When leading ecologist Tom Crowther estimated that our planet has space for an extra trillion trees, which could absorb enough carbon to slow climate change, he made worldwide headlines.
Unfortunately, this led to companies and governments planting monoculture forests, which lack the diversity of life of natural forests, instead of cutting emissions. Facing a backlash from fellow scientists, Tom and his team worked to set the record straight – and come up with a new solution.
Using a powerful computer model, Tom made stunning discoveries, for example, that older, diverse woodland can hold nearly twice as much carbon as new plantations and that fungi and animals play a crucial role. Alongside cutting emissions, could restoring existing forests to full health – and regrowing lost forests – be key to combating climate change?
