The scheme aims to connect forestry groups with funding, technology, and training to increase local seed supplies and enable large-scale biodiverse reforestation.
A new initiative has been launched to address a global seed supply shortage, which experts fear will inhibit corporate and government tree-planting goals.
The new Seed to Forest Alliance, which was launched today, is dedicated to developing solutions to the barriers that are impeding native forest restoration projects, beginning with the issue of insufficient seed supplies.
The initiative's founding members include American Forests, Ecosystem Restoration Camps, and One Tree Planted.
The group's goal is to bring together corporations, non-governmental organizations, and philanthropists who are working to accelerate tree-planting programs and expand natural carbon sinks in support of climate goals.
Terraformation, the company behind the launch, stated that the tree planting targets that have swept the private sector in recent years would be unattainable without investment and innovation in global seed banking infrastructure.
Yishan Wong, CEO of Terraformation, stated that the company is "incredibly excited" to be working with a variety of organizations that have the "expertise, influence, and determination to have a real impact" on reforestation programs around the world.
"The most effective and immediately scalable carbon capture solution is native ecosystem restoration - with the right plants in the right places," he said. "By conserving one of our most valuable resources at the heart of restoration, we can restore the future of our planet."
The Seed to Forest Alliance will initially connect forestry groups with funding, technology, and training to establish local seed supplies and enable large-scale biodiverse reforestation.
The formation of the new group coincides with the release of Terraformation's new global review of seed banking infrastructure, which details the scarcity of seed banks around the world.
The study discovered that almost all countries have insufficient seed bank supplies, with more than half of the world's nations currently lacking known seed banks.
According to the Global Seed Bank Index, major markets such as the United States, Australia, Brazil, and China have the most seed banks, but they also have the greatest shortfall in terms of the number of seed banks required to deliver their forest restoration potential.
The report also claims that if global climate and nature targets are to be met, hundreds of thousands of people will need to be trained as seed collectors in order to preserve and restore threatened biodiversity.
There is a high probability that many plant and tree species will face extinction in the near future. Environmental disasters, war or even economic crises complicate the global seed supply. Only with education and global networking, it is possible for civil society to unite and find new innovations and solutions for this worldwide problem.
More information: https://www.businessgreen.com/news/4056605/seed-forest-alliance-forestry-team-global-seed-bank-drive