Large scale tree planting brings greatest environmental benefits in The Tropical climates of SE Asia and South America. Many rural areas in these regions suffer from extreme poverty and tree planting activities assist communities by alleviating poverty and enhancing the environment
Our first project location is situated within The Doi Shuteph National Park, near Chiang Mai, northern Thailand.
Deforestation is the root cause of several environmental and economic problems in Thailand. Loss of biodiversity and particularly the variety of forest products contributes to rural poverty, droughts become more sever, fires more frequent and CO2 released from destroyed forest contributes towards global climate change. However, since the disastrous floods in Thailand in 2012, interest in restoring forest cover to the northern watersheds, specifically to increase their capacity to absorb rainwater, has increased considerably. To maximize flood risk reduction, forest restoration should aim to regenerate indigenous forest ecosystems, with maximum productivity, biomass, structural complexity, biodiversity and ecological functioning. This type of forest restoration also maximizes the social and economic value of other environmental services (e.g. erosion and landslide prevention, carbon storage, stable supply of clean water, eco-tourism potential, wildlife habitat, etc.) and provides the greatest diversity of forest products.
World Tree Trust & FORRU-CMU
World Tree Trust’s first project is in collaboration with The Forest Restoration Research Unit (FORRU-CMU www.forru.org). The team comprise a small group of ecologists and research students in the Science Faculty of Chiang Mai University, northern Thailand, who carry out research to develop efficient methods to restore tropical forest ecosystems for biodiversity conservation, environmental protection and carbon storage. The unit also has an outreach program to provide technical training, based on research, to a wide range of organizations involved in forest restoration.
Our philosophy is that tropical forests can be restored … but it needs sound ecological research to provide science-based skills and knowledge to those most directly affected by deforestation.
For more information on this project see SE Asia Location Page