Climate expert warns of risks associated with planting non-indigenous trees

CAPE TOWN - Planting trees may seem like the simple solution to climate change, but some researchers say it could do more harm than good.

The Southern African Trees for Climate Adaptation and Resilience is currently developing a toolkit that will offer guidance on where indigenous African trees will thrive.

Professor Guy Midgley from Stellenbosch University’s School for Climate Studies said that non-indigenous trees are a strain on water availability and affect soil fertility.

"If we plant tress, particularly non-indigenous trees in Africa into landscapes that are not naturally receiving of trees, we really risk altering African livelihoods for a generation, because we end up building almost biologically sterile forests."