How old-growth forests protect our climate | DW Documentary

Giant trees that have stood for decades or even centuries are an elixir of life on our planet. They help purify the air, preserve biodiversity and are key to slowing down climate change. But the number of these age-old giants is dwindling fast.
Deforestation, drought, and pests pose a huge threat to old-growth trees and destroy their ecosystems. But unconventional ideas on how to raise awareness and increase our understanding of the role these trees play, as well as rethinking how we use our forests, can all help to protect them.
"Big trees are the most important bar of gold on the planet”, says US biologist Meg Lowman. She was the first scientist to begin studying forest canopies in the 1970s with the help of self-built hoists. Now aged 70, she’s pursuing the ambitious goal of safeguarding the future of ten of the world’s most biodiverse forests, by building walkways high up in the forest canopy for both ecotourists and scientists. The walkways are maintained by local residents, who also work as tour guides and provide catering and accommodation for the visitors. We accompany Meg Lowman and a group of ecotourists on an expedition to the Peruvian Amazon.
In Germany, most forests are not natural - and none are primeval as defined in the classic sense. But the "woodify” startup is looking to change that, by ensuring that large areas of woodland are left to grow wild. The company's goal is to withdraw 50% of Germany’s forests from commercial use.
The start-up works by leasing areas of forest and signing a contract that no trees will be felled there for 30 years. Any trees that fall to the ground naturally are left to rot, meaning: no human intervention whatsoever. This eventually leads to a more natural forest that stores CO2. Woodify issues certificates for the additional amount of CO2 sequestered and sells them to companies.
The scientifically substantiated model relies on calculations carried out by the Eberswalde University for Sustainable Development. At a time when large areas of commercial forest with monocultures are dying off, the model is becoming increasingly attractive. If the idea works, says founder Anselm Schneider, it will result in the generation of a lot of natural woodland.
#documentary #dwdocumentary
______
DW Documentary gives you knowledge beyond the headlines. Watch top documentaries from German broadcasters and international production companies. Meet intriguing people, travel to distant lands, get a look behind the complexities of daily life and build a deeper understanding of current affairs and global events. Subscribe and explore the world around you with DW Documentary.
Subscribe to:
⮞ DW Documentary (English): / dwdocumentary
⮞ DW Documental (Spanish): / dwdocumental
⮞ DW Documentary وثائقية دي دبليو (Arabic): / dwdocarabia
⮞ DW Doku (German): / dwdoku
⮞ DW Documentary हिन्दी (Hindi): / dwdochindi
For more visit: www.dw.com/en/tv/docfilm/s-3610
Follow DW Documentary on Instagram: / dwdocumentary
Follow DW Documental on Facebook: / dwdocumental
We kindly ask viewers to read and stick to the DW netiquette policy on our channel: p.dw.com/p/MF1G

[@johnl.7754]

To protect the forests the world needs to give financial incentives for countries with the forests to keep them vs plowing them for agriculture otherwise it will steadily disappear.

[@Teacher.Taufik]

Agreed.

[@nicolarollinson4381]

Palm trees and, therefore, palm oil are big business. Vast swathes of forests and the natural habitats of orang utans and other wildlife and the indeginous peoples are being destroyed and usurped by palm' plantations on many islands in Indonesia...its heartbreaking to see😢😢 Palm oil is evil

[@Pasha8204]

Russia forest ~10mln km² ~1billions ha, no Russia, no 10millions km² with ~45mln km² world forest.... Save Russia

[@son_60han]

And indonesia is building its new capital in borneo, by destroying more forest

[@reiddickson]

