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Integrating climate change into forestry: Mitigation

Topic 2, Section B. Integrating climate change into forestry: Mitigation. Objectives. This presentation will explain the contribution of forests to climate change mitigation. You will also learn: Which forest activities contribute to mitigating climate change

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Integrating climate change into forestry: Mitigation

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  1. Topic 2, Section B Integrating climate change into forestry: Mitigation

  2. Objectives This presentation will explain the contribution of forests to climate change mitigation. You will also learn: • Which forest activities contribute to mitigating climate change • The why and how of carbon accounting

  3. QUIZ • Do you understand the following concepts? • Carbon • Carbon dioxide • Carbon flux • Carbon sources • Carbon emission • Carbon sinks • Carbon absorption • Carbon removal • Carbon stock • Carbon storage • Carbon sequestration • What is the difference between adaptation and mitigation in forestry? Topic 2, Section B, slide 3 of 26

  4. Outline • Forests and carbon at the global scale • Forests and carbon at the ecosystem scale • Forest activities that mitigate climate change • Why and how to do carbon accounting

  5. 1. Forests and carbon at the global scale Atmospheric increase 4.1 Billions of tonnes per year 7.2 2.6 Residual land sink 2.2 Fossil carbonemissions 1.6 Ocean uptake Deforestation

  6. What is a ton of CO2? Examples from daily life footprint: • Flying round-trip from New York to Los Angeles =0.9 tonnes CO2/person • Driving an average car in the US = 5.4 tonnes CO2/year • Living in a detached family home with 4 bedrooms In California = 20 tonnes CO2/yr/family In Michigan = 51 tonnes CO2/yr/family National averages: • One person in the US = 25 tonnes CO2/yr • One person in India = 1 tonne CO2/yr www.epa.gov/climatechange/emissions/ind_calculator.html www.nature.org/initiatives/climatechange/calculator/

  7. Historical forest carbon balance per region, 1855-2000 The figures are shown in millions of tonnes Red= sources, Green=sinks Topic 2, Section B, slide 7 of 26

  8. 2. Forests and carbon at the ecosystem scale Stocks A forest = carbon stocks Leaves Branches 1 kilogram of dry wood equals about 0.5 kilogram of carbon Trunks Understory Dead wood and litter Soils Roots Topic 2, Section B, slide 8 of 26

  9. Stocks: Examples • Tropical wet forest (IPCC, 2003): • Aboveground biomass: 65 to 430 tC/ha • Soils: 44 to 130 tC/ha Aboveground biomass stocks in tropical forests(t dry matter/ha = 2 x tC/ha) (IPCC, 2003) Leaves Branches Trunks Understory Dead woodand litter Soils Roots Topic 2, Section B, slide 9 of 26

  10. Fluxes A forest = a set of carbon fluxes A forest = carbon fluxes with the atmosphere Atmospheric CO2 Atmospheric CO2 Net absorption flux Photosynthesis Respiration Mineralisation Mortality Products Products Humification Topic 2, Section B, slide 10 of 26

  11. Fluxes: Examples Estimated annual total carbon flows in a tropical rainforest stand near Manaus, Amazonia in Brazil (Numbers are shown in tonnes of carbon per year per hectare) 30.4 5.9 Atmosphere Atmosphere 4.1 3.9 7.0 6,8 9.7 13.7 6.3 Topic 2, Section B, slide 11 of 26

  12. Links between stock and flux If stock increases…. Flux: Inbound Atmospheric CO2: Decreasing climate change Process: Carbon fixation or removalForest: Carbon sinkExample: Growing forest Topic 2, Section B, slide 12 of 26

  13. Links between stock and flux If stock decreases… Flux: Outbound Atmospheric CO2: Increasing climate change Process: Carbon emissionForest: Carbon sourceExample: Decaying or burning forest Topic 2, Section B, slide 13 of 26

  14. Links between stock and flux: Examples Year 7: Stock = 135 tonnes of carbon Year 0:Stock = 30 tonnes of carbon Mean absorption flux = (135-30) / (7-0) = 15 tonnes of carbon per hectare per year Topic 2, Section B, slide 14 of 26

  15. Quiz Which figure represents the simplified evolution of aboveground carbon stocks in the following cases? Carbon stock Carbon stock Unforestedland A forest conversion to forested land use A forest unsustainably managed A plantation established on unforested land and harvested regularly A forest converted to a plantation A conserved primary forest 1 4 Years Years Carbon stock Carbon stock 2 5 Years Years Carbon stock Carbon stock 3 6 Years Years Topic 2, Section B, slide 15 of 26

  16. Comparing scenarios • For climate change mitigation, which is the best alternative? • A degraded pasture (A) • A forest plantation, even destroyed or burnt regularly (B)? Carbon B Carbon A Years Years Answer: B Additional stored carbon in alternative B compared to A = carbon that does not contribute to climate change Carbon Years Topic 2, Section B, slide 16 of 26

