The article “Tree-planting schemes threaten tropical biodiversity, ecologists say” written by Patrick Greenfield appeared on the Guardian’s website on October 5, 2023.

The following are excerpts from the article:

While plantations are often more economically viable than standing forests, the paper appearing in the journal Trends in Ecology & Evolution highlights that they often support a lower level of biodiversity. For example, in the Brazilian Cerrado savanna, a 40% rise in woodland cover reduced the diversity of plants and ants by about 30%.

Simon Lewis, a professor of Global Change Science at University College London, said it was dangerous to treat trees as “nothing more than sticks of carbon … rebadging industrial plantations as carbon offsets is yet another problem of the … unregulated carbon offsets market. Tree-planting should not be seen as an alternative to rapidly cutting fossil fuel emissions,”

Then entire article can be read on The Guardian’s website.