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How can afforestation and reforestation increase carbon sequestration?

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Illustration of various geoengineering techniques to address climate change, including carbon capture and storage methods like artificial trees, industrial scrubbers, and deep ocean CO2 storage, as well as solar reflectance strategies such as sulfur aerosols, reflective crops, cloud whitening, and orbital mirrors. The scene shows these interventions applied to land, sea, and atmosphere, with labeled features explaining each process. — Geoengineering Various geoengineering proposals designed to increase solar reflectance or capture and store carbon.

Afforestation (the conversion of nonforested land to forest) and reforestation (the conversion of previously forested land back to forest) increase carbon sequestration by leveraging the natural process of photosynthesis.12

Through this process, trees and other vegetation extract carbon dioxide from the atmosphere and convert it into organic compounds used for growth. This carbon is then stored as biomass in the trees themselves and within the soil, effectively turning these areas into carbon sinks that help mitigate global warming.312

To maximize these benefits, it is essential to prioritize scientific planning and biodiversity. While any stand of trees can store carbon, efforts that recreate natural forest diversity with mixed species generally sequester more carbon than typical monoculture plantations. Furthermore, because primary forests store significantly higher amounts of carbon than secondary forests, their conservation remains a critical component of climate change mitigation. It is important to note that these activities must be paired with dramatic reductions in greenhouse gas emissions to be truly effective.2