  17. Undisturbed Forests An undisturbed forest represents: • A large stock, but not a large sink. They are more or less in equilibrium. • There is much scientific debate on this point. • With the impact of climate change will undisturbed forests become a source? • Even if an undisturbed forest does not contribute to absorbing greenhouse gases from the atmosphere, it is better to conserve it thant to convert it to other uses. Carbon Years Topic 2, Section B, slide 17 of 26

  18. Comparing scenarios • For climate change mitigation, which is the best alternative? • Conserving an undisturbed forest (A) • Converting this forest to forest plantation (B)? Carbon Carbon B A Years Years Answer: A Carbon emitted to the atmosphere underscenario B compared to A= Carbon that contributes to climate change Carbon Years Topic 2, Section B, slide 18 of 26

  19. CO2 CO2 Wood Energy CO2 Energy Forest Products • Forest products can substitute for: • Materials, such as steel and aluminium whose production emits a lot of greenhouse gases • Energy, such as oil, coal and gas • Fuelwood: • There is a low CO2 balance if harvesting is sustainable and the yield is high Topic 2, Section B, slide 19 of 26

  20. Forest activities that mitigate climate change • Increasingcarbon stocks Carbon Creating plantations Project Benefit Baseline Developing agroforestry Years Forest • Avoiding losses of carbon stocks Carbon With conservation Reducingdeforestation Benefit Baseline (Deforestation) • Reducingemissions caused • by forest activities Years Less energy, oil, fertilisers... Energy • Producingbiomaterials and bioenergy Topic 2, Section B, slide 20 of 26

  21. 4. Why and how to do carbon accounting? Why? • For demonstrating the impacts of a forestry programme on mitigation • For example, USAID-funded programmes that contribute to the Global Climate Change Earmark • For national accounting - greenhouse gases emissions reporting and National Communications • For selling carbon credits for projects under the Clean Development Mechanism or voluntary markets • For helping forest managers to consider carbon in their activities • For improving stakeholders’ understanding of the role forests play in mitigation Topic 2, Section B, slide 21 of 26

  22. Why and how to do carbon accounting? How? • On-site measurement of existing forests by direct measurement: • Dry matter weight and carbon content litter, dead wood, etc. • Tree destructive sampling • Indirect measurement: • Tree diameters and heights are converted by using allometric • Equations • Modeling existing or projected forests • Remote sensing combined with “ground truthing” • Default factors Topic 2, Section B, slide 22 of 26

  23. USAID’s WinrockForest Carbon Calculator • A simple way to quickly estimate CO2 benefits of projects that: • Combines global datasets on carbon biomass, deforestation, tree growth rates, and impacts of forest management • Is used in USAID projects for forest protection, reforestation/afforestation, forest management, and agroforestry. • Is available on-line at: http://winrock.stage.datarg.net Topic 2, Section B, slide 23 of 26

  24. Examples of tools for carbon accounting See http://www.efi.int/projects/casfor/ (Vallejo A., 2005. SSAFR and SIAGEF joint meeting . September 2005, Sao Paulo, Brazil) Topic 2, Section B, slide 24 of 26

  25. References • Brown, S. 1997 Estimating biomass and biomass change of tropical forests. A primer. FAO Forestry Paper no. 137. Rome, IT. 55p. • Brown, S. 1999 Guidelines for Inventorying and Monitoring Carbon Offsets in Forest-Based Projects. Winrock International. 14p. • Brown, S. 2002a Measuring carbon in forests: current status and future challenges. Environmental Pollution 116: 363-372. http://www.winrock.org/ecosystems/files/2002ForestCarbon.pdf • Brown, S. 2002b Measuring, monitoring, and verification of carbon benefits for forest-based projects. Philosophical Transactions of The Royal Society London A 360: 1669-1683. http://www.winrock.org/ecosystems • Brown, S. and Gaston, G. 1995 Use of Forest Inventories and Geographic Information Systems to Estimate Biomass Density of Tropical Forests: Application to Tropical Africa.Environmental Monitoring and Assessment 38: 157-168. http://www.winrock.org/ecosystems • CO2FIX V3.1 Manual. http://www.efi.int/projects/casfor/downloads/co2fix3_1_manual.pdf • IPCC. 2003 Good Practice Guidance for Land Use, Land-use Change and Forestry (GPG LULUCF). http://www.ipccnggip.iges.or.jp/public/gpglulucf • MacDicken. 1997 A Guide to Monitoring Carbon Storage in Forestry and Agroforestry Projects. Winrock. • Masera et al. 2003 Modelling carbon sequestration in afforestation, agroforestry and forest management projects: the CO2FIX V.2 approach. Ecological modelling 164:177-199. Topic 2, Section B, slide 25 of 26

  26. Thank you for your attention

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