Unemployment and poverty are common in areas hit by mass deforestation, where there are also many cases of debt slavery. Local people are hired to plant trees and manage planting projects – they receive a good income so they can provide for themselves and their families.

Reforesting barren land is great news for our animal friends who call the forest their home. As new trees are planted and mature into new forests, wildlife starts to return and thrive again.

Eden has partnered with national parks helping to restore surrounding forests and create natural buffer zones for endangered species.

Trees do magical things when it comes to water – root systems help to purify it and decrease the risk of flooding. Through mass-deforestation, land is often left barren and there is nothing left for the soil and water to ‘hold onto’. When you reintroduce trees to the area,  you allow rain water to penetrate the soil rather than eroding it away.

Forest canopies help to regulate rainfall and air mositure levels which play an important role in the water cycle and reducing desertification; simply speaking, forests help to keep moisture in the environment!

With flooding and soil erosion, crops begin to fail and locals have no means to farm their own food. After planting new trees, the soil is able to hold water and returns to having a symbiotic relationship with the nature that flourishes around it.

Agroforestry is another area where these trees are making a huge difference to the community. The surrounding soils become more fertile and crop yields increase providing more food for people and boosting the local economy.

Everything is connected and this is something we’re discovering more and more as climate change is evolving. What happens in one part of the world has a direct effect on others who share a different part of the planet.

Trees remove CO2 from the atmosphere and turn it into much needed oxygen. By reintroducing forests back to areas where humankind has destroyed them, we can drastically reduce greenhouse gases and help to reverse climate change.