How many trees are there on Earth again?
There are approximately 3 TRILLION TREES IN THE WORLD.
A number that looks even more impressive when it’s written out: 3,000,000,000,000.
That’s about 390 trees per person.
But what’s more astonishing is that we didn’t have this estimate until recently. In fact, scientists used to believe that the number of worldwide trees was a whole lot lower (something like 400 Billion).
No one bothered to do the dirty work of tree counting until recently.
While 3 trillion trees sound like an astronomical number, it’s almost half as much as what used to exist. Humankind managed to chop down about 1.5 trillion trees.
According to one recent study published in “Science”, the most effective way to fight climate change is reforestation. The Swiss Federal Institute of Technology (ETH Zurich) claims the earth can tolerate a third more forests without affecting cities or agricultural land.
That’s great to hear.
But I beg to differ.
Reforestation is NOT the most effective method.
It simply takes way too looooooong.
Why not protect existing forests instead?
Especially rainforests that are mature & have a tree density of 90 to 100% vs. forests in temperate climates with a tree density of only 30 to 40%.
You want to do your part & protect your 390 trees?
Just do it for as little as 2 US$.
Not per tree. In fact, you can protect one entire acre for as little as 2 US$.
Yes, you read that correctly.
With the equivalent of one portion of Hainanese Chicken Rice, you can save 1,000 trees (in tropical rain forests, there can be up to 1,000 trees per acre).
Here comes the peace of mind
1,000 mature trees absorb CO2 at a rate of 7.5 to 13 tons per year. Your annual CO2-emission living in Singapore averages around 9.5 tons.
Voila, you have offset your personal CO2 emissions.
How much value for money is that in relation to those common carbon offsetting schemes where 100 US$ gets you just a few young tree saplings planted?
Check it out here:
https://www.rainforesttrust.org/our-work/urgent-projects/
I do trust those guys from Rainforest Trust. Met some of their Board Members before. They are super dedicated, pay for their own travel expenses and make sure that each project they take on is sustainable over the long run and not just a one-off thingy.
Highly recommended for doing your part towards a more sustainable future for yourself and the next generations.
The answer is simple. If we lose the world’s forests, we lose the fight against climate change. Rainforests are our Earth’s greatest utility – our planet’s lungs, thermostat and air-conditioning system. – Michael Somare
The world’s forests need to be seen for what they are – giant global utilities, providing essential public services to humanity on a vast scale. They store carbon, which is lost to the atmosphere when they burn, increasing global warming. The life they support cleans the atmosphere of pollutants and feeds it with moisture. They act as a natural thermostat, helping to regulate our climate and sustain the lives of 1.4 billion of the poorest people on this Earth. – Prince Charles
Destroying rainforest for economic gain is like burning a Renaissance painting to cook a meal. – E. O. Wilson