I think this is the only long-term solution, but I wish it were more politically feasible. We've lost 25% of the entire Amazon rainforest in 60 years. Almost all of the Atlantic rainforest is gone. Most (~72%) of the temperature rainforests in the Pacific Northwest are gone. The list of tragedies spans the globe. With unimaginable damage done in such a short amount of time, what will things look like in 1,000 years? 10,000 years? I honestly don't have much hope because the math points to a trend where destruction dramatically outpaces conservation & restoration. The time scale of restoration is many orders of magnitude longer than the time is takes for deforestation to initially occur. The only long-term solution I can think of is a giant international trust fund that amasses enough wealth to either directly buy important ecosystems and manage them as "international parks" vaguely along the lines of Antarctica, or to the point that the fund is indefinitely solvent and can afford investment returns in perpetuity to pay countries adequately to protect & restore their important ecosystems. This'd have to essentially be Norway's sovereign wealth fund but substantially larger. A fund with many trillions of dollars with the capability to supply annual payments in the hundreds of billions (it'd need to pay Brazil alone ~$100 billion annually in 2024 dollars to incentivize against deforestation) -- and the reason it'd need to have its own massive fund is to isolate it from political turbulence. Another solution that seems decently stable long-term is what Tompkins Conservation has successfully done in Chile. They've leveraged their ~4,000 km2 of conserved land into a plan with the Chilean government that today protects some ~44,500 km2 as National Parks. Their reason for doing this was very simple: people usually love National Parks whether they're in the US, Chile, or elsewhere, so if land is a National Park, people will protect it. The problem is this solution alone might not survive through a dictatorship or any other political turbulence that can happen over hundreds (or thousands) of years. I think I've even seen a DW documentary on how war affected a National Park in central Africa (along the eastern border of the DRC maybe?) if my memory is correct. Maybe both of these things are jointly needed. Protect as much significant biodiversity as possible in the form of National Parks (a tactic that provides economic opportunities to local people and is easy for the public to support) and then also pay countries via a giant international fund to protect their important ecosystems. Who knows. Hopefully humanity figures out something, though, because we're really running out of time on protecting a lot of our biodiversity.

[@phoneixashes]

Please add the information of the people/projects/companies etc in the description.

[@AwesomeFish12]

Yes.

[@mohammedsaysrashid3587]

An informative and wonderful introduction and incredible warning ⚠️ for protecting old Gaint trees (🌳) . Stopping deforestation . thank you, respectful 🙏( DW) documentary channel.

[@sgiione]

Sustainable development is important for our future generations

[@nasrinmita1329]

As my subject is geography, sometimes I also work in sustainable development ❤

[@bulletinvid]

A fresh breath of air from our beloved DW ... awsome ❤

[@martiansoon9092]

Forests most likely does also warm the coldest days, like in winter. Gathering lots of energy from sunlight as they are dark. And lessening the freezing winds around them. And in spring the trees are the points that melts the snowlayer first (dark surface, water dripping to the bottom of the tree, ..). Also in summer lots of water goes through trees. Trees also makes small particles that generates clouds making rains. Trees have been regulating Earths atmosphere. And now we have cut most of them down. And that millenial havoc continues in last tree areas. Losing the trees creates droughts, that keeps drying the area and exposing it to high temperature wildfires that ravages large areas. And in many cases current fires are coming so often that offspring dies before it can make seeds and therefore the wild forests are dying too. With our agricultural fields, roads, town and other structured single specie death zones we have ruined most of the land area. Hardly any untouched trees in Europe. Hardly any large forests in Europe. And same devastation keep on going where ever human species goes. We like our death places. Look around you and think how many living things you can see around you. If you see just concrete and plastic, you live in a death zone. Open your eyes and start to think. Is this the way we really want to live?

[@7r3v0rc]

Beautiful forests!

[@realrockstar2012]

Please save our forests....

[@7YBzzz4nbyte]

Plant trees instead of cities, fields and suburbs....

[@Sami-Nasr]

20:35 Yep that is the way to go, if you want forests, grow them in your country

[@Bella-qw4dw]

i was about to comment how this tree canopy walk sounds familiar as if I've heard it in my country before and i was shocked when Malaysia was mentioned.

[@GiGaSzS]

The old forests should be protected worldwide and taxes should be given to countries to discourage deforestation of "lungs" of our society. Also, we should lower our energy consumption as in some parts of the world we are consuming almost as much energy as sun gives off per area, this means that lowering CO2 should be our number 2 priority, after energy decrease!

[@robertskolimowski7049]

Absolutely amazing piece of reporting, bravo DW👏🌳💚

[@DWDocumentary]

Thanks for watching and taking the time to comment.

