USAID-CIFOR-ICRAF Project Assessing the Implications of Climate Change for USAID Forestry Programs (2009) 1 Integrating climate change into forestry: Mitigation.
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USAID-CIFOR-ICRAF ProjectAssessing the Implications of Climate Change for USAID Forestry Programs (2009)1
Integrating climate change into forestry: Mitigation
Topic 2, Section B
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
Topic 2, Section B, slide 2 of 26
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?
3Topic 2, Section B, slide 3 of 26
QUIZ
1. Forests and carbon at the global scale
2. Forests and carbon at the ecosystem scale
3. Forest activities that mitigate climate change
4. Why and how to do carbon accounting
Topic 2, Section B, slide 4 of 26
Outline
1. Forests and carbon at the global scaleAtmospheric increase 4.1
Billions of tonnes per year
Fossil carbonemissions
Oceanuptake Deforestation
Residual land sink
7.2 2.6
2.2 1.6
Topic 2, Section B, slide 5 of 26
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 bedroomsIn California = 20 tonnes CO2/yr/familyIn 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
Topic 6, Section B, slide 6 of 26
www.epa.gov/climatechange/emissions/ind_calculator.htmlwww.nature.org/initiatives/climatechange/calculator/
Historical forest carbon balance per region, 1855-2000
Red= sources, Green=sinks
The figures are shown in millions of tonnes
Topic 2, Section B, slide 7 of 26
2. Forests and carbon at the ecosystem scale
A forest = carbon stocks
Leaves
Branches
Dead wood and litter
Soils
Roots
TrunksUnderstory
1 kilogram of dry wood equals about 0.5 kilogram of carbon
Stocks
Topic 2, Section B, slide 8 of 26
Stocks: Examples
Wet TF Moist with short dry season
Moist with long dry season
Dry Montane Moist
Montane Dry
Africa 310(131-153)
260(159-433)
123(120-133)
72(16-195)
191 40
Continental Asia
275(123-683)
182(10-562)
127(100-155)
60 222(81-310)
50
Insular Asia 348(280-520)
290 160 70 362(330-505)
50
America 347(118-860)
217(212-278)
212(202-406)
78(45-90)
234(48-348)
60
Tropical wet forest (IPCC, 2003):• Aboveground biomass: 65 to 430 tC/ha• Soils: 44 to 130 tC/ha
Leaves
Branches
Dead woodand litter
Soils
Roots
Trunks
Understory
Aboveground biomass stocks in tropical forests(t dry matter/ha = 2 x tC/ha)
(IPCC, 2003)
Topic 2, Section B, slide 9 of 26
Fluxes
Atmospheric CO2
Net absorption flux
A forest = carbon fluxes with the atmosphere
Products
A forest = a set of carbon fluxes
Atmospheric CO2
Products
Photosynthesis
Respiration
Mortality
Mineralisation
Humification
Topic 2, Section B, slide 10 of 26
Fluxes: Examples
Atmosphere
9.7
3.9
30.4
4.1
7.013.7
6,8
6.3
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)
Atmosphere5.9
Topic 2, Section B, slide 11 of 26
Links between stock and flux
If stock increases….
Flux: Inbound
Atmospheric CO2: Decreasing climate changeProcess: Carbon fixation or removalForest: Carbon sinkExample: Growing forest
Topic 2, Section B, slide 12 of 26
Links between stock and flux
If stock decreases…
Flux: Outbound
Atmospheric CO2: Increasing climate changeProcess: Carbon emissionForest: Carbon sourceExample: Decaying or burning forest
Topic 2, Section B, slide 13 of 26
Links between stock and flux: Examples
Year 0:Stock = 30 tonnes of carbon
Year 7: Stock = 135 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
Topic 2, Section B, slide 15 of 26
Quiz Which figure represents the simplified evolution of aboveground carbon stocks in the following cases?
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
Years
Carbon stock
Years
Carbon stock
Years
Carbon stock
Years
Carbon stock
Years
Carbon stock
Years
Carbon stock
1
2
3
4
5
6
Comparing scenarios For climate change mitigation, which is the best alternative? A degraded pasture (A) A forest plantation, even destroyed or burnt regularly (B)?
Years
Carbon
A
Years
Carbon
B
Topic 2, Section B, slide 16 of 26
Answer: BAdditional stored carbon in alternative B compared to A = carbon that does not contribute to climate change
Years
Carbon
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
Years
Carbon
A
Years
Carbon
B
For climate change mitigation, which is the best alternative?• Conserving an undisturbed forest (A)• Converting this forest to forest plantation (B)?
Carbon emitted to the atmosphere underscenario B compared to A= Carbon that contributes to climate change
Answer: A
Years
Carbon
Topic 2, Section B, slide 18 of 26
Comparing scenarios
Forest Products
Energy
CO2CO2
Wood
Energy
CO2
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
Forest activities that mitigate climate change
Forest
Energy
Reducingdeforestation
Producing biomaterials and bioenergy
Reducing emissions caused by forest activities Less energy, oil, fertilisers...
Developingagroforestry
Creatingplantations
Increasing carbon stocks
Avoiding losses of carbon stocks
Years
Carbon
Project
Baseline
Benefit
Years
Carbon
With conservation
Baseline (Deforestation)
Benefit
Topic 2, Section B, slide 20 of 26
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
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
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
USAID’s Winrock Forest Carbon Calculator
Topic 2, Section B, slide 23 of 26
(Vallejo A., 2005. SSAFR and SIAGEF joint meeting . September 2005, Sao Paulo, Brazil)
See http://www.efi.int/projects/casfor/
Examples of tools for carbon accounting
Topic 2, Section B, slide 24 of 26
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
Thank you for your attentionThank you for your attention
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