There's a third option - unused land will grow trees over time as long as there are trees nearby. In fact that's what was the dominant reason according to the a

There's a third option - unused land will grow trees over time as long as there are trees nearby. In fact that's what was the dominant reason according to the article: > Ultimately the study found that tree cover loss in the tropics was dominated by tree cover gain in other regions, driven by AGRICULTURAL ABANDONMENT in parts of Europe, Asia, and North America If you don't live in a dessert and you stop doing anything to your land, and there are trees in the region - your land will turn into a forest eventually. In my region (central Europe) it happens in like 15 years :)