[@user-mp4im3dq8p]

Keep the good work Make it as fruitful and enjoyable so other can also join and spread awareness.

[@YK-wizard]

Nice Information

[@dorksplorer]

I live in Arizona. Others don't seem able to see it, but west of Flagstaff, in both public land and private, all the old growth trees are being poached. It's happening slowly, but I don't know who I can talk to who knows what to do to stop it. Any suggestions are appreciated. 🕊️

[@aghost1410]

We need people who try to do logging, pretending to cut trees in order control fires, to accept that the way the forests exists could remain as nature intends that actually protect them from being over exploited and already knows how to stop fires I would give billions to support this

[@Pasha8204]

Need 4k

[@stanleykubrick8786]

This is painful to watch. I've driven through old-growth forests in British Columbia, Canada riped apart. For what? Usually virgin toilet paper. We need help. Bigley; we need help.

[@user-jf3yh3dy9h]

is there written reports likethat? pdf to help us to get much information

[@abhayanand9585]

That idea is awesome of conserving the forest but requires a lot of money though...

[@leighgarland3396]

“That’s a tarantula’s burrow.. I’m going to respect its space” 😅 same girl same!

[@its_simply_Ndooch]

i am from Kenya and i would kindly request for a water storage tank,i live in a semi arid area where we don't have enough rain for my tree seedlings....i am humbly requesting for some donation.Thanks.

[@rainforest_eye]

Agreed!

[@davidhorvath8071]

As a hungarian i really appreciate the armband she is wearing lol

[@ronaldjimenez2923]

Please..Do not Disturb

[@aghost1410]

REMEMBER HOW IMPORTANT BUGS ARE AND IT HELPS THE FOREST AND THE LIFE

[@DWDocumentary]

Hi, we encourage discussion on all our documentary topics, but we kindly ask our viewers to please remain respectful and stick to our netiquette policy: p.dw.com/p/MF1G

[@ramthian]

❤❤❤

[@user-yy9hk9od9u]

Large forests keep humans from going extinct.

[@buddhidev7877]

Thailand and India are the example of land use misconduct by deforesting the river delta forest for farming.

[@tonylayfield8750]

Fact: Levels of biodiversity were higher back when atmospheric Carbon Dioxide levels and temperature were higher.

[@xhex6571]

Please, please make sure you keep the undergrowth under control with things like fuel reduction burns or your efforts to sequester the carbon will be for nothing when wildfires rip through. I'm Australian, ask me what happens when the fuel load gets to be to much

[@documentaryshow]

❤

[@sanbest93mobile-ko5xh]

oceans are not the lungs of our planet. boreal forests are not the lungs of our planet. this teeny-tiny amazon bushes are. yep

[@user-qg7eu6bt1g]

Topside st. At their co- oprative groce .

[@manriquebrian]

Please universe let the humans leave the trees alone 🙏💙

[@raclark2730]

Unless they are putting them in the ground.🌳😎

[@son_60han]

Impossible. Human population is already at alarming state

[@manriquebrian]

@son_60han lol I know that's why I said please universe

[@raclark2730]

@@son_60han Its dropping just need more trees, sign up.

[@raclark2730]

Real genuine horticulturalist and tree planter. ⬅

[@marickshorts]

The ozone layer, acid rain, rising sea levels, earth core temperature, climate change, shortages, pandamics... oh no

[@BUY_YOUTUB_VIEWS_754]

Your authenticity is refreshing. It's clear that you genuinely love what you do. Keep it up!

[@chongsenlaw2414]

To discourage forest cutting, people benefited should be paid for it. The worst is EU while enjoying the benefits but imposed sanctions on others who are giving the benefits to them.

[@ErezElene]

I really wish that instead of chopping down forests to build pollutive, slave-operated mines to make coal-powered EVs, governments would focus on planting trees instead. It's literally such an easy, effective, and low-cost solution that benefits everyone. Imagine more green spaces and trees in cities especially, which clean the air, cool temperatures, and protect birds. The lack of intentional, let alone competent, forestation policy in the U.S. is criminal. But politicians push "green" technology instead, because they can profit off of the market. It's a sick world we live in.

