You're Not Going to Get Lost in These Feeble Forests!

'Natural colonisation' forest is one of the cheapest and most efficient ways of capturing carbon to counter climate change. It's also 'wildlife friendly' as well as creating valuable amenities for folk living in the vicinity. In May 2021, the UK government set up its 'woodland creation' offer. The results, to date, have been less than impressive (https://www.theguardian.com/environment/2023/may/20/woodland-creation-offer-england-trees-forests-natural-regeneration). 'Natural colonisation' simply involves clearing a designated area. The process doesn't involve planting trees. Monocultures of trees are simply 'forestry'. With 'natural colonisation', the trees plant themselves, producing mixed assembalances of species. These are more sustainable and produce a much wider range of habitats for other species. In its 2 years of operation, however, the UK's 'woodland creation' scheme has generated a piffling 192 hectares. This is an area less than that of London's Regent's Park. The whole process needs to be 'turbocharged' if it's going to really transform the situation. At the moment, you can't see the forests for the lack of trees.