What’s the difference between planting new trees and protecting existing forests?

Oftentimes, protecting existing trees is better for the planet than planting new ones. Of course, that doesn’t mean don’t plant trees, just that we should focus first on protecting the ones that already exist. Think of a newly planted tree like a child. It has the potential to help stop climate change once it grows up and matures, but that takes decades. And in the meantime, there’s a lot working against it. Young trees are small, which means they can’t hold much carbon, even combined with thousands of other small trees. It takes newly planted trees at least 10 years to reach their maximum carbon sequestration rate—the point at which they can absorb the most tons of carbon from the atmosphere each year. Young trees are weaker and need to be nurtured. You can’t just plant it and forget it. How many trees survive is more important than how many trees are planted.