7 incredible benefits of planting trees

Do you know how long it took Mother Earth to create the perfect tree? Wait … actually, neither do we. We’ll get back to you as soon as we know more.

What we do know is that the end result was so good and that the benefits of planting trees are so amazing that Mother Earth made about 60,000 more versions!

We estimate that planting trees also has around 60,000 benefits, but who has the time to read them all? Instead, we’ve done the hard work for you and listed just 7 of our favorites. Want to know what they are? And will Click A Tree really talk about the disadvantages of planting trees? Find out.

7 social, economic and environmental benefits of planting trees

From the social benefits of planting trees to the social, environmental and even economic benefits, trees are a miracle.

In fact, just by being planted, trees contribute to an incredible 16 of the 17 Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs).

To maintain our journalistic integrity (we’re a serious team here at Click A Tree), we’re also going to expose three of the downsides of planting trees. We will discuss whether these three disadvantages balance out the 7 advantages of trees that we will mention here.

And at the end, it’s your turn to tell us what you think! So don’t leave this page without leaving a comment. Let’s get started. Here are 7 of our favorite benefits of reforestation.

Trees Plant advantage #1: Trees provide families with a reliable income

It’s as simple as this headline. One of the most important advantages of reforestation is the work it creates. Thousands of working hours are created when people are busy planting trees and caring for them later.

Of course, the work of planting a tree is not finished when you put a seed in the ground. Trees must be cared for until they are fully developed. Some of our employees look after the young trees for up to 10 years! Baobabs are even at least 12 years old!

Even after the young trees are able to stand on their own two feet, our workers regularly drop by and prune the forest here and there. Just to make sure that they are doing well. From time to time, the trees also get a cool haircut to help them continue to grow.

We even did a calculation in our article on the cost of a tree to show you how much work it takes to plant trees on a large scale.

Trees are often planted in developing countries where it is difficult to obtain a reliable salary. Good work helps local people to escape poverty, afford an education and even afford the simple necessities (such as food and clothing) that they could not before.

Well, if that’s not the advantage of trees and reforestation, then we don’t know what is.

Trees Plant advantage #2: And they are also a lifeline for animals!

I love trees, you love trees, Chris really loves trees.

But do you know who loves her even more? Animals. Especially those threatened with extinction. Trees create a vital habitat and are therefore literally a lifesaver for many animals. They help to maintain healthy and balanced ecosystems.

If we plant more trees, these valuable ecosystems will continue to thrive. From elephants to leopards, from orangutans to pandas, animals depend on trees for shelter, care and food.

And that goes for all the tiny insects and even the underwater animals that also depend on trees. Grouper and lobster are just two of the surprising underwater creatures that need trees to nest their young.

You read that right – the roots of the mangrove trees play a crucial role as an underwater home for marine life of all kinds.

Trees Plants Advantage #3: You like to breathe, right?

Sorry if we’re jumping the gun here, but um… that thing you do with your mouth? And your nose? The thing that keeps you alive…? Yes, trees pretty much make that possible.

So. Since you love breathing so much, we’re pretty confident you appreciate the benefits of planting trees in a selfish way. We don’t blame you. Oxygen feels pretty good.

But trees not only provide us with oxygen, they also naturally absorb carbon dioxide. They are carbon sinks. This means that trees keep us alive, but they also absorb carbon and combat the effects of global warming in the process. How amazing is that?

We quickly collect the benefits of trees here.

Trees Plants Advantage #4: Gender equality

We have already mentioned that many of our trees are planted in developing countries where some women are still expected to play “traditional” roles in the household. If they help us plant trees instead, they escape this role and build a new, independent career for themselves.

A new chapter began for Shushila and Kanchi when they started working in tree nurseries.

The benefits of planting trees are enormous for women individually, but they are even greater together. They can bring about real change and promote gender equality in countries where female workers have limited opportunities.

Trees Plant advantage #5: Do you want Desert?

Another advantage of reforestation is that it prevents desertification and natural disasters. You don’t believe us? It’s true.¹ The benefits of planting trees come in all forms.

