While the 30×30 target remains a crucial global initiative, significant recent changes in U.S. federal policy have created new challenges for its implementation in the United States and abroad.

Now, more than ever, we need to come together and speak up in support of the natural resources we all love and depend on. Stay connected with the 30×30 Project and check out the Get Involved section on each Solution page for more ways to support 30×30 in your community!

Dear Congressperson [NAME], 

Our forests are an invaluable resource, both in terms of producing daily necessities but also–and even more importantly–for the capture and storage of carbon from our atmosphere and for the health of our global water cycle. Forests are also home to more than 80% of the world’s species, making them a major proponent of global biodiversity. The role of these critical habitats cannot be understated.

And yet, our forests are constantly under attack. Forest clearing for agriculture, mining, logging, and urbanization (just to name a few) is devastating habitats and communities across our country, including here in [STATE]. To ensure a healthy future for all citizens, we need to prioritize and restore our forests.

I strongly support this piece of legislation that prioritizes the health and wellbeing of our forests, our communities, and our planet. I ask that you do the same and use your influence to advance this bill to a vote in the [HOUSE / SENATE].

Please let me know what action you intend to take on this bill. I appreciate your consideration and look forward to hearing from you. 

Sincerely, 

[YOUR NAME]  

Hello, my name is [YOUR NAME] and I am a constituent of [CONGRESSPERSON’S NAME]. I am calling in support of [BILL NUMBER & NAME] and would like to leave a comment.

Legislative Staff Person will offer to transfer you to an answering machine or take down your message. Use the following to leave your message:  

Hello, my name is [YOUR NAME] and I live in [YOUR CITY, STATE]. I am calling in support of [BILL NUMBER & NAME] and to communicate the importance of restoring our forests. Forests are an invaluable resource, both in terms of producing daily necessities but also–and even more importantly–for the capture and storage of carbon from our atmosphere and for the health of our global water cycle. Forests are also home to more than 80% of the world’s species, making them a major proponent of global biodiversity. The role of these critical habitats cannot be understated.

And yet, our forests are constantly under attack by things like agriculture, mining, logging, and urbanization. These actions are devastating habitats and communities across our country, including here in [STATE], and that is unacceptable.

As my representative in the [HOUSE / SENATE], I hope I can count on you to support [BILL NUMBER] and the protection, maintenance, and restoration of our forests. It’s essential if we want a healthy future for the next generation of Americans.

Legislative Staff Person will ask if you want a response. You can politely decline, or say:

Yes. Please have a response sent to my email at [YOUR EMAIL ADDRESS] or by phone at [YOUR PHONE NUMBER]. Thank you for your assistance. Goodbye.  

The collective purchasing power of the public has a lot of sway when it comes to what products and services companies are willing to offer and prioritize. When you make a conscious effort to choose products that are sustainably made from sustainably sourced materials (including sustainably managed forests), you’re putting your dollar where your mouth is—and that can have a major impact.

The next time you’re at the store and looking to buy a product, keep the following in mind:

• Every single product made has an environmental footprint. It’s important to acknowledging this and make choices as consumers that reduce this footprint as much as possible.

Engage in the restoration of our forests by recognizing the power of your vote. Positive environmental can flourish when we actively participate in electing representatives and supporting policies that prioritize sustainability.

Your vote is a critical. Take the initiative to understand the environmental proposals on your ballot and assess the ecological positions of candidates. By voting with awareness and mindfulness, you play a vital role in advancing community justice and safeguarding our forests for generations to come.

There are SO MANY ways citizens can get involved in forest solutions, from citizen tree mapping to tree planting via live staking, there is no shortage of ways you can participate.

Research environmental organizations near you to see if they have any citizen science programs you can participate in or check out the program run by the Forest Service. You don’t have to be an expert to give back to the planet, you just have to care.

Hey, you’re here reading this, so major kudos to you—you’re already off to a great start. Learning about our planet and the role our forests play gives you the knowledge you need to make informed, environmentally conscious decisions every day.

Share this content with the people in your life to equip them with knowledge and help achieve our goal of widespread sustainable forestry awareness and support. Tag us on socials and tell us the best fact(s) you’ve learned about forest restoration.

Interested in volunteering? There are frequent opportunities all around the country to get outside and support nature, including planting trees. We’ve talked a little bit already about the pros and cons of tree planting, but make sure you check out this article about the dos and don’ts of volunteering.

