THE INCREDIBLE IMPORTANCE OF PLANTED FORESTS

Dr Tim Payn, SCION

Everything that can be made with fossil-based materials today can be made from a tree tomorrow. Forests are wonderful things, providing a huge range of products and services and a home for biodiversity. But the outlook for natural forests is grim. This is why planted forests are critically important. In his talk, Tim will explain what planted forests can provide in terms of traditional products such as timber, ecosystem services (clean water, recreation, carbon storage) and emerging products to replace fossil-based materials (aviation fuel, bioplastics). He’ll also talk about satellites, lasers, virtual reality and artificial intelligence, and there may be a picture of a tiger.