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

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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

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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

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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

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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)

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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

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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

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Links between stock and flux

If stock increases….

Flux: Inbound

Atmospheric CO2: Decreasing climate changeProcess: Carbon fixation or removalForest: Carbon sinkExample: Growing forest

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Links between stock and flux

If stock decreases…

Flux: Outbound

Atmospheric CO2: Increasing climate changeProcess: Carbon emissionForest: Carbon sourceExample: Decaying or burning forest

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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

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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

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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

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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

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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

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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

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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

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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

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(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

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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.

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Thank you for your attentionThank you for your attention