Issue 6

Afforestation vs. Reforestation

The terms used to talk about forest reestablishment can sound similar but have very different specific meanings—yet they’re often bandied about interchangeably. To make sure we’re all speaking the same language, here’s a glossary:

Afforestation is the establishment of a forest or stand in an area where the preceding vegetation or land use was not a forest.

Reforestation is the reestablishment of forest cover, either naturally or artificially, that usually maintains the same forest type and is done promptly after the previous stand or forest was removed.

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