Consider attending community planning meetings in your municipality. These meetings, often hosted by local governing councils, are open to the public. Contribute your opinion on the topic of land use and development—maybe even provide them a link to this site so they can learn more about the need for sustainable forests and the impact local zoning and development can have on our communities and green spaces.

Connect with local, national, and international nonprofits working on forest restoration projects worldwide. If you like the work they’re doing and want to help, be sure to donate. Your monetary support is essential for progress—even a few dollars can make a difference.

The truth is environmental organizations receive less than 3% of all philanthropy in the United States. This number is particularly alarming when you realize that our environment—and the wellbeing of our forests—directly impacts the health and wellness of all people.

How well are forests currently regenerating? Well, the truth is we don’t really know. Forest mapping is one of the biggest current needs to understand the health of our forests, including those in some of the most remote places on Earth (Alaska, we’re looking at you). Having a better understanding of the current state of our forests can help inform decisions about where opportunities exist to make the most immediate impact. Forest mapping, if prioritized properly, offers a lot of potential for steering regeneration and mitigating the worst of climate change.¹“Mapping global forest regeneration,” IOPscience ≫

Education is the first step in building public support for the importance of our forests, both traditional and urban. Teaching people the truth about what a healthy forest ecosystem looks like and why simply planting more trees is not always the right answer are incredibly important steps to help alleviate the burden of misinformation that currently exists today.

Education also needs to occur at the legislative level. Those with the power to make change should have at the very least a basic understanding of sustainable forest management to make decisions that are right for both people and the planet.

Our urban areas need green spaces—specifically trees—and that’s becoming more prevalent now than ever before as reports of urban heat islands²“Heat Island Effect,” U.S. Environmental Protection Agency ≫ increase and urban spraw continues to encroach on the nature around us.³“Urbanization/Urban Sprawl,” N.A.S.A. ≫

Prioritizing the creation of new green spaces, amplifying and protecting existing green spaces, and implementing innovative ways to incorporate green into existing structures (rooftop gardens and green parking lots, for example) are all much-needed solutions.⁴“Green Parking Lots,” Naturally Resilient Communities ≫ 

When it comes to how we use forests and their resources, we need to make smarter investments. For example, we must invest in companies and projects for development, community planning, and infrastructure that prioritize sustainability. Likewise, we must identify and fund sustainable forest projects that promote economic growth and lasting community development.

Forest restoration programs desperately need more funding to achieve the widespread adoption that must occur if we’re going to significantly improve our forests’ health and capacity by 2030. Nonprofit organizations and projects in communities on the ground (like Alliance for the Chesapeake Bay and those listed here) are creating new and innovative solutions that need to be prioritized at local and national levels.

Investments in the reforestation of private lands and the expansion of educational materials and resources for private landowners is another worthwhile endeavor that needs to be dramatically ramped up to have a timely influence on the overall 30×30 target.

The incorporation of trees in livestock pastures to increase land productivity and carbon sequestration. The practice dates back thousands of years and has been shown to offer significant climate benefits. The ancient wood pastures of Scotland are a great example of long-standing silvopasture in action.⁵“Silvopasture,” Project Drawdown ≫; “Wood pasture and parkland habitat types,” Scottish Forestry ≫

Like foresters, local and Indigenous communities are the best forms of defense and offense for our forests. They are the ones who experience first (and often most extremely) the negative effects of deforestation and degenerating forest health, and they are often the first to notice signs of success (such as the return of wildlife).

For this reason, local and Indigenous communities must be consulted when considering what solutions are right and where. These are the people most familiar with the inner workings and needs of their local forests. Likewise, many of these communities also rely on the forest for their livelihoods, so implementing protections will almost certainly influence them in some way, be it positive or negative. To ensure equitable solutions, we must include local and Indigenous communities in the decision-making process.

Sustainable forest management is critical, and widespread adoption of these policies is needed at every level of forestry management, whether government-funded or private. While this is already being done in practice in many places, there needs to be an increase of foresters with sustainability training, and education on sustainable forest management needs to be both widespread and accessible. (While a lot of this may be dependent on funding, and for public organizations this will likely come from the government, internal policy changes within these organizations should also reflect sustainability as the top priority.)

