Is Team Trees Good?

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Team Trees founded by YouTuber Jimmy Donaldson and Mark Rober with a goal to raise 20 million dollars to prevent deforestation by planting 20 million trees before 2020 and spreading a information about deforestation and excess amounts of CO2 in the atmosphere. As of January 2020, the project has claimed to have planted around 21 million trees and the number continues to grow each day. Progress can be seen through the Team Trees website. However, the website is covered in pretty illustrations of trees, memes, and pictures, but there seems to little information about what is being done to accomplish the 20 million tree goal.

I have a few problems with the project in terms of logistics. The website has given locations around the world, but not the types of trees they plan to plant. It is not a process that can be done quickly, and it’s not easy to keep trees alive. Trees also cannot be planted willy-nilly; it depends on the type of tree because it could be an invasive species to that area, and causing a disruption to the ecosystem. The plan was meant to balance the amount of oxygen and CO2 in the environment, but most trees take around 10-30 years to reach maturity and be able to produce a stable amount of oxygen.

I am in no way an expert on trees, but in my opinion, I believe that we should preserve the hundred year old forests instead of focusing on creating new ones. I am hopeful that the creators have done their research, and the plan will be successful.