Planting trees helps to reverse desertification. It does this by supplying the soil with nutrients and thus preventing soil erosion. Trees (as well as other plants and even crops) can grow and bind everything together.

Trees Plant advantage #6: Trees and the water cycle

Geography lessons are not over yet! It turns out that trees also play a crucial role in the water cycle, another of their water-based benefits.

Trees absorb water from the atmosphere (and through their roots) and release excess water back into the atmosphere. They hold water like a natural sponge and even improve water quality.

At the same time, the roots of the tree filter out all the impurities in the soil and bring all the vitamins and minerals to the surface so that other plants can use them. Pretty impressive, isn’t it?

Trees Plant advantage #7: Trees keep a cool head

To round off the benefits of reforestation (for today), trees also cool our planet. They lower temperatures by providing shade, which means less air conditioning in our buildings.

That is why sustainability is important. Trees not only give us the air we need to breathe, they even clean it for us. From providing more shade to removing urban pollutants from the air, we have a lot to thank trees for.

3 controversial disadvantages of planting trees

Oakay, Oakay. Time to talk about the disadvantages of planting trees. Why do we even bother discussing the disadvantages of planting trees if we want you to plant trees?

Well, we’re being honest. And there is no single solution when it comes to saving our planet.

1. short-term pain? Long-term profit? What do you think?

One of the biggest disadvantages of planting trees on a large scale is that it requires quite a lot of land and quite a lot of time. And this land could instead be used to grow crops such as tobacco. Less time, less land, faster processing.

Some workers believe that these plants are much more profitable in the short term. Unfortunately, they often don’t realize that their soil is exhausted after 2-3 years and contaminated by all the toxic pesticides in the long term.

Other farmers recognize the big picture: planting trees over a longer period of time brings more money in the long term. And we’ve just told you all about the benefits of trees!

So what do you think? Trees or tobacco?

2. use trees as play space

Sometimes companies plant trees with the idea of offsetting CO2 emissions. In this case, they may decide to plant as many trees as possible, which means planting the cheapest tree species.

We all know that planting trees just to soothe your conscience is not a good model. Ideally, we should first try to reduce our emissions and then plant trees anyway.

This is because it leads to a monoculture that does not accurately reflect nature.

On the other hand, we choose to plant trees as part of a healthy, natural and diverse ecosystem. It takes longer and is slightly more expensive, but we believe it is the most beneficial way to plant them on a large scale.

What do you prefer? Plant as many cheap trees as possible? Or planting varied and natural forests?

And remember, if you are ever unsure, then of course we still recommend planting a tree! In case you’re not sure. Just in case. Only while you decide. Planting a tree is always better than not planting a tree.

3. trees require selflessness

If you plant a tree today, you will most likely not be able to enjoy all the benefits of your tree. It takes decades for trees to grow, so you won’t necessarily enjoy the benefits of planting right away.

We have to be patient. But every time you see a tree, you can remind yourself that you only see it because someone else selflessly planted it a long time ago.

Be kind to the next generations and plant a tree today.

The benefits of planting trees – time for discussion

As you can see, there are no advantages to planting trees without disadvantages. However, we firmly believe that the advantages of planting trees outweigh the disadvantages.

We believe that we need to plant as many trees as possible, as they do much more than just save our planet and fight climate change (we’re being ironic, by the way). They save every single living organism – including you and me.

What do you think? Leave us a comment below to let us know your thoughts.

Let’s plant more trees

You’ve already helped us plant 100,000 trees – and that makes you a star in our eyes. Yes, you, dear reader.

But what do you say – would you like to help us plant 100,000 more?

We’ve just given you 7 amazing reasons why! Share our stories on Instagram, join our Facebook conversations about the benefits of planting trees and plant a free tree by signing up for our GROW newsletter too.

Share these mega benefits and this article with your friends:

Stay great, keep planting trees and keep up the good vibes.

Sources

¹ https://www.bpb.de/politik/hintergrund-aktuell/292601/wuestenbildung-17-06-2019