Mastercard: When It Comes to Reforestation, One Tree Does Not Fit All - Seite 2

Zamora-Cristales: The location also has to have local partners with the capacity to absorb the funding and then be able to use that capital for planting but also for long-term monitoring - tracking the trees' survival rate, carbon capture and other benefits. There is also the issue of land tenure. Many of the sites ripe for reforestation have unclear or contested titles. Ideally, the local community has legal title to the land where the trees are planted and governance in place to oversee them. There can't be any conflict about who owns the land, because then someone could come in and take them all down or there could be disagreements about who is responsible for caring for them and maintaining them. The deep relationships our organizations have cultivated with local governments and communities are what has made our restoration successful in the long term. We are looking for people who are interested in having restoration activities on their land. This requires working closely with local organizations, local partners and local people. Yet it's a critical step that is often where a lot of programs fail. You can't ever just hop in and start planting trees.

Can you give me an example of how those relationships have had an impact on a particular project?

Zamora-Cristales: In Guatemala, planting partner Fedecovera has proven to us the importance of getting input from the local people. There, local Q'eqchi' knowledge allows for better planning and ensures tree survival, as the people know to avoid planting trees in areas that are susceptible to disease or where poor soil conditions require treatment before trees can be established. The local knowledge also is important in determining when to start the planting season, as local populations have a deep understanding of the rain season cycles and what is needed for the trees to get the nutrients they need to grow.

Are some trees more popular than others?

Sprenkle-Hyppolite: Trees in the leguminous family - because they are known for growing well and enriching the soil - are good partners to crops and productivity. Erythrina, the pea family, is a genus that we do see a lot of in the tropics and subtropics because it can also support agriculture. Tectona grandis, or teak, is very popular on the Asia-Africa side. It can actually be complicated, because trees that grow well and are popular in one region may be invasive in another. So we have popular American species that people are proposing to plant in Madagascar or Kenya, where it could have negative consequences - choking out native species and destroying food sources for native animals, for example. We have to ask them to please choose another, because this one is invasive in your area. It may actually grow too fast and take over the whole area!