Why Large-Scale Tree Planting Alone Won’t Save the Planet—And What Bangladesh Can Learn from Global Failures and Local Wisdom
In recent months, social media in Bangladesh has witnessed a surge in posts advocating for mass tree-planting drives in response to record-breaking heatwaves. Influencers, students, and even some policymakers are championing tree plantation as the “ultimate weapon” against climate change. While planting trees may seem like the perfect antidote to environmental degradation, a deeper look reveals a troubling truth: tree planting alone is not a silver bullet for sustainability.
Organisations like Save Earth Society, which have been actively involved in environmental campaigns across Cumilla and rural Bangladesh, recognise this nuance. “Planting trees is good,” says Md Mahamudul Hasan, the Society’s founder. “But it is not enough. Sustainability is about ecosystems, not just saplings.”
The Popularity of Planting Trees—And Its Pitfalls
Tree planting is one of the most visible and tangible forms of climate action. It’s easy to organise, photogenic, and often promoted as a quick win. Governments and corporations love it because it’s relatively low-cost and symbolically powerful. For example:
Pakistan’s 10 Billion Tree Tsunami project
China’s Great Green Wall afforestation program
India’s World Record of 66 million trees planted in a single day
Despite these campaigns, global deforestation continues. In fact, since 2000, the planet has lost over 100 million hectares of forest—more than three times the size of France (Global Forest Watch, 2023). Even more troubling, UNEP (2022) warns that more than half of the world’s planted trees may not survive due to poor planning, wrong species, and lack of maintenance.
“The forest is not just the sum of its trees. It is the spirit of life itself.”.
- Save Earth Society
Reforestation vs. Afforestation: What’s the Difference?
It’s important to distinguish between:
Reforestation: Planting trees where a natural forest previously existed.
Afforestation: Planting trees in areas where there were none historically.
While both sound beneficial, afforestation in particular can damage native grasslands or wetland ecosystems, replacing them with monoculture plantations that do more harm than good.
A cautionary tale comes from China’s Three-North Shelter Forest Program (also known as the Green Great Wall), which aimed to halt desertification. A 2020 report by The Guardian revealed that up to 90% of the trees had died due to poor planning and lack of water access (Watts, 2020). Critics argue the project prioritised quantity over ecology.
The Science Speaks: Natural Regrowth vs. Planting
A groundbreaking study published in Nature in 2019 by Bastin et al. revealed that natural forest regrowth can store 2.5 times more carbon than managed plantations on the same amount of land.
This means that letting forests recover naturally—without human interference—is often more effective for biodiversity, carbon storage, and climate mitigation.
“Our best strategy for carbon removal is to let existing forests regrow naturally,” says Bastin, lead researcher of the study. “Managed planting can help, but it cannot match the complexity and resilience of native forests.” (Bastin et al., 2019)
Bangladesh’s Climate Crisis and the Call for Trees
Bangladesh is one of the world’s most climate-vulnerable countries. Deforestation for agriculture, brick kilns, and unplanned urbanisation have decimated natural forests. In response, tree planting has become a patriotic rallying cry.
But in many cases, tree-planting campaigns are carried out without:
Consulting ecologists
Considering soil and water needs
Ensuring long-term care and maintenance
Involving local communities
In Cumilla and Chandpur, Save Earth Society observed that over 30% of trees planted by local groups died within a year—due to drought, poor placement, or simply because no one watered them.
“We cannot drop saplings like parachutes and expect a forest,” says Mahamudul Hasan. “A tree needs care, shade, water, and protection—like a child.”
What Makes Tree Planting Sustainable?
To be effective, reforestation must follow ecological principles:
Right Species, Right Place: Native trees suited to local climate, soil, and wildlife.
Ecosystem Restoration: Not just trees, but undergrowth, insects, fungi, and birds.
Community Involvement: Locals must have a stake in maintaining and benefiting from forests.
Post-Planting Care: Regular watering, fencing, and monitoring.
Avoid Monoculture: Mixed-species forests are more resilient and biodiverse.
This approach is championed by organisations like JUST ONE Tree, which focuses on restoring entire ecosystems—not just counting saplings (JUST ONE Tree, 2023).
The Economic and Social Dimensions
Sustainability is not only ecological—it must also make economic and social sense.
Planting trees that don’t support local livelihoods often results in indifference or even resentment from communities. In contrast, integrating tree-planting with agroforestry, fruit trees, and medicinal plants can ensure that people have an incentive to protect the forest.
Save Earth Society has piloted such models in villages near Burichang, where mango, guava, and neem trees are co-planted with crops and cared for by school eco-clubs.
Tree Planting to Landscape Restoration
Leading environmentalists and international agencies now promote the concept of landscape restoration—a broader strategy that includes:
Soil regeneration
Water harvesting
Wildlife corridors
Natural forest regrowth
Sustainable agriculture
The UN Decade on Ecosystem Restoration (2021–2030) emphasises this holistic approach. It aims not merely to “green” barren areas but to repair damaged ecosystems in ways that are culturally appropriate and locally managed (UNEP, 2021).
The Risks of Oversimplifying Tree Planting
1. Greenwashing
Many corporations use tree planting to offset emissions while continuing polluting activities. Critics argue this is a distraction from real climate action.
2. Failure to Survive
Without ongoing care, planted trees often die. This wastes money and creates a false sense of progress.
3. Wrong Species
Introducing fast-growing, water-hungry species like eucalyptus can actually harm local ecosystems.
4. Displacing People
Large-scale afforestation projects have displaced Indigenous communities in India, Kenya, and Brazil—ironically harming those most attuned to the land (Global Witness, 2022).
Save Earth Society’s Model: From Planting to Stewardship
Recognising these risks, Save Earth Society has redesigned its campaigns to prioritise:
Native species like neem, banyan, jackfruit, and rain tree
School-based eco-clubs to adopt and water saplings
Farmer incentives for agroforestry integration
Monitoring systems using local youth with GPS tracking apps
Women-led forest care groups in partnership with local cooperatives
“Our goal is not to plant a million trees,” says Hasan. “It’s to grow a thousand forests that last.”
The Way Forward
To make tree planting a truly sustainable solution, Bangladesh must:
Move from quantity to quality: focus on long-term survival, not short-term numbers.
Invest in community training: Equip locals to care for and benefit from forests.
Promote natural regeneration: Let degraded forests recover on their own when possible.
Embed tree planting in broader policies: Link it to water, agriculture, and disaster resilience.
Track and report: Use satellite and field data to measure survival and biodiversity outcomes.
Beyond the Sapling
Trees are vital to our survival—but planting them without thought, care, or context is not a solution—it’s a distraction. Bangladesh, and the world, must move beyond symbolic gestures toward restoring the complex, living systems that sustain us.
As Save Earth Society reminds us:
“The forest is not just the sum of its trees. It is the spirit of life itself.”
To truly heal the Earth, we must stop treating reforestation as a campaign and start seeing it as a commitment.
References
Bastin, J. F., Finegold, Y., Garcia, C., Mollicone, D., Rezende, M., Routh, D., ... & Crowther, T. W. (2019). The global tree restoration potential. Science, 365(6448), 76-79.
