TREES V/S CLIMATE CHANGE: WHY TREE PLANTING ALONE ISN’T ENOUGH?
What’s the main issue?
Scientists observing trees across India have found that trees are behaving differently because of climate change.
According to SeasonWatch, a citizen science project that tracks tree behaviour:
- Trees are flowering earlier
- Trees are leafing earlier
- Some species are shifting their geographical range (e.g., moving uphill)
This means climate change is affecting not only humans but also the timing, growth, and survival of trees.
A FAMILIAR EXAMPLE: THE INDIAN LABURNUM
- Known as amaltas/kanikonna, and the State tree of Kerala & Delhi.
- Traditionally it blooms in mid-April.
- In recent years, flowers are blooming weeks earlier.
- Result: People struggle to find natural flowers for the festival.
Why this matters:
- Trees act as seasonal markers for communities — when their cycles change, it signals a shift in the climate
Trees as Climate Heroes — But They Have Problems Too
- Trees store carbon, so governments and companies promote afforestation (planting more trees) to fight climate change.
- But ecologists warn: Poorly planned tree planting can harm ecosystems instead of helping them.
KEY PROBLEMS
- Wrong species, wrong place
- Many plantations use non-native species like eucalyptus, acacia, jacaranda, gulmohar.
- These trees often:
- Consume large amounts of water (some eucalyptus species can take 90+ litres per day!)
- Change soil chemistry
- Reduce native biodiversity
- Plantations ≠ forests
- Large monoculture plantations store less carbon and support less wildlife than natural, mixed forests.
- Water competition
- Humans and trees use the same limited groundwater.
- Planting water-heavy species worsens local water shortages.
- Carbon storage confusion
- When plantation trees are harvested, the stored carbon is released back into the atmosphere.
- Many commercial plantations (teak, fruit trees, fast-growing exotics) don’t store carbon long-term.
INDIA’S AFFORESTATION DRIVE-WHAT’S GOING WRONG?
- Examples like Uttar Pradesh’s 220 million trees in a day (2019) sound impressive.
- But ecologists say:
- Species selection was often inappropriate
- Planting was done on grasslands and scrublands, which were wrongly labelled “wastelands”
WHY IS THIS HARMFUL?
India’s landscape was historically:
- 60% grassland, scrubland, or open woodland
—not fully forested.
When grasslands are covered with trees:
- Native animals like Great Indian Bustard, blackbuck, butterflies lose their habitat.
- Grassland ecosystems collapse.
GRASSLANDS V/S FORESTS-WHO STORES MORE CARBON?
Surprisingly, grasslands can be better long-term carbon sinks than forests.
- Forests store carbon above ground — which is easily lost during fires/droughts.
- Grasslands store carbon underground in deep roots — protected even during disturbances.
A 2022 Science study:
- Grasslands store 34% of Earth’s land carbon, much of it stable and long-lasting. But grasslands don’t “look green”, so they are often ignored by policymakers and corporate funders.
HOW CLIMATE CHANGE IS STRESSING TREES?
Trees themselves are:
- Moving uphill
- Changing their density and distribution
- Struggling to adapt to new climates
- Dying in some regions
Like humans, trees depend on:
- Healthy soil
- Clean water
- Biodiverse surroundings
- Stable weather conditions
When these conditions change, trees struggle to survive
THE RIGHT WAY FORWARD
Experts say: Planting trees is not wrong — but planting without ecological understanding is harmful.
The solution is not more trees, but:
- The right species
- In the right ecosystem
- For the right purpose
- With the right local community involvement
Why?
- Local species support local biodiversity
- They need less water
- They are adapted to the soil
- They maintain ecosystem balance
- They store carbon more sustainably
Major Gaps
- We still lack data on how trees across Indian states respond to climate change.
- SeasonWatch’s monitoring is limited due to low participation from northern India.
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