How to reforest the planet…ask “WHERE ARE THE TREES?”

Reforestation is our best shot at reducing emissions, short of not emitting. Its the best chance to save forests, shy of not cutting them down. The way to scale it is simple, productivity is driven by... transparent, open market competition.

Markets thrive on information and informed choices from a wide range of market participants. Think of buying a car, or shopping on amazon, or a grocery store... nothing is left to the experts. The more info you know the better. Reforestation will be better if it is transparent.

Tree planting in Canada is so productive because the market is transparent, and it scales the exact same way. For example, the BC provincial government issues public bids for hundreds of millions of trees since the 1980’s making pricing in the wider market fully transparent. This has driven immense productivity gains across the industry and Canadian tree planters go one to manage reforestation projects around the world. 🌏️

Require funded projects to disclose the who, what, and where trees are planted. Make vendors compete for: reviews, products, prices, specs, and track record. Just like do with every other product or service. 

The way to scale reforestation is the same way tree planters scale to planting 5,000 trees per day. It requires a level playing field, with transparent scorekeeping, that requires productivity to get ahead. It’s driven by self-interest, but it’s a self-reinforcing market for productive labor all competing for the money and glory of planting those big numbers.  Did you know the average Canadian tree planter exerts the same energy per day to run two marathons per day! 🏃🏼‍♀️️52 Miles! That is the level of productivity is driven by competition.

If you buy a TV, a car, or any other product or service, do you take a salesperson’s word exclusively? No, of course you go online and read about the product or service. It’s not hidden, rather the specs and details are promoted openly to compete for the attention of informed consumers.

Reforestation is the same, don’t let salespeople tell you otherwise. And don’t promote projects that aren’t openly available with maps and public information. Ask where are the trees?

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