The Scottish government’s forestry agency is aiming to
grow and nurture millions of saplings indoors before transferring
them to the wild. It’s not alone in its ambition to re-green its
land; countries, companies, and non-profits around the world
have been pledging to plant millions or even billions of trees as a
way to combat climate change. Ethiopia set a record when it
planted an estimated 350 million trees in one day in 2019.
When it comes to planting trees, though, simply scattering
millions of seeds isn’t going to do the trick, as there are all sorts
of factors that can prevent a seed from germinating and growing
into a full-fledged tree. Hence the strategy Forestry and
Land Scotland (FLS) wants to use: plant saplings, not seeds, and
crank those saplings out faster than nature could. In the wild, it
would take about 18 months to grow a tree seedling 40 to
50 millimeters, while in a vertical farm it can take as little as
90 days.
Not just any vertical farm, though. The technology for the
FLS initiative is coming from an Edinburgh-based company
called Intelligent Growth Solutions (IGS), which makes modular,
scalable vertical farming systems it calls Growth Towers. FLS
has grown several batches of vertically-farmed saplings as a
proof of concept, which are now maturing in open-air nurseries
before being transferred to their permanent home in the
Scottish Highlands.
In 2019 the United Kingdom (UK) government pledged to
plant 30,000 hectares (115.8 square miles) of new forests by the
end of 2024, but they’re looking unlikely to meet that target.
Nevertheless, after thousands of years of decimating forests, it’s
now possible for us to become the first generation of humans that
expands them. However, it’s going to take some serious
strategizing, dedication, and technology; and it seems vertical
farming could be a valuable ingredient in the recipe for global
re-forestation.
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