Does planting trees actually cool the planet? - Carolyn Beans

Dig into common mistakes that tree-planting programs make, and explore strategies that can successfully re-green the planet.
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In fighting climate change, few solutions are discussed more than planting lots and lots of trees. It sounds simple enough: trees absorb CO2 from the atmosphere, so planting more should help eliminate greenhouse gasses. The trouble is, tree planting efforts don’t always work as planned. So, when is it bad to plant trees? Carolyn Beans explores strategies to successfully re-green the planet.
Lesson by Carolyn Beans, directed by Ivana Bošnjak, Thomas Johnson Volda.
This video made possible in collaboration with Speed & Scale
Learn more about how TED-Ed partnerships work: bit.ly/TEDEdPartners
A special thanks to Robert Heilmayr who provided information and insights for the development of this video.
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[@Sunflowersarepretty]

Saving what's already there like any forests by stopping deforestation and addressing a ton of other issues like mentioned in the video sounds ideal. Instead of turning Savannah's and deserts green which has its consequences we must prioritize on protecting what's already there.

[@ZennExile]

That's a delusion. Human activity has resulted in the destruction of the global Rhizosphere over billions of hectare. It must absolutely be repaired. Clinging to what's left is like trying to use the corner off a single sheet of 2ply to wipe. You won't accomplish much but spreading the problem around. The real problem is a basic one. Humans don't put back what they take from natural systems. That's the entire carbon crisis. What we need to do is start using natural processes to return as much carbon to living systems as possible. And the most densely packed biomass is found below the surface. And since it's the foundation of the carbon cycle and something we've actively been destroying, we should start there. Then worry about everything else. Otherwise nothing we do will matter from this point forward, and this mass extinction is just getting started.

[@micahbush5397]

Or at the very least, it you're going to green arid areas, do it in ways that make sense, like recreating wetlands, creating bioswales to collect and drain rainwater, and planting groves, savannas, and grasslands instead of forests. And stick to species native to the area.

[@wiezyczkowata]

exectly!! deserts areecosystems that would get destroyed if they were regreened, they need to be stopped from spreading, not destroyed

[@gunstrokethecybertronian8659]

​@micahbush5397 agreed. While it is important to re-plant trees as one method to address climate change, we must also remember to use other solutions aimed at addressing it. In addition, we need to remember to keep the land protected and balance them out. As Robocop once said in Rogue City "... take care of your surroundings or your surroundings will take care of you."

[@ronnelechavez]

and of course restoring what has been lost.

[@kirbymarchbarcena]

I love trees...and I love how various animation styles were used in this video.

[@Mevilean]

Mostly it was stop motion animation

[@DSAK55]

Wow!!! You really got the message

[@TEDEd]

Thank you! We love trees, too! :)

[@nerd26373]

Planting trees isn't enough to fight climate change. There's bigger environmental damages to address. It's just one part of the huge picture.

[@VanillaGorilla21]

Wow that explains everything so perfectly.

[@ZennExile]

@@VanillaGorilla21 not wrong though. They just don't know how to spell Rhizosphere, or how to explain that human activity has destroyed billions of hectare of the Rhizosphere, undermining the entire carbon cycle. Literally. Plants are just the carbon siphon that pulls carbon out of the atmosphere. Without the Rhizosphere to digest and store those organics, you've accomplished nothing in planting more of them.

[@karigrandii]

Yes we need to stop cutting down trees and forest and stop farming trees and letting forests grow back. We need to stop having an economic system that requires everyone to consume and waste resources for infinite economic growth that is proven to be tied to ecological destruction. We will have to lower our living standards drastically in rich countries and not have such high differences where a few people waste the resources of millions if they have the wealth to do so. We will have to also stop using so much energy and not just build new ”green” energy as it doesnt solve anything alone. TL;DR WE NEED TO DO LESS NOT MORE

[@jimgreenlee4463]

@@karigrandiigreat idea let’s cut your electricity to only two hours a day lead by example

[@MiguelSantos-tg8wr]

Duh

[@chadderwadders]

i thought this stuff like not planting trees in unsuitable environments and NOT CUTTING THEM DOWN AFTER PLANTING THEM would be common sense, but i guess not 🤦‍♀️

[@jessicajayes8326]

I've heard of a logging company in Southeast Asia that uses elephants instead of machinery to carry logs out of tropical forests. It takes the few choice trees out without damaging the environment and allows new trees to grow.

