

By drawing groundwater through their roots and evaporating it through their leaves, the water can return as rain. Perhaps most importantly, trees aid in precipitation. They provide habitats for bees and other pollinators, facilitating natural fertilization of crops and plants. Trees also shield smaller crops from violent storms and channel nutrients to surrounding plants. Without this protection from erosion, good soil is lost, and agriculture becomes significantly more difficult. Apart from maintaining a healthy climate and biodiversity, trees prevent erosion by holding soil. Agricultural Benefits of Reforestationįorests are vital to the health and safety of agriculture. By reforesting these areas, Ecosia’s efforts are preventing countless species from going extinct.

Many of these areas are at risk of disappearing.

Its projects target biodiversity hotspots containing a high number of plants and animals without alternative habitats. The search page also comes with a tree counter, allowing users to see how many trees their searches have planted so far.Īs of 2018, Ecosia is contributing to reforestation efforts in 15 countries across Asia, Europe, and South America. But unlike other engines, 80 percent of Ecosia’s revenue is used to plant trees in countries suffering from heavy deforestation and to fund reforestation projects. Like other search engines, Ecosia makes money off of ads in internet searches. Ecosia has turned this order on its head. For most businesses, profit comes first and service projects second. The brainchild of Christian Kroll, Ecosia was created as a “social business” with the primary objective of helping the world. What is Ecosia?Įcosia is a web search engine founded in 2009 and based in Berlin, Germany. These changes have the potential to make human life more difficult and dangerous, and people in impoverished countries often face the greatest risks. The loss of forests is responsible for at least 15 percent of all greenhouse gas emissions, contributing to rising temperatures, extreme weather conditions and an increasing number of dangerous storms. Forests are carbon sinks, meaning that they absorb large amounts of carbon from the atmosphere, thereby helping to maintain a balanced and habitable climate. In addition, forests play a number of roles in maintaining a safe and habitable environment. It is possible that, due to deforestation, countless species have gone extinct before they were ever discovered by humans. As the world’s forests are gradually destroyed, millions of plants and animals lose their habitats.

The Amazon rainforest alone shelters an estimated 2,000 animal species and 40,000 plant species. Forests are home to an estimated 80 percent of the world’s non-aquatic species. Nevertheless, the Earth continues to lose this ecosystem at an alarming rate. The Problem With Deforestationĭeforestation rates have slowed down somewhat since peak levels in the 1990s. But a search engine called Ecosia is on a mission to help. According to the World Wildlife Fund, approximately 18.7 million acres of forest are destroyed annually. As of 2015, less than one-third of our planet’s surface contains forests, and that percentage continues to decrease.
