Wildlife Protection Isn't About Planting Trees—It's About Keeping Primary Forests Standing

You’ve heard it a thousand times: plant a tree, save a panda. But here’s the blunt truth: if you really care about wildlife, stop idolizing tree planting and start defending primary forests. Because the data is clear—planted forests are biodiversity deserts compared to the ancient, complex ecosystems that wildlife actually needs. And those primary forests are vanishing faster than you think.

Isn't planting trees the best way to help wildlife?

No. It’s one of the least effective things you can do. Planted forests make up only about 8% of the world’s forests (FAO Forest Resources Assessment 2025). That’s 312 million hectares of often monoculture plantations that are a fraction as biodiverse as the primary forests they replace. Meanwhile, primary forests—the untouched, mature ecosystems that harbor most of the world’s species—cover at least 1.18 billion hectares, about a third of all forests (FAO Global Forest Resources Assessment 2025). When you plant a tree, you’re not recreating that complexity. You’re creating a tree farm. Wildlife needs the real thing.

But aren't forests being protected already?

Some are, but not enough. About 20% of forests—813 million hectares—are in legally protected areas (FAO Global Forest Resources Assessment 2025). That sounds decent, but look closer: only about 55% of forests have long-term management plans, and 71% are publicly owned (FAO Newsroom: Global Forest Resources Assessment 2025). Protection on paper doesn’t always mean protection on the ground. And here’s a kicker: scientists using satellite and ground-based data in the Amazon found that Indigenous territories often experience far less deforestation than even official parks (NASA Earth Observatory: Tropical Deforestation). So the best “protected areas” might be those managed by Indigenous peoples—not the ones with fences and rangers.

Why are primary forests so critical for wildlife?

Because they’re the most species-rich habitats on Earth. Tropical forests cover only about 7% of the planet’s dry land but harbor about half of all species (NASA Earth Observatory: Tropical Deforestation). Primary forests, in particular, are irreplaceable—they’ve evolved over centuries and support complex food webs, from top predators to specialized insects. When you lose primary forest, you lose that biodiversity forever. Planted forests can’t compensate. So the single most important thing you can do for wildlife is to prevent the loss of primary forest.

Is the situation really that bad?

Yes, and it’s getting worse in key places. In 2023, tropical primary forest loss totaled 3.7 million hectares—equivalent to losing almost 10 football fields per minute (WRI Global Forest Review: 2023 tree cover loss). That’s a 9% decrease from 2022, but it’s still catastrophic. And the picture is uneven: Brazil cut its primary forest loss by 36% in 2023, and Colombia by 49% (WRI Global Forest Review: 2023 tree cover loss). But Bolivia’s loss rose 27% to a record high, and Laos lost 1.9% of its remaining primary forest in a single year—a rate five times faster than Brazil’s relative to its area (WRI Global Forest Review: 2023 tree cover loss). Even the Democratic Republic of the Congo, which holds more than half of the Congo Basin’s forest, is losing about half a million hectares each year (WRI Global Forest Review: 2023 tree cover loss). The pressure is relentless.

What about all the reforestation success stories?

They’re real, but they’re not about wildlife. China, Russia, India, Türkiye, and Australia lead in reforestation (FAO Forest Resources Assessment 2025), but reforestation often means planting fast-growing species for timber or carbon, not restoring biodiversity. The Bonn Challenge, which aims to restore 350 million hectares by 2030, has gotten pledges for 210 million hectares (IUCN Bonn Challenge press release)—impressive, yes, but restoration is not the same as conservation. You can’t “restore” a primary forest that took centuries to grow. The best restoration is prevention.

So what should I actually do?

Stop donating to tree-planting campaigns that focus on quantity over quality. Instead, support organizations that work to protect primary forests—especially those that partner with Indigenous communities. The data shows that Indigenous territories are often better at preventing deforestation than official protected areas (NASA Earth Observatory: Tropical Deforestation). And when you do support restoration, focus on ecosystems like mangroves, which are high-biodiversity and carbon-rich. Global mangrove loss since 1996 could be restored to safeguard carbon equivalent to 1.27 gigatonnes of CO2 (Global Mangrove Watch data update). But even that is secondary.
Here’s a quick list of actions that actually move the needle:

• Demand that your government prioritizes protection of primary forests over industrial logging.
• Buy products that are certified deforestation-free, especially for commodities like beef, soy, and palm oil.
• Support Indigenous-led conservation initiatives financially and politically.
• Talk about primary forests—not tree planting—when you discuss conservation.

Bottom line

The single best move for wildlife is to stop the destruction of primary forests. That means shifting your energy from planting trees to protecting what’s already standing. Because once a primary forest is gone, no number of saplings will bring back the species that called it home.

Sources

• FAO Global Forest Resources Assessment 2025 - https://www.un-redd.org/post/global-deforestation-slows-forests-remain-under-pressure-fao-report-shows
• FAO Forest Resources Assessment 2025 - https://www.fao.org/forest-resources-assessment/en/
• FAO Newsroom: Global Forest Resources Assessment 2025 - https://www.fao.org/newsroom/detail/global-deforestation-slows--but-forests-remain-under-pressure--fao-report-shows/en
• WRI Global Forest Review: 2023 tree cover loss - https://gfr.wri.org/global-tree-cover-loss-data-2023
• Global Mangrove Watch data update - https://www.mangrovealliance.org/news/data-update-to-global-mangrove-watch
• NASA Earth Observatory: Tropical Deforestation - https://earthobservatory.nasa.gov/features/Deforestation