Forest gardening on abandoned terraces links local biomass ...€¦ · • Annual intercropping on 40% of established forest gardens • Each tree was planted with 2 liters of cow-urine

Forestgardeningonabandonedterraceslinkslocalbiomasscarbonaccumula3ontointerna3onalcarbonmarkets,reversesland

degrada3on,improvesfooddiversity,andincreasesfarmerincome

Ratanpur,TanahuCentralNepal800–1200masl

Hans-PeterSchmidt1*,BishnuH.Pandit2,WolfgangLucht3,DieterGerten3,ClaudiaKammann4ithakains3tuteforcarbonstrategies,Switzerland

Ratanpurregionmanyoftheancientterraceslaybarrenandvulnerabletoerosion

largelyduetoruraldepopula3on

Paddyriceterraceslaybarrenduetoexodusofworkforces

Theladyfarmersmaintainkitchengardens

Mainobjec3ves

•  erosioncontrol,landslideprotec3on•  waterreten3on•  biodiversitypreserva3on•  soilorganicmaterincrease

•  carbonsequestra3on

•  increaseofeconomicproduc3vity•  developmentofnewforestproducts•  crea3onofjobsinthevillage

thelinkbetweenallobjec3vesaretreescrea3ngforestgarden

Besidefruit,nut,fodder&foodtrees,treesfornewprocessedagro-productswereselected

Cinnamon Mulberry

Essen3aloils Fruit,fodder,silk Parfume,fodder,3mber

MicheliaChampaca

furniture

Pawlonia

Howtotransformgoodideasintoselfsustaining,mul3pliablesystems?

Relatelocalandglobalclimatechange

climatechangeisaglobalproblemaffec3nglocalcondi3onsclimatechangeneedslocalsolu3onswithglobalimpact.

90kgCO2peryear 90kgCO2per700km

at 130 g CO2 per km

CO2-Certificates

10 year average of a cinnamon tree in Nepal

forestgarden850mixedtrees

11.5tonCO2peryear

40peopleinNepal8peopleinIndia

1personinGermany=11.5tCO2

ca. 500 mixed trees per ha in Nepal

0 2 4 6 8

10 12 14 16 18

CO2 emissions per capita in tons per year world bank 2013

CO2CO2 400 Euro

Makethecarboncyclevisible

demonstratethecarboncontentofatreebytransformingbiomassintobiochar

Eupatorium–mainfeedstockforbiocharproduc3oninRatanpurisaninvasiveshrubspeciesalsocalled„forestkiller“

flamecurtainpyrolysisofEupatoriumfeedstock

Produc3onof800lbiochartakes2to3hours

1tonofdrybiomassbecomes200kgofstablecarboninsteadofreturning1.8tonCO2totheatmosphere

200kgC 1tonofdrybiomass

carboniza3on

1.8tonCO2decompos3on1.1tonCO2

Turnlocalwastestreamsintoopportuni3es

Chargingbiocharwithcowurinemakesanorganicfer3lizer

cowurinequenchedbiochar

organicbiocharbasedfer3lizer21fieldtrials–13crops

Averageyieldincreasesof(A)urine-biochar+composttreatmentscomparedtourine+compost,(B)NPK-biocharcomparedtoNPKonly,and(C)urine-biocharcomparedtoNPKonlyortoNPK-biochar.Yieldincreasesaregivenastheabsolutepercentageincreaseabovethecontrolyieldvalue.Thebarsshowmeansandstandarddevia3on.Theredcoloredcolumnsindicateprimarytrials,thebluecolumnsvillagetrials.

+20%±5.1%

+123%±76.7% +103%±12.4%

Organicbiocharfer3lizersaccelerategrowthandimprovesoilfer3lity

compost

compost

+ bioch

ar

compost

+ urin

e

compost

+ urin

e-bioch

ar0

5

10

15

Cinnamon trial, Udaypur, after 10 months

stem

dia

met

er in

mm

a a a

b

+ 208 %

p < 0.0001N = 4

urine-b

iochar

compost

only0

20

40

60

80

cardamom plant height , 10 weeks after plantation

plan

t hei

ght i

n cm

a

b

+ 121 % p < 0.0001N = 25

Schmidtetal.2017,submimed

Applythe2lbiocharchargedwithcowurineandcomposttoplantnewtreesorcrops

andlinkstotheglobalcommunity

Plan3ngoftreesunitedthevillagefarmers

10,000mixedtreesplantedinthefirstyear

waterreten3onpitsforyoungtreeirriga3on

Treenursery

CO2-creditslinkingglobalandlocaldevelopment

•  treesaplings(max.200perfamily)•  planta3onac3vi3es(pitdigging)•  waterreten3onpit•  irriga3onpipe•  par3alfencing•  treenursery•  primepertreeif>80%treesurvival

forfirstthreeyears

CO2-creditspayfor

•  89farmerfamiliesplantedatotalof>25,000mul3speciestreesontheirprivateland

•  Annualintercroppingon40%ofestablishedforestgardens•  Eachtreewasplantedwith2litersofcow-urineenhanced

biochartotaling50,000litersofbiochar(app.10tbiocharwithanequivalentof36tofCO2)

•  26waterreten3onpits,•  6.8kmirriga3onpipes

RatanpurAgro-forestry2015-2017

Firstyearsurvivalrate:57%

Workingwithpsychologiststocreatsocialmodelsthatimprovesuccessrates:TriadeSystem

2endyearsurvivalratewithTriadeSystem:86%

Bandipur

forestgardenaperoneyearbanana,paulownia,cinnamon,michaeliaandblacklen3l

1yearbefore

Forestgardenaperoneyear:cinnamon,michaeliaandginger

Successisthemostconvincingargument

Carboninputsperhaanda(10yearaverage)

500mixedtrees=3.1tCfromwoodybiomassàwood+biochar3.5tCfromleavesàmulch+animalfeedàcompost5.5tCfromunderstorycroppingàfood,mulch,animalfeed,roots

àcompostà ±11tCha-1a-1inputAssumingthat30%ofthetotalannualCinputismaintainedviabiochar,compost,urine,mulchandexudatesasSOM,atheore3calSOMincreaseof6tha-1a-1or0.15%SOMa-1wouldnotbeunlikely.

Whichwehopetodemonstratewithinthenextdecade.

globalclimateeffectsoflocalclimateac3on(e.g.forestgardens)

•  The25,000gardentreessequesteraminimumof400tCO2eqperyear(notcoun3ngSOMincrease)

•  OffsettheCO2-footprintof34Germanson50ha.•  Currentoffsetvalue:US$14,000(atUS$35pertCO2)•  Maintreeproducts:fruits,nuts,medicine,essen3aloil,silk,perfume,honey,

3mber,animalfodder•  Annualcropvalues(aperfiveyears)>US$250,000

•  SOMincrease,biodiversity,erosioncontrol,waterreten3onareaddedvalues

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