Protest at the Tree Biotechnology Conference in 2013 in Asheville, NC. Photo: Orin Langelle
New Internationalist recently published an article titled 10 things you should know about tree ‘offsets’. The article gives evidence against the merits of carbon credit programs and tree plantations. Biotech companies like ArborGen are working to bring genetically engineered trees to the market, which will only increase the negative effects of tree plantations on the environment and communities.
From the New Internationalist piece:
Communities suffer twice: First, climate change affects the livelihoods of forest peoples and rural communities through increased droughts, floods, forest fires and deforestation. Second, carbon credits from tree planting promote the expansion of large-scale tree plantations, which indigenous peoples and forest-dependent communities oppose in many parts of the world.