Is preserving mature habitat through avoided deforestation better in terms of carbon offsetting than planting new trees?
Both avoided deforestation and planting techniques are equally important. The destruction of mature forest is responsible for 20% of the global carbon dioxide emissions, more than the cumulative global emissions of cars, boats and planes. It is better for biodiversity to preserve existing habitat rather than trying to recreate it, which is why the Carbon Balanced programme strongly promotes avoided deforestation as part of its projects. However, in some parts of the world the land is so degraded that restoration through tree planting is critical. In practice we combine all the techniques needed to protect and restore a given parcel of forest – this obviously means restoring what has already been cleared through planting supplementing natural regeneration as well as protecting what forest still remains.
