Tropical forests are a haven for all kinds of species, but their dense trees and fertile soil also make them valuable for logging and agriculture. Local farmers, national corporations, and international conglomerates can all clash over access rights to the best land -- bizarrely, even automaker Ford built a large-scale plantation in the jungle, although it was later abandoned. In many cases, once these plantations or cleared forests become abandoned, they're considered to be mostly useless. However, scientists have recently suggested that they could form part of a major strategy to combat climate change.
Research published in the journal Nature used satellite data to track tropical forest regeneration between 2000 and 2016. The authors found that the natural spread of these forests over time was significant, and that if left alone, there was a lot of land around the globe that could be reforested with only minimal management. Most of it was situated near existing forest, with the authors publishing a map that showed the potential for regeneration in much more detail than previous studies. Thanks to the satellite data, each cell of the map measured just 30m². Over half of this potential regrowth was concentrated in five countries: Brazil, China, Colombia, Indonesia, and Mexico.
Natural reforestation might require fewer resources than replanting trees, but it isn't entirely management-free. The study noted that fire suppression, the removal of invasive species, and the exclusion of grazing animals from the area would still be needed to maximise the chances of regrowth.