In honor of Earth Month 2025, we’re giving the (forest) floor to Reforest The Tropics (RTT), a pioneering non-profit in reforestation. Cell Signaling Technology is proud to sponsor a 25-year project with RTT to plant and maintain 100 hectares (247 acres) of new forest in Costa Rica and sequester at least 50,000 metric tons of CO2.
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By Greg Powell, Executive Director, Reforest The Tropics
Greg Powell, Executive Director of RTT, observes the growth of a Klinki tree with Victor Martinez, Forest Engineer/Co-Director of RTT. |
Climate change is a defining issue of our generation. Tremendous resources and attention are being directed at energy efficiency measures, renewable energy sources, and complex carbon capture systems, but the scale of the challenge can feel overwhelming. However, one of the most powerful solutions to address climate change is already here—it’s just underutilized.
Reforestation, specifically tropical reforestation, is one of the most effective and scalable methods to remove carbon dioxide from the atmosphere.
Nobel Prize-winning scientists at the Woods Hole Research Center emphasize that large-scale tropical reforestation is the only way to keep planetary warming within safe limits. The good news is that we already know how to do this, and the cost is far less than all alternatives on a metric-ton-of-stored-CO2 basis.
But planting trees isn’t enough—it’s about planting the right trees, in the right places, with the right long-term vision. That’s where Reforest The Tropics (RTT) comes in.
Everybody loves a forest. The appeal may be aesthetic, economic, recreational, cultural, spiritual, or scientific, but it’s a near-universal truth that forests are revered for their grand mystery and are essential to life on Earth.
However, quick tree-planting efforts can overlook the importance of a forest’s unique biodiversity, and preconceptions about what a forest should look like can impede scientifically sound reforestation strategies. Tree planting seems so straightforward that the complexities of designing a forest system to meet biodiversity, carbon-sequestration, and longevity goals like the complex ecosystems engineered by RTT can often be lost in translation.
| Left: A typical monoculture gmelina plantation in Costa Rica. Right: A biodiverse forest designed using the RTT model. | |
Reforest the Tropics model for reforestation leverages an industry-leading, long-term approach that considers the complexities and nuances of forestry science. This includes species selection, consideration of long-term growth patterns, and balancing ecological and economic factors to engineer a resilient forest that will remain productive in terms of carbon capture for at least 100 years.
RTT was founded by Dr Herster Barres, a reforestation visionary whose work designing novel forestry systems in Costa Rica in the 1960s still serves as the model for effective forest design today. As a young United Nations forester, Dr Barns set out to determine how much biomass he could accumulate in a hectare (2.47 acres) of land within ten years while planting a mixed-species design that could rightly be referred to as a “forest” as opposed to a tree plantation. After refining his approach over a few decades, he developed a model that is truly unique on the planet.
When climate change first entered our consciousness as a threat to humanity in the 1990s, Dr Barns’ research helped to establish the important role forests can play in carbon capture, and his model provided a head start in reforestation efforts around the world.
Since that time, many more modifications have been made to the model, but four key principles of Dr Barns’ approach to effective reforestation remain and guide RTT’s work to this day:
Compared to any other reforestation model, RTT’s approach is more successful in terms of the amount of carbon sequestered, the level of biodiversity achieved, and the forest longevity.
At the heart of RTT’s success is a tree species called Araucaria hunsteinii, commonly known as the klinkii. The towering tree can live for nearly 300 years and grows to staggering heights—the largest specimen recorded measured over 270 feet tall with a nine-foot diameter. The remarkable tree’s lifespan and carbon capture ability are key reasons RTT’s forests can achieve such longevity. Most popular reforestation models utilize fast-growing species that are excellent at short-term (10-15 years) carbon capture and income generation, but must be felled before 20 years in order to avoid termite damage that plagues these types of species as they age.
