Scientists have proposed ten golden rules for tree-planting, which they believe is a top priority for all nations this decade.

Experts from the Royal Botanic Gardens, Kew say that planting trees is a brilliant solution to tackling climate change and protecting biodiversity; however, the wrong tree in the wrong place can cause more harm than good.

Forests are essential to life on Earth. Not only do they provide habitats to three-quarters of the world’s plants and animals, but they also offer food, fuels and medicines as well as soaking up carbon.

However, forests are disappearing at an alarming rate. An area of pristine tropical rainforest the size of Denmark is lost every year.

Reforestation, the restoration of forests that have recently been lost, could protect biodiversity and help fight global climate change by removing huge amounts of carbon dioxide from the atmosphere. There is a range of ambitious tree-planting projects happening around the world to replace lost forests.

The UK Government aims to plant 30,000 hectares (300 sq km) of new forest every year by the end of this parliament.

There is an ambitious project in Africa to grow a green wall of trees spanning 5000 miles (8,048km) across the entire continent, from east to west. The project, which will become the largest living structure on Earth, will help fight the climate crisis and combat desertification.

Planting trees is an essential solution to protecting biodiversity and combatting climate change. However, the process is surprisingly complex. The right trees have to be planted in the right place, if not it can cause more damage than food.

Natural forests, containing a wide range of plants, animals, and fungi, are often replaced by commercial plantations where trees are harvested after a few decades. Afforestation is more effective when people try to recreate forests similar to natural forests and provide benefits to people, the environment and nature, and capturing carbon.

A recent review led by Kew scientists and Botanic Gardens Conservation International (BGCI) proposes ‘ten golden rules for reforestation’ to boost benefits for people and the planet. The rules are:

1. Protect existing forest first
2. Work with local people
3. Maximise biodiversity recovery to meet multiple goals
4. Select the right area for reforestation
5. Use natural forest regrowth wherever possible
6. Select the right tree species that can maximise biodiversity
7. Make sure the trees are resilient to adapt to a changing climate
8. Plan ahead
9. Learn by doing
10. Make it pay

An overview of each rule is summarised in the diagram below.

Further details of each step are available on the Kew Gardens website.

Further reading

10 Golden rules for restoring forests – RBG Kew

Ten golden rules for reforestation to optimize carbon sequestration, biodiversity recovery and livelihood benefits – Report

Support for Geography in the News Assignment 

Describe the distribution of forest change shown on the choropleth map

This question is asking you to describe the distribution (spread) of forest change shown on the choropleth (shading) map. As this is an interactive choropleth map you can click on the colours in the scale to highlight the patterns. Describing patterns on a choropleth map is easy using the TEA tool as it provides a structure to your answer. TEA stands for trend, examples and anomalies.

Trend

To begin with, it is useful to include an opening statement about the general distribution (pattern/spread) shown on the map. You could do this by asking yourself does the choropleth map show the global annual change in forest area in 2015 even or uneven?

Paragraph starter: The global annual change in forest area in 2015 is even/uneven.

Examples

Next, you need to discuss the patterns on the map giving examples. You could consider:

• What continents/countries are experiencing a decline in forest area?
• Are the countries mainly HICs, NEEs or LICs?
• Are they near the equator or further away?
• Are they inland or coastal?
• What continents/countries are experiencing an increase in forest area?
• Are the countries mainly HICs, NEEs or LICs?
• Are they near the equator or further away?
• Are they inland or coastal?

Anomalies

Finally, consider any patterns/examples that stand out. In this example, are there any HICs (wealthy countries) that are experiencing high levels of decline in forest cover – top tip – check out North America!)? Are there any LICs/NEEs that are experiencing high levels of forest cover increase (have a look at Asia!)?

Every time we do the laundry, hundreds of thousands of tiny fibres – known as microfibres – are washed off our clothes, down the drain and into the environment.

Recent research has found high levels of microplastic fibres polluting the Arctic Ocean. These fibres most likely come from washing synthetic clothes in Europe and North America.

In Canada, the Ocean Wise Conservation Association found microplastics in 96 of 97 seawater samples taken from across the polar region. Ninety-two per cent of the microplastics found are fibres, and 73% originate from polyester clothing. The majority of the samples collected were from 3-8 metres below the surface, where much marine life feeds.

The 3-8m layer of seawater is a biologically important area where we find phytoplankton, zooplankton, small fish, big fish, seabirds and marine mammals, looking for food. Large animals such as turtles, albatross, seals and whales die through eating plastic, and there is no reason to think it was different for the smaller ones.

Another study by Ocean Wise in 2019, estimated 3,500tn plastic microfibers from clothes washing in the US and Canada end up in the sea each year; the equivalent in weight to over 20 blue whales!

As well as the fibres found at the North Pole, plastic exists at the deepest point on Earth, the Mariana Trench, and Mount Everest’s peak. Plastic injures wildlife when it is mistaken for food. People also consume microplastics through food and water and breathe them in. However, the health impact of this consumption is not currently known.

