Afforestation results of Kimberley

The "Green Ring of Lake Argyle" environmental project involves planting 10 million trees. We expect the following changes as a result of afforestation near Lake Argyle:

Annual Rainfall. An increase in average annual rainfall. The Kimberley receives approximately 500 millimeters of rainfall annually. All of this rainfall occurs over a period of 4-5 months, from November to March. After afforestation of an area of ​​over 10,000 hectares, we expect an increase in rainfall of 100-200 millimeters and an extension of the rainy season by 1-2 months.

Groundwater Level. We are selecting several monitoring points in key locations and organizing regular groundwater level measurements there. The first significant increase is expected after the creation of the waterscape. A second increase should occur after the planted trees have grown and signs of forest formation appear.

Air Temperature. Forests can moderate the climate by absorbing solar heat during the day and returning the energy stored in tree and soil moisture at night. This should reduce hot daytime temperatures by 3-5°C and increase nighttime temperatures by 1-2°C.

Air humidity. The area of ​​felled trees is hundreds of times greater than the area of ​​land over which a tree's shadow falls. Because of this, the trees' evaporative capacity is so high that it can significantly alter air humidity. Furthermore, trees' protective mechanisms are designed such that most evaporation occurs in the morning and evening hours, while evaporation decreases in the middle of the day, when the heat is greatest. Thus, forests significantly increase air humidity by drawing moisture from the ground and even creating morning fog.

Carbon sequestration. Each tree can store, on average, approximately 22 kilograms of carbon. One hectare of artificial forest can support approximately 2,000 trees. Given that trees and shrubs are already growing on the selected site, we only need to densify the natural vegetation with additional species. This will allow us to grow an average of 1,000 trees per hectare. This represents 22 tons of carbon removed from the atmosphere annually and stored in the wood and soil. The forested area under the Argyle Green Ring project covers 10,000 hectares, meaning we help sequester 220,000 tons of carbon annually.