Q: How does a forest carbon sink work to help reverse climate change?

A: Well, it's really pretty simple. As trees grow they respire and photosynthesize. Respiration for trees is just like breathing for people, however, trees breathe-in carbon dioxide (CO₂) and breathe-out oxygen -- just the opposite of people. Photosynthesis is the process whereby the CO₂ molecules that have been breathed-in by the tree combine with energetic molecules created by sunlight (solar energy) and are converted into organic carbon molecules (like sugars, starch, cellulose, etc.) and stored in the tree's roots, trunk, branches and foliage.

Basically, a tree is half carbon; this is so because half the weight of any given tree is atmospheric carbon that has been converted into stem, branch and root growth. So a whole forest, when newly planted, can convert tonnes of atmospheric carbon into wood and other fibrous tissue. You can actually watch the process happen. The bigger the tree gets, the more carbon it has absorbed from the atmosphere! So long as the trees continue to grow, the atmospheric carbon stays locked inside the tree. And you can estimate, based on looking at how big your trees have gotten, just how much carbon is permanently stored in your forest carbon sink.

Of course, the brilliant thing about forests isn't really so much their capacity to clean the carbon out of our atmosphere. The wonderful thing is that their existence fosters so many other forms of life and makes our whole environment more healthy, beautiful and sustainable. In the case of the Haida Gwaii Climate Forest Project, not only will our atmosphere benefit, but so will the health of the Haida Gwaii's phenomenal ecosystems: its wild salmon stocks, birds, micro-organisms and other wildlife communities. Everyone benefits.