Jul 23, 2012
Posted by Mike Rann
Last month at The Climate Group's States and
Regions Summit in Rio de Janeiro, a significant
milestone was reached. Members comprising
sub-national governments from around the world
announced firm commitments to grow more than
500 million additional trees by
2015.
This result was two and a half
years in the making. At our Climate Leaders
Summit held in December 2009, as part of the
UN's COP15 meeting, we called on world leaders
gathering in Copenhagen - including President
Obama and Chinese Premier Wen Jiabao - to
commit to planting 7 billion trees - one tree
for every person on the planet.
They
didn't heed our call for a forestry 'endowment'
from Copenhagen. So I proposed that we, at the
state and regional level, should again lead the
way by committing to plant 1 billion trees
ourselves by the same target date. The move,
strongly supported at the meeting by then
California Governor Arnold Schwarzenegger,
Quebec Premier Jean Charest and Scottish First
Minister Alex Salmond, was endorsed unanimously
by all leaders and ministers
present.
Quebec and Scotland led the
charge with a commitment to each plant 100
million trees by 2015. Both of these pledges
are being delivered. Many other governments
have joined the campaign including Aragon,
Catalonia, Manitoba, Ontario, North Rhine
Westphalia, Poitou Charentes, South Australia
and Wales.
Under our 1 Billion Tree
Initiative only plantings that would not have
otherwise occurred are counted. Normal forestry
operations and reafforestation projects already
announced are not included in the
tally.
At Rio I was delighted that
Member States and Regions have now passed the
halfway point in reaching our 1 Billion Trees
target, with a combination of new planting
commitments or increases to their original
pledges.
A number of new members making
commitments included the Brazilian state of Sao
Paulo, the French island region of La Reunion
and KwaZulu Natal in South Africa. Sao Paulo
announced that it would add 200 million trees
by 2015 through native forest restoration in
its own territory – ensuring both climate
protection and biodiversity. This commitment
comprises one fifth of the total 1 billion
target and Sao Paulo has also announced it will
build on this pledge with another 200 million
trees by 2020.
One of the delights of
our conference was hearing about KwaZulu
Natal's plans to plant a fruit tree for every
child in homes and schools.
At Rio,
South Australian Environment Minister Paul
Caica, representing the driest state on the
driest continent, announced an additional
commitment of 6.7 million trees to bring his
state's total to 7.9 million
trees.
Reafforestation projects need not
only occur in rural areas. Greening programs in
cities such as New York are gaining strong
public and political support.
Back in
2003, as Premier of South Australia, I
established our Urban Forest Program which
aimed to plant 1 million native trees and
shrubs across the Adelaide metropolitan area in
a series of urban forests. This target, to help
further green our city, was achieved in 2006
with the help of local government, schools,
industry and volunteers.
We extended
the program, increased the State Government's
funding and raised our target to plant
3 million native trees and plants by 2014
across 300 project sites, ranging from large
habitat restoration projects to smaller amenity
gardens and local biodiversity projects. More
than ten thousand people have participated
including thousands of children and adults who
have attended well publicised community
planting days. We are delighted that twenty one
local government councils have partnered with
the State Government to improve our capital
city.
The program aims to restore around
2,000 hectares of native vegetation using
suitable areas of public open space including
parks, reserves, transport corridors, schools,
water courses, coastline and council
land.
We believe our Urban Forest
Program will result in a more beautiful, cooler
and more liveable city. It will improve air and
water quality and reduce our greenhouse gas
emissions by an estimated 600,000 tonnes of CO2
equivalents. There is also a very strong
educational component designed to raise the
community's environmental awareness and
actively involve people through workshops,
talks, plantings and school
projects.
Significantly, our Urban
Forests Program is also creating and conserving
habitat for precious wildlife. A report
published in 2001 revealed that 97.3% of
Adelaide's original vegetation has been cleared
since European settlement in 1836. Land
clearance and urban development had impacted
significantly on native flora and fauna, with
many species now locally extinct or threatened.
So our program is also about preventing species
loss.
Only indigenous trees and shrubs,
native to the local area, are planted. Not only
is this about ensuring that the genetic
integrity of our native flora is preserved but
it also helps reduce water use. Exotic or
imported plants often require greater watering
and support to survive our searing hot and dry
summers.
After my return from Rio, I
phoned Paul Caica's office to enquire about
progress. I was pleased to learn that the
program was on track to reach the 3 million
target on time with 2,370,000 trees and shrubs
already planted. The three inaugural winners of
The Climate Group's Climate Change Leadership
Award – Schwarzenegger, Charest and Salmond –
will all have mini urban forests in Adelaide
bearing their names. There is already one named
after veteran Canadian environmentalist, David
Suzuki, who has inspired me over the
decades.
I hope states and cities in the
around the world will join us in similar urban
forest campaigns.
The views expressed in this blog are those of the authors and do not necessarily represent the views of the Center for National Policy.
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