Planting trees isn't enough: Kahlil Baker is battling deforestation and climate change

Deforestation is a leading cause of climate change — and climate change is making life difficult for farmers around the globe. At the same time, those farmers need to clear land in order to grow food. Kahlil Baker, the 34-year-old co-founder of Taking Root, has been working for ten years to address this conundrum.

A flower child of hippies, Baker grew up to be on the cutting edge of forestry science. He's now developing social reforestation projects with small-scale farmers in Nicaragua to not only reduce carbon emissions, but also tackle poverty and improve the environment.

The key? Collaborate with farmers on their own land to improve income and decrease environmental impact for current and future generations. 

Unless you address people's need to earn a livelihood, anything that tries to address deforestation or reforestation will never work.

Baker is one of a new generation of passionate change-makers profiled in CBC's new series We Are Canada. Watch the series Sundays at 7 p.m. on CBC and online.