Carbon Sequestration: April 2008 Archives
In October, 2007, California Air Resources Board (CARB) adoptd the first standards in the US for forest-generated, carbon dioxide emissions reduction projects. This step is a voluntary, early action set of standards that will help California reach its recent Global Warming Solutions Act (AB 32).
This adoption ensures that emissions reductions from forests certified under the "Forest protocols" developed by the California Climate Action Registry will be recognized in California's emerging climate program.
Forest Protocols for CO2 Emissions Reduction
The protocols were developed over four years by scientists, foresters, climate experts and other stakeholders to ensure CO2 emissions reductions from working forests. They will also meet international standards for a credible, transparent accounting method.
Van Eck Redwood Forest Project
The 2200 acre Van Eck Forest Project in Humboldt Co, California, a working redwood forest, was the first to apply the new Protocols. Two certification teams are involved in the review and verification process -- SGS North America, a global verification leader, and Scientific Certification Systems (SCS) the leading U.S. independent forestry certifier. After certification, the forest will be monitored annually for compliance and annual reports will also be independently verified.
Once certified, the owners of the forest expect to sell substantial emissions reduction offsets in the international carbon market.
Carbon Sequestration by Forests
Forests like this provide climate benefits by absorbing carbon dioxide (CO2) from the atmosphere and storing it as carbon in trees for hundreds of years. Compared to reforestation or afforestation techniques, managing established, working forests to achieve climate benefits is effective due to the fact that older forests have the ability to lay down greater volumes of carbon in shorter periods of time than younger forests.
In addition, forests prevent loss to development that harvests millions of board feet of living filtration systems provided by trees. By managing forests to grow older, these mature trees store more carbon than commercial redwood forests usually do. Selective logging that removes less timber volume than is grown each year increases the CO2 capture while maintaining revenue from responsible harvesting.
SOURCE: ForestLife, Winter 2007, The Pacific Forest Trust
Planting a billion trees is an astonishing number! The Nature Conservancy's Plant a Billion Trees Campaign will preserve and restore Brazil's Atlantic Forest.
The threat is dire. "No tropical forest on earth has come closer to total destruction," says Claudia Picone, an information resource coordinator for The Nature Conservancy.
The Atlantic Forest is a spectacularly complex and biologically diverse expanse of tropical rainforest on the coast of Brazil. Once twice the size of Texas, only 7 percent of the original forest remains—it has been ravaged by ranching, illegal logging, agriculture, and other pressures.
The campaign to plant one billion trees in the Atlantic Forest continues The Nature Conservancy's mighty efforts to preserve the very special ecosystem. According to Picone, "We've finally turned the corner, and people are starting to realize that there are economic benefits to leaving the forest standing instead of cutting it down."
Since The Nature Conservancy's founding in 1951, it has protected more than 117 million acres of land and 5,000 miles of rivers around the world. The group has more than a million members and works in all 50 states and more than 30 countries.
Give to the Conservancy's Plant a Billion Trees campaign
www.plantabillion.org
