There is much talk about the issues surrounding climate change and global carbon emissions. Many solutions are discussed and promoted, but one that is consistently, and one close to our hearts, lauded as a very real and tangible option is forestry. There are many opinions regarding forestry and native planting of woodlands versus commercial forestry - when in fact there is room for both. Each species sequesters at different rates which varies over time and soil conditions among numerous other factors. Simply put - forestry is an effective sequester of carbon and it is retained in the materials produced from harvesting the timber - take CLT in construction for example. It is offsetting the use of concrete and fossil fuels and "...and sequester massive amounts of carbon by tying up the wood in buildings for decades or even longer, perhaps in perpetuity."

Other large carbon producers (???) such as airlines Ryanair and Easyjet and fuel company Shell are taking the impact of forestry into their carbon accounting suite. Each of these have recently launched various versions of forestry initiatives to offset the carbon they produce, in tandem with other activities.

Shell, for example, have a target to reduce their net carbon footprint by 2 - 3% by 2022 (a 3 year plan). This includes planting 5 million trees over the next 12 years, and includes replacing diseased Ash trees, a reforestation project in Spain and an 800 hectare endangered forest regeneration project in Queensland, Australia.

Ryanair have promised to help in the replanting of the Monchique area in the Algarve in Portugal and have already donated €250,000 to the cause - monies raised by the company and their customers.

similarly, Easyjet are seeking to become Zero Carbon and have committed to investing £25 million in 2020 in forestry, renewable and community based projects.

While these ventures may not solve the issues and the crisis, it is certainly an improvement on the attitudes of many and can only help highlight the plight facing us.

I'd like to acknowledge @eleanormharris who provided some of the links here via a twitter thread.