Lost Forests Recovery in California

Lost Forests Recovery in California, Estados Unidos

This project focuses on restoring forests lost to recent wildfires in California. Wildfires are becoming more frequent and severe due to climate change, with rising temperatures and prolonged droughts following historically low rainfall. The wildfire season now starts earlier and burns far more acres than in previous decades. By replanting native trees and rehabilitating damaged ecosystems, we aim to help these forests recover and build resilienc

46,593 Árvores financiados de 100,000
8,313.75 T CO2 Compensado
734 Seguidores
Plantar desde 1,50
Elementos chave
Atividades do projeto
Reflorestamento
Reforestation
The project is planting trees to re-establish forest cover in an area of forest that has been deforested.
Preservação
Preservation
The project owns areas protected from industrial activity to help preserve species and healthy ecosystems for the future and ensure its long-term sustainability.
Benefícios ambientais
Restauração da terra
Land restoration
The project repairs degraded land back into a healthy and productive land.
Evitar desmatamento
Avoid deforestation
The project sustainable forest management aids to stop deforestation and forest degradation.
Benefícios sociais
Conscientização ambiental
Environmental awareness
The project cultivates environmental education for adults and/or children to raise environmental awareness.
Equipe de Plantio

Padrões de Redução de GEE

Tree-Nation Methodology

Descrição do projeto

This project sustains and promotes the restauration of forests affected and threatened by wildfires in California.

During the recent years wildfire seasons were exceptionally severe in California, being among the largest seasons in the state's recorded history.

California’s dry climate, abundant winds, and dried vegetation provide prime conditions for a wildfire.

Nevertheless, due to various factors the long-term trend is that the number and severity of wildfires in California keeps constantly increasing compared to previous decades of the state's recorded history.

The main reason for this significant increase of wildfires is the anthropogenic climate change causing long-term droughts, extreme heat, earlier start to the growing season, and a reduced snowpack (Sierra Nevada).

As a consequence, the state of California is currently experiencing long-term drought conditions, and the state saw very little precipitation in the January to March time period during the last years, with much of the state experiencing its driest such period. This dry period is part of an ongoing 22-year spell of drought in the North American West that marks the driest such period in at least 1,200 years, according to scientific research based on analysis of soil moisture deficits and tree rings.

The drought has impacted wildfire risk and severity in a number of ways. Increased dryness of fuels, driven by increased vapor pressure deficit (VPD), a measure of the aridity of the atmosphere, is behind an eightfold increase in the area burned by wildfires in the Summer in California since 1972, according to scientific research.

Another reason for severe wildfires is the increase of biomass, due to insufficient controlled burning, resulting in a build-up of fuel, increasing the risk of large uncontrollable fires ("megafires"). There is broad scientific consensus that there should be more controlled burning of forests in California in order to reduce wildfire risk.

And beginning with the advent of the U.S. Forest Service's '10 AM policy', in which it sought to extinguish all fires by 10 AM the morning after their report, the primary method of wildfire management in California has been suppression. The success of this approach has led to a further surfeit of fuel, resulting in even larger and more extreme fires.

In general, forests are now more vulnerable not just to wildfires but also to bark beetle infestation, which has further weakened and killed forests. Total tree mortality since 2010 exceeds 172 million, providing plentiful fuel for wildfires.

And last not least, strong wildland-urban-interface (WUI) development during the last decades also contributes significantly to this increase of forest loss through wildfires. California, as with other areas of the United States and the world, has experienced a growing amount of human development into the WUI. This area consists of developed areas either adjacent to, or intermingled with, wildland vegetation and fuels. Such areas are more prone to wildfire ignitions and structure losses, increasing the risk and severity of fire seasons in California.

And it only takes a single ember to ignite and destroy hundreds of thousands of acres. While wildfires can occur due to natural causes, 85-90% of wildfires are caused by human activity.

Some of the most common causes of fires in California provoked by human activity include:
- Burning Debris: Escaped embers from burning debris is one of the most common causes of wildfires. On a windy day, escaped embers can carry for miles without extinguishing.
- Unattended Campfires: The Ham Lake Fire, which destroyed 75,000 acres and hundreds of properties, is just one example of the devastation that a single campfire can cause.
- Downed Powerlines: Over the past six years, over 1,500 Californian wildfires were caused by fallen power lines, including the deadliest fire in history, the Camp Fire.
- Discarded cigarettes, lightning strikes, engines sparks and other events can alos start wildfires.


In Northern California, peak fire season begins in the early Summer (June-July) and runs until late fall, varying year to year. In Southern California, the peak fire season begins in late Spring (May-June) and runs until fall. The precise timing varies according to annual and seasonal precipitation, as well as the occurrence of offshore wind events, such as the Santa Ana, Diablo and Sundowner Winds.

However, most of the recent wildfire seasons in California experience an unusually early start and later end amid a historically low rainfall and reservoir levels. Wildfires are now possible at any time of year in the state, particularly in drier Southern California.

Because of all these reasons many more acres are now burning compared to previous decades of the state's recorded history.

The state also faces an increased risk of post-wildfire landslides.

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