“There are lots of reasons why planting trees is a good thing,” said Abigail Swann, Giorgio Ruffolo Post-Doctoral Fellow in Sustainability Science. “There are many local benefits.

The Coalition of Financially Challenged Countries with Lots of Trees, known as "CoFCCLoT", representing most of the world's remaining tropical forests is asking wealthy nations to share global responsibilities and reforest their land for the common good of stabilizing climate and protecting biodiversity.

"We are willing to play our part, but we require a level playing field in which we all commit to equal sacrifices," a coalition spokeswoman says.