In a perfect world, reforestation would mimic the surrounding landscape. In Costa Rica, this means planting upwards of a hundred different tree species in any given hectare. While this approach is often used in conservation projects on public or indigenous lands, it’s not viable for most degraded lands. Like an experiment at the lab bench, each species in a forestry project represents a variable. Growth rates and management needs between species differ widely and, as with any science, as more variables are introduced, outcomes become more complex. The need for predictable results has led the world to the ubiquitous, monoculture approach. Natural forest analog projects have a poor track record in efficient carbon capture and income potential and are thus only possible through significant subsidies from governments or other large institutional funders.
RTT has endeavored to find a more balanced, market-based approach, in which forest sponsors are attracted with affordable carbon offsets and landowners can engage in forestry without sacrificing the well-being of their families. The result is a biodiverse forest, sown through sequential plantings, that is not only financially viable, but also removes an unprecedented level of CO₂ from the atmosphere.
A critical but often overlooked aspect of large-scale reforestation projects is land ownership. The land most in need of reforestation is typically privately owned, meaning successful projects must be economically viable for landowners. This is a lesson the industry has learned over and over again.
Historically, degraded lands in the tropics were cleared for timber and the expansion of farmland. Even Costa Rica, a country known for its natural beauty, experienced massive deforestation until the 1980s, when policy changes and ecotourism incentives began reversing the trend.
RTT recognizes that, for private landowners, forests must be a competitive land-use option. Forestry on private land simply does not work if the landowner does not have a financial incentive to forgo another productive opportunity on their land. RTT has designed a forest system that captures incredible amounts of carbon and provides valuable habitat for local fauna, but can also provide for farmers and their families.
When an RTT forest is first established, trees must be planted relatively close together to promote the quickest canopy closing possible—this eliminates costly maintenance to suppress aggressively competing vegetation. However, as the young trees create a canopy, they begin to compete with one another. Without removing some of this competition, the entire forest stand will stagnate. Through carefully managed thinning (about 15% of trees every 5–6 years), RTT forests allow farmers to generate sustainable income while maintaining the health of the forest without sacrificing long-term carbon sequestration goals.
On average, an RTT-sponsored farm can earn approximately $450 per hectare per year—a figure that is comparable to raising cattle on the same land.
Reforestation is a long-term investment, and many farmers cannot afford to wait decades for trees to mature before seeing financial benefits. As much attention as RTT pays to the needs of landowners, this remains the most challenging goal. Even though RTT mixes a number of fast-growing short-term species within its design to provide early income for landowners, the reality remains that a farm must wait for years before commercial sizes are attained. As a solution, RTT is actively researching agroforestry systems, which allow farmers to cultivate short-term crops between tree rows during the first few years of forest growth.
However, finding the right crops remains a challenge. For example, corn grows well in RTT forests, but planting too much could flood local markets and negatively impact local farmers. RTT continues to experiment with systems that support both farm and forest while keeping an eye on economic sustainability.
In 2024, CST partnered with RTT to plant and maintain 100 hectares (247 acres) of new forest in Costa Rica. The forests, which span three different farms, are designed to maximize carbon capture, biodiversity, and economic sustainability.
The CST-sponsored forests incorporate around 40 different tree species, planted in configurations tailored to the objectives of carbon capture, income generation and biodiversity. In some areas, high-density plantings of klinkii groves and other species prioritize carbon capture, while other areas feature a mixture of about a dozen marketable tree species to ensure the partnering farm’s livelihood.
Specific zones are dedicated solely to promoting biodiversity, helping restore habitats for species like the jaguar, tapir, the endangered great green macaw, and countless other
Left: The future site of the Cell Signaling Technology forest, which will span 100 hectares in Costa Rica. Right: One of the first Klinki trees is planted at the site of the future CST forest.
The CST forest will ultimately sequester a minimum of 50,000 metric tons of CO2 within 25 years. In years 26 to 50, we know that the forest will capture an additional 50,000 metric tons of CO2, and is at its most productive in terms of timber farming, capable of generating higher levels of income for the partnering farmers. The project will also create the equivalent of six permanent, full-time jobs, and other economic benefits for the surrounding communities.
Within a few years, what was once a barren cattle pasture will become a thriving forest, supporting both climate resilience and local communities. The local communities will enjoy improved air and water quality, will have new recreational outlets, and we hope will cherish the sights and sounds of a verdant ecosystem.
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