As frontline workers for our forests—our expert eyes and ears on the ground—foresters will be part of the core solution team. They are both the first line of defense and the first line of offense, communicating what our forests need and what solutions are most effective.

The vast majority of land in the United States is privately owned, offering up a unique opportunity for individuals to get involved in the forest restoration process. 

However, this comes with challenges of its own.

While private lands will be essential to the maintenance of existing forest and the growth of new ones, widespread education and resources are necessary to inform landowners about the importance of sustainable forest management and how they can get involved.

The empty promises of major corporations echo all around us when it comes to global forests and deforestation. Whether it’s claiming carbon neutrality by “planting” trees that never really existed or promising to eliminate deforestation from supply chains and not following through, corporations have a lot to make up for when it comes to protecting one of the most important resources on Earth.⁶“Hundreds of Companies Promised to Help Save Forests. Did They?” New York Times ≫

Where can they begin? For starters, they can develop sustainability plans with clear, measurable, timely goals that incrementally build up to solid change.

Pledges simply aren’t good enough anymore. It’s time for real action.

Restoring and protecting our forests means addressing the legislation (or lack thereof) that’s enabled the level of deforestation and decreased forest health we see today. This responsibility falls to any country with forests and should be addressed at all government levels.

What can our governments do about deforestation?

• Create, update, and support policies and legislation that promote carbon negative economies
• Reduce/eliminate subsidies for logging and forest-related products
• Support the FOREST Act⁸“Support the FOREST Act,” World Wildlife Fund ≫
• Increase taxes and penalties for corporations that do not comply with sustainability guidelines
• Invest in and prioritize projects that use sustainable, recycled paper materials

Despite using the word “forest” to describe the trees in urban areas, these “forests” don’t fit the pre-defined definition set forth by the Food and Agriculture Organization. So why use the word at all?

A forest, though made up of many trees and species, is a single unit in which all the plant and wildlife life work together to form an ecosystem. In much the same way, all the trees and plants in an urban setting work together as part of the same ecosystem, even when spaced apart. Urban trees produce oxygen, reduce air pollution, filter stormwater, and regulate heat—the same services provided by trees in a forest.

Show anyone a photo of trees densely packed together, and they’ll be able to tell you it’s a forest, but what does that mean really?

The Food and Agriculture Organization (FAO) of the United Nations defines a forest using three key identifiers:

• It takes up an area more than 0.5 hectares (approximately 1.24 acres)
• Its trees are taller than 5 meters
• It has a canopy cover (percentage of land covered by treetops) of at least 10%

By FAO’s definition, a forest cannot be located on predominantly urban or agricultural land.¹¹“SDG indicator metadata,” U.N. Food and Agriculture Organization ≫; “EnviroAtlas,” U.S. Environmental Protection Agency ≫

Horticulture is the art of growing things; specifically, plants. It is the cultivation and management of gardens and has been a staple of human invention since the dawn of human settlement.

Controlled burning is a restoration practice that has been used for thousands of years by Indigenous groups in forest and grassland regions to increase soil health and food harvest, and reduce pests, invasive species, and overgrowth.

Today, controlled burning (also referred to as “prescribed fire”) continues to be used as a form of forest and land management adopted by various forestry groups and organizations at state and federal levels throughout the United States and around the world.¹²“Indigenous forest management: a culture of burning,” Rewilding ≫

The key to sustainable forest management is balance. We need to make sure we’re not using more of the forest than we’re renewing… and we’re using a lot. Every year we lose 32 million acres of forest around the world. (For context, that’s roughly 26 times the area of the Grand Canyon.)¹³“What Is Sustainabble Forestry?” Rainforest Alliance ≫

Only 40% of the regeneration of U.S. national forests happens naturally; a number that was historically 90% but has decreased significantly due to changes in climate and modern land use practices. The other 60% is supported by foresters and other field experts who are responsible for the care of some of our most critical resources.¹⁴“What are Forest Restoration and Reforestation?” American Forests ≫;”Strategies for Sustainable Forest Management ,” U.S. Forest Service ≫ These efforts include:  

• Ensuring forest biodiversity by monitoring plant and wildlife species

The 30×30 (pronounced “thirty by thirty”) target is a goal set by the United Nations Biodiversity Conference (COP15) in 2022 to protect 30% of ecologically representative terrestrial lands and 30% of ecologically representative waters, both marine (sea) and fresh, by 2030 to preserve global biodiversity.