Goal 6: Clean Water and Sanitation:
Water is life, and access to clean, plentiful water could significantly improve the lives of approximately 2 billion people that experience water stress due to pollution and forest and wetland degradation.
Due to the links between land management and the water cycle — and the key role that trees play in capturing, filtering, and retaining water — reforestation can significantly improve water supplies.
Goal 8: Decent Work and Economic Growth:
Throughout history, human societies and economies have grown on the back of healthy ecosystems that provide food, fuel, and clean water — and little about that has changed today.
From collecting seed to growing and planting seedlings, managing projects, monitoring planting sites, and growing food crops via sustainable agroforestry, reforestation both directly and indirectly generates jobs and economic activity; and can have a profound impact on local economies.
Goal 12: Responsible Consumption and Production:
Reforestation and forest science have key roles to play in developing more sustainable ways to produce and extract agricultural goods, forest products, energy, and minerals from the land.
The interconnectedness and availability of resources informs decisions and drives innovation, helping us to do and be better.
Goal 13: Climate Action:
Healthy trees cool the planet by absorbing and storing harmful particulate pollutants and GHGs — in fact, a mature tree can absorb an average of 22lbs of CO2 per year.
Planting trees can increase the resilience of ecosystems, help minimize climate change effects, and buy people and governments time to adapt to changing conditions. Planting native seedlings in ecologically appropriate areas can also counteract soil and biodiversity loss and improve human well-being.
Goal 15: Life on Land:
Reforestation and conservation are essential to building a better, more sustainable future where poverty is reduced, food and water are available, biodiversity is safeguarded, and sustainable livelihoods are possible.
Healthy forests = happy people!