[@janklaas6885]

📍17:27

[@badhombre4942]

"Our forests." So virtuous of the colonists who decimated their forests to now preach to their former colonies.

[@dan8910100]

then quit colonizing the internet.

[@ErezElene]

OG commenter completely missing the point lol

[@wellingtonjuniordeoliveira2451]

Where is the European florets? 👀

[@dan8910100]

no room, to many immigrants

[@comunicatiisitehnologiainf5208]

I am saddened by the fate of forests and the environment. But what saddens me even more is human insensitivity. The fact that a well-documented material gets 50k views in two weeks, while a young lady trying on transparent clothes gets 2M views in two days, this says enough about human nature. Sad. 😥

[@anikettripathi7991]

Plantation of bushes and small plants can't compensates for cutting five hundred years old. Human life can easily sustain without technologies but never without forests and water..

[@3rdeyeEagle]

luxury is Dangerous....

[@andrewwilgress4100]

Some should be saved but any true naturalist will cut out large amounts of old growth. Nothing grows or eats under old growth

[@son_60han]

Is it necessary to build canopy? What is this? Tourist promotion ? Why not just leave the forest alone?

[@Sound_of_the_trees]

save old growth! call your local government and demand protection for your forests

[@user-gd8tx7zp5m]

Protect Rainforrests Plant trees!

[@indigenousnorwegianeuropa4145]

Change is the only constant🫵

[@scubaguy5389]

i wish i had their optimism. i unfortunately do not.

[@catalina5382]

If you want to save these trees, leave animal products off your plate, change your diet. Extensive cattle ranching is the number one culprit of deforestation in virtually every Amazon country, and it accounts for 80% of deforestation. The deforestation caused by cattle ranching is responsible for the release of 340 million tons of carbon to the atmosphere every year, equivalent to 3.4% of current global emissions. If you want to say soy too, the soy that is grown in the amazon, goes mostly to feed animals, only 7% of world's soy is used for human consumption, much of the rest is to feed animals. In just last 50 years, we've witnessed the obliteration of approximately 70% of the world's wildlife , much of that is because of habitat loss due to expansion of animal agriculture. While animal products provide only 18% of our protein, they consume a staggering 80% of global agricultural land. Id you want to actually save these forests, look at the reason they are cut and that is what's in your plate.

[@abdulahaduygur6811]

Why did you delete the documentary you made about Uyghurs?

[@ashishc.s4353]

It's already too late to save given the political disagreements

[@user-qg7eu6bt1g]

Eccept st free $$$max labek returns .

[@troygoss6400]

Everyone can do their part by , consuming little to no products made from animals. The bulk of the soy farmed in the Amazon goes to feed animals.

[@1112viggo]

Ehh i don't know about this. Letting little kids run around the Amazonas looking for insects etc. Isn't that kind of thing best left to people with some outdoor experience and knowledge of the local wildlife? She should give the "yoink guy" a call.

[@dan239]

I’m gonna get everyone’s tax dollars to make me rich and you’re all to blame for ruining the earth.

[@kk-xj5oz]

you cannot have people capitalizing on passivly owning forest. it goes against all principles off free market capitalism. if we want to save forest we need to nationalize it.

[@levystein666]

Holoweather 😂

[@dan8910100]

why should i care?

[@geoffreydonaldson2984]

There are lots of good reasons to preserve more old-growth forests, but carbon sequestration ain’t one of them.

[@user-jz4tr5df4v]

We want LGBTQ+ rights in Bangladesh. 🏳️‍🌈🇧🇩🏳️‍🌈

[@mickzammit6794]

Where I live the forests are being cleared to make way for wind farms. Makes no sense to me. Somebody is making a lot of money from nonsense and we can thank Greenies for helping such madness

[@snicker576]

Uuuggghhhhhhhh even more climate stuff 😩 I love and appreciate DW, but it's such a massive world out there, overdoing this specific topic to this degree is very.... odd.

[@alexverdigris9939]

Is it too hard for you to ignore it, then? Just watch something else instead.

[@jpallen719]

Oh you’re a 50 year old logger? ….. it’s time for you to go……..