[@MWhaleK]

Same here, from what I have read people have been using elephants like that for thousands of years.

[@aditisk99]

Elephants FTW!!!

[@jessicajayes8326]

@@MWhaleK Yeah elephants are great. They have the same memory amount as a human, "An elephant never forgets" is the right saying. My dad loves elephants.

[@rebeccascheetz8843]

Sounds nice, but you you've got to be sure they're not high grading (taking out the best growing stock, and leaving poor and unacceptable growing stock to reproduce.

[@josephpostma1787]

@@rebeccascheetz8843 Is it bad to choice the best and leave the rest? Are poor quality trees caused by primarily genetics or the enviornment?

[@stefansauvageonwhat-a-twis1369]

That's why I follow Mossy Earth, they reforest and actually try to make a healthy ecosystem and always looking for feedback transparency is a plus Also super cool animation this video

[@erzsasula]

Yess, another Mossy Earth subscriber!

[@siyg]

Mossy Earth is very efficient with their money and is very educated on how to best protect native ecosystems. I’ve been using their subscription for a while!

[@masterchinese28]

One of my university professors used to participate in forestation projects in Western Africa. The NGO that arranged these projects aimed to help the environment and create local jobs. What often happened was that when a project was just finishing up, a fire would mysteriously wipe out the newly planted trees and a bunch of eager workers would show up hoping that this meant they would get a new contract.

[@terramater]

Reforestation is often proposed as a major solution to climate change, but monoculture plantations designed to meet targets can often end up causing further damage. Our crew explored the ins and outs of reforestation and talked to the rangers who protect trees like endangered species. An innovative project in Kenya aims to stop deforestation for economic reasons, contributing to a greener planet.

[@r.guerreiro140]

Monoculture is nothing but a myth in service of ideological propaganda The only places where monoculture may eventually happen is in vertical and hydroponic farms The astonishing biodiversity you'll find at any labeled "monoculture" plantation will puzzle your mind

[@makeracistsafraidagain]

As one small step, when we bought our house I pulled out a huge amount of lawn and replaced it with fruit trees. All these years later, instead of mowing lawns we’re picking fruit.

[@bamidele4383]

Thanks for the idea.

[@galaxyplzz]

Omggg the stop motion is beautiful I love this 🥹

[@abbcc5996]

why does the voice actor end every sentence in a whisper? makes it hard to pay attention

[@Phonkuzz]

I didn't recognize ​@@abbcc5996

[@krackacka]

One thing to also help planting programs is properly training people how to plant trees. My cousin works at a plant nursery, and has gone to planting days, where many of the volunteers *don't* know how to plant trees properly. She has spent hours afterwards going back to these improperly planted saplings and redoing the work.

[@derek-64]

We also have to make sure the tree actually grows as well. Can't just plant and walk away. We need to make sure it's nurtured somehow so it won't die.

[@ananyalele_]

The stop motion animation is amazing!! Thanks for the informative video!❤

[@NightWriting]

The animation is fantastic! No doubt hours of work went into creating this informative video. 💜

[@aatreyu1234]

Mossy earth has a LOT of these reforestation efforts in their projects. They seem to KNOW what their doing & dealing with.

