be confused with reforestation, which is the
process of specifically planting native trees into a forest that has decreasing numbers of trees.
While reforestation is increasing the number of trees of an existing forest, afforestation is the
creation of a new forest.
Our Earth has been constantly trying to cope with the way in which
human beings use natural resources, clear forest lands, cut trees, and contaminate the air,
land, and water. Industrial revolution, population bursts, and pollution create permanent
damage to the earth, and the result is global warming and climate change. In such
situations,something that can help extend the life of the planet and its living organisms is the
increase of natural resources and decrease of exploitation of these resources.
By planting trees and creating forests, many of the commercial needs of human beings are
fulfilled, while not destroying what is left of the planet. Afforestation is, therefore, a practice
that has been propagated by government and non-government agencies of many countries as
a way to stop over-exploitation of nature.
