Proforestation
Proforestation is the practice of purposefully growing an existing forest intact toward its full ecological potential. It is a nature-based solution whereby existing forests are protected as intact ecosystems to foster continuous growth for maximal carbon storage and ecological and structural complexity. In suitable forested regions it is a powerful and immediate forest-based strategy that can address the global crises in climate and biodiversity.
Recent science identifies forest restoration as the most powerful strategy available to reduce atmospheric carbon. Proforestation complements forest-based solutions like afforestation, reforestation and improved forest management. Of these, proforestation is the most powerful and immediate. Unlike afforestation, full proforestation does not require dedicating new land to forests.
Proforestation was featured in July 2019 on by the New England News Collaborative on New England Public Radio and on the .
Leveraging nature-based solutions is consistent with the recommendations of the Paris Agreement and the Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change and the goals of the US Climate Alliance. Nature-based solutions can counteract the negative climate, environmental and ecological effects of deforestation and forest manipulation and extraction.
In August 2019, an IPCC Special Report titled identified land use as a major driver of and a major solution to the climate crisis. A piece in referred to the IPCC Special Report and highlighted the importance of natural forests and proforestation. Climate activist Bill McKibben came out against biomass and in favor of proforestation in an article titled in the New Yorker. This policy position was echoed in a piece co-released by the Nicholas School at Duke University Duke and the Cary Institute for Ecosystem Studies.
Proforestation was also prominently featured at the . Recent press releases on proforestation include , , and .
