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One makes it possible for trees to be planted every time we search the internet. The other allows you to buy and plant them in different parts of the world. With these two platforms we can contribute to reforestation, even when we do not have a portion of land.
Warnings are growing that if we do nothing to reduce carbon dioxide emissions, we will face the catastrophic consequences of global warming. And the effects of climate change are already a reality: strong heat waves, forest fires and floods.
Experts have launched a series of recommendations to combat this phenomenon and one of the many ways to do it is through reforestation, since it is the trees that absorb CO2 and produce oxygen. And, although not everyone has access to a piece of land to plant a tree, on the internet there are various solutions to do it remotely.
The Ecosia project, internet searches that turn into trees
Ecosia is one of them. It is a search engine like any other, but the interesting thing here is that, with each query we make, we contribute to a tree being planted.
It works in the following way. The platform lives off advertising, and makes money every time a user clicks on the ads that appear in the search results. 80% of this income is used to finance tree plantations in the countries that need them most. Most of them are found in Latin America, Africa and Southeast Asia.
In order to finance the planting of a single tree, a user must do at least 45 searches, and there is no need to count, since the same page will do the calculation and show it live. Christian Kroll, CEO of Ecosia, explained to us how this impacts the environment.
“We calculate that, on average, each search removes maybe about a kilogram of CO2 from the atmosphere. I do dozens of searches every day, which turn into thousands every year. And that means that a few tons of CO2 are removed in total. In Germany, the average carbon footprint per person is 11 tons, so when several of these tons are removed there is actually a huge impact when it comes to fighting climate change. And on top of that, you’re helping to many people, creating a better future, “Kroll told France 24.
But the purpose of this project is not just to fight carbon emissions. The plantations also seek to restore wildlife habitat and combat food insecurity, since tree planting is carried out by local communities, contributing to their economic development.
“When an entire town does this (plant trees), you hear stories of how endangered animals return or how rivers are flowing again, or that people have returned to generate income (…) Sometimes we say that we are not planting trees but hope because in many areas where we are active the environment had suffered degradation, and when we arrived it began to improve, “he added.
Treedom, geolocated and monitored trees
Another pioneer in remote tree planting is Treedom, a platform that is presented as the first on the web to plant remotely. Here users can buy the species of their preference and that is available according to the geographical area.
Technology plays an important role in the process.
The tree is photographed, geolocated and monitored throughout its existence, and it is an option that can be offered to someone else as a gift. During the process, you can see how useful it has been for the environment or the communities that care for it, as it also contributes to their economic development.
For example, it can show the amount of carbon dioxide it has absorbed, as described by Emma Sintes, director of communications for Treedom in Spain.
“All the information, once you have planted your tree, will be summarized in the tree diary. That is, a page dedicated exclusively to it, where you will receive notifications about the project that is part, the geolocation, how the plantation affects the local communities, and even once it is planted we will send a photo, “he mentioned.
Sintes added that “all Treedom trees, we assure that they will survive for a minimum of 10 years and, if it does not survive during the first two years of life since they are the ones that carry the most risks, we plant it again.”
According to the website, once the tree is purchased, it can take anywhere from a few weeks to several months before it is ready to be planted.
Treedom allowed us to explore how the project works. We received a cocoa tree found in Cameroon. At the time of recording this program, the tree diary indicated that it was still a small sprout located in a nursery, and that, as soon as it was transplanted, a photograph would be published, as well as stories and curiosities about the country where it is found and the farmers. who take care of it.
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