Regenerating native forests to fight climate change Regenerating native forests to fight climate change By Michele S. Byers In the effort to slow climate change, forests are a powerful ally. Trees naturally remove harmful carbon dioxide from the air and store, or “sequester,” it in their roots, branches and wood. But future generations of giant canopy trees must be able to reproduce. As individual trees are lost to storms, drought, or disease, new generations of saplings and seedlings must be waiting in the understory to fill in gaps that open in the canopy. Recent studies show that resilient, mature forests will continue to sequester more carbon than newly planted or recently logged forests well into the future.