Often called a panacea, 'tree planting' is a hot topic but it can fail when too little thought goes into it, so the guests on this episode reframe the practice, saying that 'tree growing' ought to be the focus of reforestation programs.

'Right tree, right place, right community” is the approach taken by Trees for Climate Health that guest Erin Axelrod directs, whose approach ensures that the dozens of projects it is implementing currently (and its overall goal to grow over 10 million trees by 2025) are appropriate to the areas, likely to succeed and survive, and benefit local communities. 

We also speak with freelance environmental journalist Mike Tatarski who recently filed a story about Vietnam’s plan to plant a billion trees by 2025. Tatarski tells us about the impetus and goals of this nationwide effort, Vietnam’s long history of supporting tree planting, and more.

Articles discussed:

• ”How to pick a tree-planting project? Mongabay launches transparency tool to help supporters decide”

• ”‘Drastic forest development’: Vietnam to plant 1 billion trees — but how?”

Look for episode 119 of the Mongabay Newscast to hear our discussion of reforestation trends and issues with Mongabay staff writer Dr. Liz Kimbrough, who helped develop the new Reforestation Directory and app that rates such projects: Reforestation.app.

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Episode artwork: Girls from Pine Ridge Indian Reservation planting ponderosa pines in South Dakota, image courtesy of Trees, Water, and People.   Please share your thoughts and ideas! [email protected].