[@maruthuk]

This video was a real eye-opener! I always believed that planting more trees was the key to reducing carbon emissions and building a sustainable future. However, it highlighted the importance of focusing on other crucial aspects as well. Instead of prioritizing commercial timber plantations in unsuitable locations, we should be focusing on mandating big corporations to drastically reduce their carbon emissions. Additionally, preserving existing forests and prioritizing reforestation efforts in the right places are vital for preserving our planet earth for future generations.

[@Samantha-vlly]

Well said

[@niallmurphy2163]

Algae are responsible for far more than trees. The ratio is something like 80-20.

[@anope9053]

the right thing to do is often the hardest thing to do

[@kingwang6563]

I hate how some people and governments without a doubt or even hesitation,when building cities requiring tons of land they build it immediately but when it comes to planting trees and eco friendly solutions solutions hesitate to do it or not even put thought of it at all.

[@danbrellis]

the golden rule of tree planting- right tree, right place, right time.

[@ronkirk5099]

Well said! Using forests as a green-washing tactic for corporate PR campaigns is the worst.

[@CorteX01234]

Love the visualisation. Thank you,very informative

[@LearnEnglishWithShortStories01]

I think planting trees is like planting seeds of hope in the face of climate change. But hope alone won't make the flowers bloom. We need to tackle the root causes of environmental damage, like unchecked emissions and wasteful resource usage, to cultivate a truly sustainable future.

[@roksanamun]

Protecting indigenous communities and their lands are also a much needed and sadly too neglected solution to fighting climate change crisis. Indigenous communities are one of our best chances to knowing what are the best native plants and trees to protecting ecosystems and biodiversity.

[@sokolsokol5603]

Not true. Indigenous communities destroyed lots of their environments too. The whole Middle East is a proof. Indigenous communities mostly rely on extensive pastures and destroy the plant cover with their cattles and goats that they use as a storage of wealth. It was only with the advent of the fossil fuels that trees started to return (in developed countries). Afforestation and reforestation are good, almost no matter what. The key is to do them on the cheap, for instance by cutting down subsidies to extensive farming in developed countries.

[@yusufrosyid3561]

We should consider a lot of factor before we start to plant the tree. Don't let planting the tree cause bad impact.👌

[@yasinsamedmert]

I can't get over how beautiful these animations look. To whoever did these, really well done

[@jujitsujew23]

Reforestation of complex native and/or endemic ecosystems will always work better than monoculture plantings of non native trees, especially if they are only going to be logged. We must rewild the world and restore degraded ecosystems. This means restoring grasslands just as much as means restoring mangrove forests

[@Nemrai]

I'm thinking that monocultures are bad no matter if the trees used are native or not. Diverse forests with many different trees and plants are much better. And some places needs to be managed to prevent such as norway spruce to completely take over. Of-course depending on the terrain and what can naturally grow and thrive in the area. For example with european red pine, that does well in places with drier and shallower soil.

[@jujitsujew23]

@@Nemrai I didn’t include that because in my travels around the world I’ve never encountered an organization or government planting monoculture of native trees outside the logging industry in America and Canada. However, many countries around the world plant groves of non native monocultures but yes, you are right

[@mr.chinmayajoshi2688]

Love it how they made all animation in yarns and threads.

[@josephpostma1787]

*Felt

[@MsAnubisia]

I've heard about the issues of trees absorbing too much sun in colder areas! The treeline is expanding in Arctic areas due to climate change, absorbing sun/heat and hastening the melting of snow and the destruction of unique tundra habitats. Some indigenous Saami reindeer herders are trying to combat this by encouraging their reindeer to eat the trees to preserve their lands. Really demonstrated to me the importance of indigenous knowledge and that climate change solutions can't be one-size-fits-all.

[@sahasrakondapalli50]

That's why we can't see the world as one singular place, I suppose. Really cool.

[@mfulan7548]

How tree absorbing sun light makes the snow melting? Source?

