Tree Restoration Approaches for Carbon Removal

This briefing from the World Resources Institute outlines the potential for carbon removal through tree restoration in the United States, detailing the scale of opportunity, estimated costs, and necessary federal policy frameworks to achieve these goals.

• Tree restoration is identified as the most significant near-term opportunity for carbon dioxide removal at the required scale in the United States, with potential targets including sub-urban and exurban areas, post-disturbance forest landscapes, nonagricultural lands, and understocked eastern forests.
• A total of 60 billion trees could be restored across 330 million acres, primarily on private land, including through silvopasture, cropland agroforestry (such as windbreaks and alley cropping), and urban reforestation. This could potentially remove up to 540 MtCO2 per year without impacting agricultural production, though a more plausible estimate accounting for constraints like tree mortality and nursery capacity is 180–360 MtCO2 per year by 2040, sustained through 2050 and beyond.
• The average cost for carbon removal via tree restoration is estimated at less than $10 per ton of CO2.
• To fully realize the estimated tree restoration potential, the document suggests federal subsidies of $4–4.5 billion per year for 20 years, which could be implemented via tax credits, direct payment programs, or grants to states.
• Effective large-scale implementation requires specific policy design elements: safeguards to ensure environmental integrity and verify new carbon removal sources, the use of third-party intermediaries (such as land trusts or private companies) to reduce landowner burden, and federally directed technical assistance for management and agroforestry practices.

APA

World Resources Institute (n.d.). Tree Restoration Approaches for Carbon Removal. https://wriorg.s3.amazonaws.com/s3fs-public/carbonshot-tree-restoration.pdf

Chicago

World Resources Institute. Tree Restoration Approaches for Carbon Removal. n.d. https://wriorg.s3.amazonaws.com/s3fs-public/carbonshot-tree-restoration.pdf.

Wikipedia

{{cite report |author=World Resources Institute |title=Tree Restoration Approaches for Carbon Removal |url=https://wriorg.s3.amazonaws.com/s3fs-public/carbonshot-tree-restoration.pdf |access-date=17 August 2026 |via=Climate Insights Directory}}

BibTeX

@techreport{worldresourcesinstitutendtree, author = {{World Resources Institute}}, title = {{Tree Restoration Approaches for Carbon Removal}}, institution = {World Resources Institute}, url = {https://wriorg.s3.amazonaws.com/s3fs-public/carbonshot-tree-restoration.pdf}, urldate = {2026-08-17}, note = {Indexed by Climate Insights Directory} }