mekka okereke :verified:
@mekkaokereke@hachyderm.io  ·  activity timestamp 2 weeks ago
@Littlebobbytables @joby

The Western way that failed was a monoculture of timberland, that ignored the guidance and warnings of indigenous people from those lands. That is not what China is doing.

From their 1 trillion trees initiative:

"It also includes a vast array of active management practices, such as sustainable agroforestry, silviculture or permaculture practices, to promote biodiversity in managed systems. Ultimately, the protection and restoration of forest ecosystems are complex social, political and economic challenges that require the development of land-management policies that give priority to the rights and wellbeing of local communities and indigenous people51. Only when healthy biodiversity is the preferred choice for local people can ecosystem-restoration initiatives be sustainable in the long term52. When built in a socially and ecologically responsible way, the promotion of diverse forests can contribute substantially to achieving our combined climate and biodiversity goals."
Jürgen Hubert
@juergen_hubert@mementomori.social replied  ·  activity timestamp last week
@mekkaokereke @Littlebobbytables @joby

If you want to see what monocultures of timberland can look like, I recommend visiting the German #Harz mountains.

The Harz was a mining region for centuries, and for centuries the miners planted fast-growing fir trees, since that was what they needed for the mines.

And after #WWII the British essentially cut down most of these forests as war reparation, in the manner they were accustomed from their colonial empire. The locals then were, of course, in a hurry to replant those forest - with more fir trees.

The bill came due in the last few years as there was a massive drought - which in turn led to a massive explosion of the bark beetle population. More than 90% of the fir tree population of the Harz range is now _dead_, and the landscape looks like this as a result.

The local forestry offices are now trying for more mixed forests while managing the regrowth, and in a few decades down the road the forests should look very different than what they used to. Still, that was an expensive lesson.