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The Carbon dioxide facts.

Each Oak tree will soak up about 1 tonne of CO2 by the time it has reached maturity (about 100 years) . Every tree will go on sequesting CO2 for as long as it is alive and some oak trees can live up to 1,000 years.

There are two main ways we can reduce the amount of carbon in the atmosphere. We can stop the massive consumption of fossil fuels to generate energy and we can try to sequest (extract) carbon dioxide out of the atmosphere and into carbon sinks.

Planting trees isn't the sole answer to the problem of global warming. We don't advocate the idea that carbon offsetting allows you to use more fossil fuels. Quite the opposite in fact. We aim to show you the amount of carbon you are producing and just what is involved in neutralizing your carbon footprint. We do this so you can see a visual representation of just how much of an impact you are having on the environment and hope in the future you become motivated to reduce your footprint yourself.

We like to believe that all participants in the Oaklands Trees Project not only show a willingness to reduce their own carbon footprint, but also join a growing community of increasingly aware individuals who together recognise the need for a change in carbon usage on a local, national and global scale.


  To work out your own carbon   footprint you can use our quick   carbon calculator.

  For a much more detailed   analysis of your footprint take   our carbon questionnaire.



To find out more about carbon sequestration and the carbon cycle, keep reading.

Carbon sequestration.

Plants and other organisms use photosynthesis to remove carbon from the atmosphere by incorporating it into biomass. Forests play an important role in the carbon cycle as the carbon dioxide they remove from the atmosphere is stored as carbon in plant material and soil. Half of a tree's biomass is carbon, so forests are actually able to store large amounts and have now become the most crucial terrestrial store of carbon. A carbon dioxide sink can be thought of as similar to a reservoir - an area that retains a large amount of carbon sequested from the atmosphere. This concept of CO2 sinks has become more widely known since the Kyoto Protocol allows the use of carbon dioxide sinks as a form of carbon offset.

Planting new trees, managing existing forests and reducing clearing can provide a relatively cost-effective way of combating climate change, potentially buying time while the world develops renewable energy sources that do not emit greenhouse gases to the atmosphere. However, half of the world's forests have already been cleared and those that remain have largely been degraded.