Deforestation is one of the most serious drivers of both climate change and biodiversity loss. As the world searches for approaches that can achieve vital reforestation at scale, the example of Alipay’s “Ant Forest” has generated great excitement. Ant Forest has engaged more than 500 million Chinese citizens who have collectively caused more than 100 million new trees to be planted in China’s desert areas.
The question is whether China’s citizens can be motivated to participate in reforestation efforts outside their home country. The new report Tech for Trees describes which Chinese citizens might be most persuadable to support reforestation in the Congo Basin rainforest areas. Central Africa is home to the second largest (after the Amazon) rainforest in the world. But because of the structure of forest financing mechanisms under the Paris agreement, the six Congo Basin nations—the Democratic Republic of Congo, Gabon, the Republic of Congo, Cameroon, the Central African Republic, and Equatorial Guinea—find it more difficult to access climate-negotiated funds than do other countries (e.g., Indonesia and Brazil) that are also home to significant rainforest areas. Finally, China’s growing economy combined with that country’s restrictions on domestic logging have resulted in an increase in Chinese imports of timber, including from the environmentally-sensitive Congo Basin areas.
The report includes the screening tool that identifies the “best user” candidates and describes the strategies most likely to move them to action.
This report provides key findings:
- There is significant potential for Chinese users to address deforestation in Central Africa
- Proof of impact was a universally important behavioral trigger
- Men care about winning
- Women care about networking
- Users with a high degree of engagement on Alipay Ant Forest are more inclined to be motivated to create impact in Central Africa