This is the tree that can help fight climate change

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Protecting forests is the best way to protect our future. Despite depending on them, humanity remains blind to the alarming situation of the planet. According to UN data, nearly 13 million hectares of forest are destroyed every year on Earth. Despite our persistence in fighting them, plants and trees remain the lungs of humanity and the only way to keep us alive. And, among all of them, there is one that can help us fight climate change.

This tree is the Kiri. Known as the empress tree or Paulownia tomentosa, it is native to China. It can reach up to 27 m in height and a trunk between 7 and 20 m in diameter. Its leaves are 40 cm wide. Cultivated or wild, it grows at altitudes of less than 1,800 meters. But why can it save the planet?

Among the special characteristics that make the Kiri a great candidate to fight climate change, pollution and deforestation is its ability to purify infertile soil and its CO2 absorption 10 times higher than any other species.

This tree emits large amounts of oxygen and is the fastest growing tree on the planet: in just eight years it can reach the same size as a 40-year-old oak tree. In other words, it can grow 2 centimeters a day in specific soils. By regenerating its roots and growth vessels, it also resists fires better than other species.

It is capable of resprouting up to seven times after being cut. It also grows in polluted soils and water and, in doing so, purifies the soil from its nitrogen-rich leaves. When they fall to the ground and decompose they provide nutrients, although in this type of soil, their growth is rather slower. But with fertilizer and some irrigation system, it is able to grow in poor and eroded soils.

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