[@dougdimmadomeownerofthedim2918]

​@@mfulan7548I confused too cause that's like saying 1+1=3

[@user-xt9nt2qm1l]

​@@sahasrakondapalli50 Probably because the white snow reflects much of the light and heat, whereas the trees will absorb it and over time hold heat and heat the surrounding area.

[@mfulan7548]

@@user-xt9nt2qm1l i need sources to really confirm it tho.

[@RoSoliTaire]

The animation and music are so calming and nostalgic 😍

[@user-bp4nv3qp4d]

Phenomenal animation & astounding video 💚💜🖤🩵

[@Bhuvan_MS]

Beautiful animations! And it was a great and informative video. Kudos to the entire TedEd team.

[@EliottRDS]

One of the best TED Ed videos I have seen, thanxs to the music and to the illustrations in the background. Well done !

[@solokalnesaltam3015]

This video is phenomenal, kudos to the team that created it

[@Rue-in]

so interesting and educational, i love ted-ed!

[@Samantha-vlly]

This video enlightens me on how to properly plant trees🌳 Love this

[@sahasrakondapalli50]

The right plants in the right places aside, I love the animation for this video.

[@user-hr8kk3zt2m]

So far, I have thought people should plant more trees. However, after I watched this video, I realized that it is more important to think about the surrounding environment and species of trees: Some trees may not suit the temperature and humidity. Also, to plant trees, factories are necessary to be built. Thus, if the treeing is held ineffectively, the amount of carbon dioxide emitted from the factories may outdo the amount of carbon absorbed by the trees. This video tells me many important things!

[@J.5.M.]

THANK YOU for this. Beautiful and informative.

[@rezwannayem5618]

Huge love for the animation team. Great work guys ❤️

[@karengundemaro6063]

Protect and conserve native trees 🌳

[@SpecimenKE]

I've finally seen a Ted-Ed stop motion animated video...yay! 😊

[@DKD76]

Kudos to the TED- Ed team for putting the hardwork by working on the stop motion animation for the sake of scientific education..... You all deserve to be admire

[@buowls]

Because of this channel I learn a lot of new things

[@marvinochieng6295]

lovely narration, clear script and cute animations. Gotta love Teded

[@LeoDas688]

We need to protect existing forest and bring back destroyed forest to its former glory, instead of planting random trees

[@Dominic_625]

Thank you for this information. ❤

[@upsetchicken7214]

I enjoyed this animation so much, not only because it's good, but because I love Stop Motion. Its so rare nowadays.

[@mrdeanvincent]

"Removing grasses that compete with saplings. Preventing grazing..." You can even avoid the weeding by allowing grazing. It doesn't even need to be cows; it could be wild populations of deer, kangaroos, buffalo, etc. Or course, like planting trees, this doesn't apply to every situation.

[@WarmBreezeStudios]

I love the animation here in Stop motion!

[@tudorioan5104]

Another great fantastic animation! Go, Ted!👏👏👏

[@cmarkbmb]

Amazing presentation 👏 I would like to see more videos like this

[@gailaltschwager7377]

Thank you!

[@ElChicoBush]

Grande. Sin duda el mejor país de Chile 🇨🇱

[@srideviravichandran4324]

I love TED Ed so much I mean they are the best. I like that they are right. too

[@10thMorales]

Similar story in the Philippines’ 10-ha Bilar Man-made Forest. The forest only grew one introduced species, 𝑆𝑤𝑖𝑒𝑡𝑒𝑛𝑖𝑎 𝑚𝑎𝑐𝑟𝑜𝑝ℎ𝑦𝑙𝑙𝑎-a native of Mexico to Bolivia & Brazil. It completely acidified the soil and is biodiversity-dead. Visitors were impressed by the cool temperatures while passing along the 2-km road stretch but the man-made forest is eerily quiet.

