At last years COP 26 summit held In Glasgow, more than 100 world leaders pledged to end and reverse deforestation by 2030. If this commitment is realised then it could potentially save 33million hectares of forest loss. That is an area equivalent to the size of Malaysia!
Forest degradation occurs through human activities such as land clearing, illegal settlements, logging and charcoal burning.
Humans contribute to climate change by cutting down around 13 million hectares of forest each year. This has caused an increase in severe drought, extreme poverty, soil erosion, desertification and loss of wildlife habitat.
We all know trees clean our air by capturing co2 from the environment and in turn releasing oxygen. This carbon absorption is deposited in the ground through the tree trunks.
Almost a third of the planet is covered by forests, that is equivalent to 40.6 billion hectares. These forest areas are pivotal to our survival from the water we drink, the air we breathe to the food we eat. Reforestation is one of the most effective ways to mitigate climate change.
What is reforestation?
Reforestation is the replanting of trees that were lost with the aim of saving ecosystems from further destruction and protecting the planet. This is a planned process rather than just a tree planting exercise.
Why is it important?
- Tree roots and falling leaves enrich the soil with nutrients and also help prevent floods
- Tree’s are the planets largest carbon sinks, capturing Co2 and releasing oxygen thus reducing global warming and improving our air quality
- Tree’s act as nature’s aqueducts capturing and redistributing the water they absorb, helping prevent natural disasters such as floods and landslides
- Forests are home to more than eighty percent of the worlds plants, animals and insects
- Restores natural habitats of endangered species
- Provides job opportunities for communities through the forestry industry and encourages sustainable farming
- Trees provide some key ingredients in 25% of all medicines. Common drugs such as Aspirin comes from the bark of a tree.
As individuals, we are all responsible for climate change and collectively need to fix it, we cannot rely on governments and large industries to make the changes necessary to bring CO2 and other greenhouse gases to zero levels. Each collective effort counts.
One of the simplest ways is through planting trees. Trees are one of the most powerful tools against the climate crisis.
Trees clean the air we breath and absorb CO2 improving our air quality and contributes to a cleaner environment overall by providing us with clean oxygen. In one year, an acre of mature trees absorbs the same volume of carbon monoxide as produced from a 26,000 mile car journey!
How your daily coffee helps our Mission
Our planet is an ecosystem dependant on interaction of species and environment. There isn’t enough land to plant new trees without competing with animal territories and human development hence why at Mara Coffee we chose to focus on reforestation efforts which create jobs, protect animal habitats and helps mitigate the effects of climate change.
This goal has led us to work with Eden Reforestation Projects to plant one tree with each coffee purchase aiding reforestation projects in Africa.
Eden’s global restoration network operate in nine project nations, planting nearly a million trees per day, working alongside local communities to produce, plant and protect tens of millions of trees every month, thereby creating jobs to support communities in restoring their local environment and economy long-term.
There is still much to do but as with everything we must start somewhere and that is why we are proud to support the incredible work Eden is carrying out in not only protecting our planet but also the people and wildlife that inhabit it.
Asante (thank you) for being on this journey with us.