Plant a tree

Why plant trees?

• Trees combat the greenhouse effect and slow the impact of global warming. They soak up carbon dioxide and exhale oxygen for us to breathe. A single tree can absorb one tonne of carbon during its lifetime.

• Trees help prevent soil erosion and landslides.
  RELATED LINKS

  • Planet Ark: water saving in the garden
  • Planet Ark: recycling
• Trees attract native wildlife to an area by providing both food and shelter.

• Trees improve water quality by acting as a filter to unwanted nutrients and pesticides.

• Trees can prevent soil salinity and provide soil enrichment by converting nitrogen into nitrates.

• Trees have many commercial uses that include timber building materials, paper products, furniture, medicines such as aspirin and quinine and fuel for cooking and heating.

• Trees provide shelter as windbreaks, increasing agricultural productivity, and provide shade for homes, keeping them cool in summer.

Planet Ark encourages the planting of trees native to your local area because:

• Those species are best suited to local conditions,
• Native trees use far less water than exotic species,
• They help restore the natural character of an area and
• They provide food and shelter for local native wildlife

National Tree Day
A great chance to plant trees as a nation is Planet Ark's National Tree Day. National Tree Day has passed for 2007, but visit the Planet Ark site to keep informed about the next Tree Day — Australia's biggest community tree-planting event.