[@user-lt4iv9ty1c]

woww, so many learning and understanding about how growing planting trees with the right ways and how takes cares native forest with the right ways, Thank you TED-Ed channel with amazing video with beautifull stop motions and deep learning how to cares forest with the right ways, Thank you for amazing explanations video about nature 🌱🐱

[@ABombs1]

More importantly, you'd need to plant over a million trees per day, every day forever, just to offset our current output (which is increasing every day) - let alone actually reducing CO2. There just isn't enough space on the planet for it

[@DanielPetukhin]

A very important topic. Hope this reaches policy makers and project managers.

[@HA-Ntuli]

Protect nature so that nature can help us

[@sandraaalbk7560]

I love the art in these vids❤️

[@foxdogs1st]

Great video ! Refreshing take ! The Animation is awesome.

[@TuanBe-ni2ud]

This new animation style is crazy and i love it😍

[@yiannchrst]

The animation! Chef's kiss! It is so good!

[@Kfend19]

Planting trees in savannah is bad I agree, however alot of the tree planting in the Sahel region is to try combat desertification, or the onward spread of the desert, a point you didn't include. Should we stop planting trees in the savannah only for it to be overtaken by desert?

[@Nemrai]

I'm thinking that planting native bushes, scrubs, and some trees is probably a better solution.

[@zabuzafan100]

Once heard it said that, "Nature is nothing more than balanced chaos." When it comes to projects like these plantations they fail to take the last word into account. Too much uniformity is unnatural.

[@lindseyw5449]

The visuals are just... wow

[@tomcruz3774]

Beautiful video and message

[@india_krishna]

I too love the trees and nature. Today is the 1st jan 2024, i planted a Neeem plant in the park. ❤

[@batman_2004]

This is so beautiful.

[@kavishkasuraweera]

Never forgotten beauty .

[@TaLeng2023]

If the trees in plantations are harvested for timber, doesn't that still lock up carbon? Trees get turned into houses, furniture, etc and then the trees are replaced with new ones. Rinse, repeat.

[@Nemrai]

Unfortunately the equipment used when harvesting timber damages and leaves deep wounds in the soil, something that'll release a whole lot of carbon. It's also known that forests that are left alone and allowed to get old store a lot more carbon than forest that's planted as monocultures that's cut down with some decades in between.

[@sokolsokol5603]

You are one of the few people on this thread to get it right. This video is quite misleading.

[@researchataasia23]

this was so good! from the animation to the way it was narrated! amazing! :)

[@ChithrangeeWithana-ne5tx]

Amazing! love the animation style!😍

[@winnet4081]

Ahhhh I love this art style!

[@colddrakequeen]

Don’t forget that it is also bad to create mono cultures of trees … they need to plant all nature of endemic plants and trees to an area

[@user-wd9no6fl9v]

This video has a relay good filling 😊❤❤🎉

[@TIGERZY2K]

Planting trees is the cheapest,oldest and one of the most natural means of fighting the global warming menace.Since afforestation alone can not completely sequester all the carbon emitted by humans over centuries, there should be, simultaneously,full swing implementation and practice of many other carbon sequestration measures across the globe (e.g:- Farming of Corals,Sea Weeds,Algae and Kelps on the ocean floor; setting up of carbon capturing plants; banning of fossil fuel industries;feeding of algae, sargassum,sea weeds and charcoal to farm animals;desert reclamation; etc.) in order to meet the ambitious goal of keeping the average rise in global temperatures below 1°Celsius by the year 2030 set by UNO (in 2016 Paris Climate Summit).

[@shahirkhan6344]

what a style of animation! I would definitely like more of these!

[@yordlemingler]

Such a well done animation😍

[@sutejasastra]

top notch animation!

[@anneliroodus6529]

I love this animation!

[@AryamanShukla]

Save nature ❤ 🌳 🌴🌲

[@HOXHOXHOX]

The animation (stop motion I suppose?) is unbelievable.

[@youngtevanced8818]

It will cool 100%. No debate on that.

[@justagreekinternetuser8998]

Congrats to the animation artists!

