Reducing deforestation can help reduce the effects of the effects of climate change: learn about initiatives in Brazil, Bolivia, Colombia, and Paraguay

One of the greatest challenges facing countries around the world is the protection and restitution of their forests. A study by the Karlsruhe Technological Institute (KIT) explains the importance of working to reduce or stop deforestation worldwide. According to ScienceDaily, "climate change is closely related to the increase of CO2 in the atmosphere. During photosynthesis, plants absorb some of the industrial CO2 emissions from the atmosphere, thus contributing to climate protection." Therefore, if the forests are cut, explains the medium, "the capacity of the plants and the soil to absorb CO2 is reduced. (…) If deforestation were to continue, one could even expect a large part of the tropics to change from a CO2 basin, which absorbs more CO2 than it releases, to a source of CO2."

Leer en español: ¿Qué hacen los países latinoamericanos para proteger sus bosques?

In addition, "forests and trees provide decisive contributions to both people and the planet by strengthening livelihoods, providing clean air and water, conserving biodiversity and responding to climate change," explains a report of the Organization of Forests. the United Nations for Food and Agriculture (FAO) on the state of the world's forests in 2018.

Latin America and the Caribbean is one of the regions with the greatest biodiversity worldwide, as well as "one of three regions where deforestation continues," according to the FAO. In 2017, according to Global Forest Watch, of the ten tropical countries that lost tree coverage, four are Latin American. These countries are Brazil, Bolivia, Colombia, and Paraguay. Although every day there is more awareness about the importance of the protection and restitution of forests, what are the countries in this region doing to take care of their forests?

Brazil

Currently, Brazil is developing an initiative to restore a national park based on the use of seeds. According to Efe Verde, "consumed by the flames of a recent fire, the national park of Chapada dos Veadeiros, in Brazil, suffers with the advance of agriculture and real estate speculation, but its deforestation now attempts to be reverted by collecting seeds". However, this is not the only example of the commitment of the South American country in the care and protection of its forests, which have been reduced.

Leja em português: O que fazem os países latino-americanos para proteger suas florestas?

According to Human Nature, in Brazil there is a project to restore around 73 million trees in the Amazon. "With an area of ​​30,000 hectares of land (around 74,000 acres), the project is the largest tropical forest restoration in the world and helps Brazil move towards its goal of the Paris Agreement to reforest 12 million hectares of land for 2030", is explained on the page of this organization.

Bolivia

Between 2012 and 2015, in this South American country, a campaign called "My Tree" was promoted with the purpose of reforesting the Bolivian Amazon. According to the World Wildlife Fund of Bolivia (WWF Bolivia), this campaign was carried out by the Forest and Land Social Monitoring and Control Authority (ABT) together with WWF Bolivia, "to recover deforested and degraded areas of the Bolivian Amazon". According to the official website of WWF Bolivia, "the reforestation program "My Tree" managed to plant, since 2012, 919 million seedlings throughout the national territory."

For its part, "Mission Mother Earth" is a campaign with which the Government seeks to reforest the Tajzara Basin. According to a press release from the Chamber of Senators, "as a result of the natural disasters that we have had in Tarija, mainly the fire of Sama, a work agenda has been made to preserve our aquifers and our reserves of Sama". For this reason, at the end of 2017, "3,500 seedlings of queñua, tola and alisos species were planted in the community of Tucumilla, municipality of San Lorenzo," explains TeleSur.

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Colombia

In the coffee country, foundations such as Saving the Amazon and initiatives such as Bosques de Paz are committed to caring for the environment in conjunction with indigenous communities, by donating trees that will be planted by this population. According to the official website of Saving the Amazon, its mission "is to use technology to create a global community committed to the environment, mitigating climate change and wanting to save the Amazon and its people." They have now reforested 70 hectares and planted 11,470 trees, according to data provided on its website.

For its part, the Bosques de Paz program is a "national reconciliation movement, a participatory platform that offers the planting of trees nationwide for the environmental conservation of native forests, benefiting the Colombian population," as explained on its website. official. In addition, in 2018 the Ministry of Environment and Sustainable Development launched the Great Alliance Against Deforestation in conjunction with Semana magazine and the Norwegian embassy, ​​"as part of the Integrated Strategy for Control of Deforestation and Forest Management" Life, "which seeks to link all sectors of society so that Colombia recovers its forests."

Paraguay

Currently, the Proeza project is under development in Paraguay, with which the South American country seeks to contribute to the restitution of its forests. According to the Technical Secretariat of Economic and Social Development Planning (STP), the proposal was presented "before members of the Executive Branch" after having been approved by the Green Climate Fund at the beginning of the year. What the Government is looking for with Proeza, among other things, is "to implement reforestation projects where the protagonists are people in poverty and extreme poverty as reforestation agents", explains the STP.

LatinAmerican Post | Diana Rojas Leal

Translated from "¿Qué hacen los países latinoamericanos para proteger sus bosques?"