Tree-planting report

Tree-planting Report (25%)
Be sure to carefully read all the instructions associated with this assignment
The context
Globally, forest restoration is seen as an urgent need. Reduction in global concentrations of
C02, production of clean water, and the provisioning of other essential ecosystemservices all
depend on healthy forest cover. Forest losses are contributing to rapid decline in global
biodiversity and to the ongoing climate crisis. Solutions are required to increase tree cover toreduce these negative effects on earth’s systems and biota, as well as human well being. The issue
Recently, a team of authors published a paper in the scientific journal Science on the global
tree planting potential (Bastin et al. 2019). The authors argue that enormous gains can be
made in carbon sequestration and mitigating global change simply through planting trees. Using a complex spatial model, they identified opportunities to increase global forest canopy
cover by 0.9 billion hectares. At the same time, the Government of Canada has committedtoplanting 2 billion trees. Despite these optimistic predictions regarding the global tree-plantingpotential, many researchers do not think that the report produced by Bastin et al. (2019) is
accurate and overestimates the space available for planting trees. Others have suggested that
their calculations are not sufficiently nuanced regarding where trees can be planted to producethe purported benefits. The report
In this report, students will clearly summarize this issue and provide analysis of the
perspectives presented in Bastin et al. (2019) and a critique of that article. Students will select
a single critique and evaluate the relative merits of the initial article and the critique. You will
provide an informed synthesis and opinion based on the readings below and additional
supplemental information (a minimum of two additional academic articles or opinion pieces). Students are encouraged to connect their report to other ideas, readings, and content
presented in the course. In summarizing the issue and in making your assessments, be suretobase your ideas on evidence, rather than sentiment. Format
Your report should be a concise 1200 – 1500 words in length, not including your references /
bibliography. Please prepare your report using Times New Roman, 12 pt. font, with standardmargins and 1.5 line spacing. Include your name and student number in bold in the top left of
the header section of your document, along with the report word count. Submit you report as aPDF to Quercus.
In terms of organization, a reasonable approach would be to first summarize the Bastin et al. (2019) article. This summary should include the broad issue it addresses as well as the
specific contributions of the article. Next, you would similarly summarize the critique that youselected. Finally, you will provide a synthesis of these two previous sections where you weighthe relative merits of the original article and the critique and provide an informed opinion on theissue.
Use in-text APA-style citations throughout. E.g., Tree planting holds great promise to improve carbon sequestration (Bastin et al. 2019). Also, list your references in APA format at the end of your report. E.g.:
Bastin, J. F., Finegold, Y., Garcia, C., Mollicone, D., Rezende, M., Routh, D., & Crowther, T. W. (2019). The global tree restoration potential. Science, 365(6448), 76-79. Relevant readings
Original article
Bastin, J. F., Finegold, Y., Garcia, C., Mollicone, D., Rezende, M., Routh, D., & Crowther, T. W. (2019). The global tree restoration potential. Science, 365(6448), 76-79. Critiques of the original article
E. Luedeling et al., “Forest restoration: overlooked constraints,” Science, doi:10.1126/science.aay7988, 2019. P. Friedlingstein et al., “Comment on ‘the global tree restoration potential,” Science, doi:10.1126/science.aay8060, 2019. J.W. Veldman et al., “Comment on ‘the global tree restoration potential,” Science, doi:10.1126/science.aay7976, 2019. Authors’ response to critiques
J. Bastin et al., “Response to Comments (Friedlingstein, Veldman, Lewis) on ‘The global treerestoration potential,’ Science, doi:10.1126/science.aay8108, 2019. Media commentary
https://www.theguardian.com/environment/2019/jul/04/planting-billions-trees-best-tackle-climate-crisis-scientists-canopy-emissions
https://www.the-scientist.com/news-opinion/researchers-find-flaws-in-high-profile-study-on-trees-and-climate–66587
Canada’s 2 billion tree program
https://www.canada.ca/en/campaign/2-billion-trees/2-billion-trees-program.html