Most of the water that flows into the Arctic comes from the Atlantic Ocean. The new research has found more microplastic fibres nearer the Atlantic, than the Pacific Ocean. As you can see from the map showing ocean current below, the North Atlantic Drift transports microplastics released into the North Atlantic.

Major ocean currents

What is the Impact of ocean life ingesting microplastics?

Research by The University of Exeter has shown that tiny marine animals called zooplankton, a vital food source for many larger animals like fish and whales, can eat microplastics. When Zooplankton eat microplastics they consume less of their normal food, meaning they get less energy from their diet. This leads to less energy for growth and reproduction. At this point, the microplastics enter the food chain.

As larger animals consume plankton, the concentration of plastic increases. Chemicals attached to microplastics can increase liver toxicity and other pathological changes.

Microfibers fill the bellies of fish, and, while the plastic remains in their guts, the toxins that microfibers contain can migrate into fishes’ flesh, consumed in turn by humans. Researchers found that about 25 percent of individual fish and 67 percent of all species intended for human consumption contained plastic debris, the majority being microfibers.

There is the potential for microfibers to have a negative impact on the fishing industry in the future. Catches may decline due to a breakdown in the ocean food chain. Additionally, demand for seafood may reduce as people become more aware of the impacts of microfibers.

There are, however, economic opportunities in finding solutions to reducing microfiber emissions in the design of innovative laundry traps.

What can we do to reduce the release of microplastic into the sea?

We all have a role to play in reducing microplastic levels in our oceans. As consumers, we can: 

• wash clothes less often (give them the sniff test before putting them in the wash!)
• air dry clothes rather than using the tumble drier. This is because tumble drying weakens clothes and makes them more likely to shed microplastics when washed.
• choose clothes made from natural fibres such as cotton
• fill our washing machines (the more room clothes have the more likely microfibres will break off)

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Withernsea is a town located on the Holderness Coast in the East Riding of Yorkshire.

The front of Withernsea has extensive coastal defences including a sea wall, groynes and rock armour. To the south of Withernsea, the sea defences have been extended several times using rock armour. Beyond the sea defences, rates of erosion have increased because beach material is not being replaced as groynes trap sediment being transported by longshore drift along the front of Withernsea. As the beach in this area is very gently the North Sea reaches the base of the cliffs even during neap tides, leading to increased cliff erosion. This stretch of land is some of the most rapidly eroding along the Holderness Coast.

Withernsea – Terminal Groyne Effect (image was taken prior to the extension of rock armour in 2020)

The increased rate of erosion has led to the rapid loss of land, particularly along the front of the Golden Sands Holiday Park. More than 20-holiday homes have had to be either demolished or moved in the last few years. Also under threat is the main road connecting the village of Holmpton to the town of Withernsea. 

Erosion on this section of the Withernsea coastline has historically been at an average of around 4m per year, but in recent years this has increased to approximately 6m per year in places, with 2019 seeing around 12m of erosion opposite the frontage of the Golden Sands Holiday Park.

Erosion at Golden Sands Holiday Park between 2018 and 2020

To protect Holmpton Road, local houses and businesses being lost to coastal erosion, new sea defences have been installed. Four hundred metres of rock armour has been installed along this stretch of coast. During 2020 just under 70,000 tonnes of anorthosite, a rock similar to granite, was transported from Norway to the site off Golden Sands Holiday Park.  The project will protect about 70 homes and more than 250-holiday chalets and static caravans.

A £3m grant, which allowed the £7 million scheme to go ahead after other bids had failed, was provided by the European Regional Development Fund at the end of 2019.

The rock was transported from the quayside quarry in Rekefjord, on the southern coast of Norway, in 5000-tonne shipments by barge. The rocks were then dropped from the barge using heavy machinery when weather conditions were favourable. When the tide went out the rock was then transported up the beach. 

Rock being dropped from a barge

The majority of the rocks weigh between six and ten tonnes, but some reached as much as fifteen tonnes. The boulders were used to create an interlocking rock structure, designed to prevent the sea from eroding the cliffs. This is thought to be amongst the largest used in such defences around the UK.

Rocks of this size were required to withstand the rough seas that this stretch of coastline can experience, both now and in future, should climate change produce the expected worsening of sea conditions. Rock armour is an interlocking but porous structure that has proven to be effective at withstanding wave action, which is the primary cause of the areas rapid coastal erosion.

The cliffs to the south of Withernsea have been re-profiled, and rock armour has been placed onto the newly gently sloping cliffs and along their base. 

Cliff reprofiling and the first installation of rock armour

Construction started in May 2020 and was completed on 17th December 2020.

Completed coastal defences at Withernsea on 17th December 2020.

It may take some time for aerial images on Google Maps to update to include the new rock armour at Withernsea, However, the image below shows the beachside outline of the new defences. In some places, the rock armour is 30m wide!

GPS outline of the new defences at Withernsea

Rates of erosion are expected to increase to the south of the new defences.

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Barge and support craft at Withernsea