[@parthsatvekar5411]

00:09 Planting trees isn't always effective at curbing climate change 00:50 Chile focused on afforestation for tree planting. 01:32 Tree planting can help cool the planet, but there are challenges. 02:16 Commercial forestry plantations in Chile have limitations in carbon storage. 02:56 Not all land should be forested. 03:36 Planting trees can have unintended consequences on the planet. 04:09 Protecting forests and letting nature do the work may be more efficient in re-greening the planet. 04:50 Planting trees isn't a catch-all solution

[@iamnel1648]

there's a a tree planting site near where i live.. i'm in 1st grade when it started. i remember my oldest brother is one of the members of a tree planting group and he invited our whole family to participate. i remember one summer i saw some of our neighbors and family friends were there too, alongside our whole family and we have the whole day preparing and planting LOTS of trees. It's one of my happy core memories. but now decades later, my mom informed me that they discovered that the trees we're illegally logged by illegal settlers from next town. They tried issuing warning on those people and the people said that the people who planted those trees 'technically' didn't own those trees and that they were free to all people because the trees was on 'government-owned lands'... how can we protect those trees?

[@travisonyima2243]

I’m always very skeptical of the green PR, thanks for debunking this and using incredible animation

[@containedhurricane]

Wonderful stop-motion animation. I wouldn't be surprised if it was created with 3D animation software instead of real objects

[@Sivah_Akash]

Ecosia does a good job I think of considering all of these when they plant trees

[@johnburn8031]

I think planting trees is part of the solution. However, there needs to be a rapid transition to carbon free energy sources.

[@optimusprinceps6412]

A couple things: 1.) Biodiversity, there's a reason we don't plant the same tree everywhere. 2.) Forest fires happen naturally in many parts of the world and some plants even rely on the fires to remove the older trees so the new stuff can come in. The problem is that because there is so much overgrowth, often times the fires burn so hot it actually reaches a lot of the new saplings waiting under ground. 3.) Deforestation should be illegal, and clear cutting, over selective logging is a national problem, the proper maintenance of our forests such as cleaning and thinning should be more acceptable but isn't. Don't even get me started on the plastic in the ocean and how our corals are all bleaching.

[@jimblockio]

As an Environmentalist, Planting Trees are Overrated, I'm not saying it's not important, just overrated. Cutting more trees down is what's need to be stopped, but I know its Impossible for today's technology, what we can do is implement the greens more towards cities, and the Ocean is important too.

[@johnnyearp52]

Planting trees where there weren't trees definitely seems like a bad idea.

[@randono213]

We should be trying to go back as much as we can to the way things were, not adding unnecessary trees and “solutions” to other parts of the world

[@mickiteoxon]

Mangrove forest the vital aspect for more sustainable future and implementation of native trees protection given the seasonal advantages like Cherry Blossoms and fruit bearing trees.

[@doornumb]

Love the narrator's voice

[@limerence8365]

It sounds more complicated than just planting one types of tree where there's space but in actuallity not by much. Plant several kinds of trees native to the land, plant it where forests once stood, don't plant it in a straight line and give basic maintenance such as controlled forest fires and fencing off large areas of saplings for a number of years if there are species that would eat them (for example, moose). The great thing about this is that the government doesn't even have to be entirely responsible for it, you can give the responsibility to logging companies. They know they'll have a shortage some time in the future so they plant trees anyway. Yes they're a big contributer to deforestation but only mainly because their plantations aren't sustainable. If they mass plant healthy forests, leave it for ten years like they would do anyway, let nature thrive and then come back and selectively cut their timber, it's not ideal but it would give a capilatist incentive to reforestation.

[@ayush0477]

Very decisive video.

[@RafaelCardoso299]

Great video !!!

[@rjthecanadian]

Just like how we all keyed on recycling and not reducing our waste.

[@sskyaw1992]

Protecting a grown tree is much better than growing a new one.