2019-09-23T00:00:00Many countries in the world are faced with two diverse but interwoven challenges in the 21st century; feeding a growing population and how to adapt to climate change. Changes in climate are recognized as one of the major factors accelerating the degradation of land. Thus, land degradation either caused by human being or natural factors is still a continuous process and the coverage of forests is dwindling. To halt the problem successful, restoration of forest ecosystems using native species as healthy living systems, capable of adaptation climate change requires attention. At the establishment phase, tree selection for rehabilitation however, remains one of the least understood and most often ignored components where rehabilitation has been done by using exotic tree species. Therefore, to achieve the successful rehabilitation of degraded lands, foresters and nursery managers need to reconsider the selection, production, and out planting of native trees in a dynamic context instead of the monoculture exotic plantation to create connectivity across landscapes and building in adaptability for changing climates.