Forestry options for Climate Change Mitigation –

Strategies and Action Plan

Dr Jose Kallarackal, Sustainable Natural and Plantation Forest

Management Division, Kerala Forest Research Institute, Peechi, Thrissur
680653, Kerala
Email: jose@kfri.org

Forestry and Land Use practices hold considerable potential for offsetting
greenhouse gas emissions. Because global vegetation and soils contain
about three times as much carbon as the planet's atmosphere, terrestrial
ecosystems offer an opportunity to absorb and store (sequester) a
significant amount of carbon dioxide (CO2) from the atmosphere. By
planting trees, preserving forests, and changing cultivation practices to
increase soil carbon, for example, it is possible to increase the size of
carbon sinks. According to the Intergovernmental Panel on Climate
Change (IPCC) Third Assessment Report released in 2001, if current
conditions were to prevail, approximately 10-20% of the projected
cumulative carbon emitted (~100 Gt C) from fossil fuels by 2050 could be
absorbed through slowing deforestation, promoting natural forest
regeneration in the tropics, and implementing a global forestation
program. Mitigation potential at the global level is estimated to be at 60
to 87 Gt C during the period 1995 to 2050.

Although forest ecosystems can acts as either a sink or source of

emissions, currently they are a small net sink on a global basis, primarily
because large emissions associated with tropical deforestation are being
offset by carbon accumulation in forests and soils around the world. The
IPCC Third Assessment Report states that 10-30% of anthropogenic
emissions are due to land-use changes. CO2 is by far the most important
greenhouse gas emitted from this sector. Other important gases include
methane (CH4) and nitrous oxide (N2O).

Currently, about 6.5 billion tonnes of carbon (as carbon dioxide) are
emitted each year during the combustion of fossil fuels and 1-2 billion
tonnes per year from land clearing. About 3 billion tonnes of the carbon
(as carbon dioxide) stays in the atmosphere. The ocean takes up just over
2 billion tonnes. Terrestrial sinks such as growing forests, which remove
carbon from the air and store it, take up the remaining 2-3 billion tonnes.

With such significant greenhouse gas emissions from this sector, there
are major opportunities for mitigation and reduction activities or
programmes. These activities can be grouped into the following three
categories:
 • Management for Carbon Conservation
The objective of conservation projects is to conserve existing carbon
pools through such practices as forest reserves, reduced
deforestation, forest management, alternative harvest practices,
fire and pest protection.

• Management for Carbon Storage

The objective of carbon storage projects is to expand the storage of
carbon through afforestation, reforestation, agroforestry, enhanced
natural regeneration, re-vegetation of degraded lands, tillage and
other agricultural practices to increase soil carbon, and
management of forest products to increase in-use lifetimes.

• Management for Carbon Substitution

The idea is to use biomass to replace durable energy-intensive low-
carbon content materials (e.g. bricks, cement, steel, plastic), and to
replace fossil fuels with sustainably-grown bioenergy feedstocks.

Not only will actions that promote carbon conservation and sequestration
reduce net emissions, but they also make good social, economic, and
ecological sense. Sustainable development, industrial wood and fuel
production, traditional forest uses, protection of natural resources, water
quality improvement and recreation, are all important objectives for
managing forests properly. If all forests were managed for these
purposes, then reductions in carbon emissions could occur as well.

To a great extent, mitigation of climate change is a matter of

understanding and manipulating the carbon cycle. Prior to the Industrial
Revolution, the carbon - which is now floating in the atmosphere- was
locked permanently in large underground pools. Presently, over 8 bil. tons
of C are added annually to atmosphere (IGBP Terrestrial Carbon Working
Group 1998). While retrieval of the «extra» C from the atmosphere is
feasible, it may not remain locked for too long in biomass. Instead, it will
be passed through a chain of temporary storage, finally returning to
atmosphere. Current estimates are that, all together, plants retain
annually about 600 Gt (gigatons) of carbon, with another 1600 Gt in soil.

Unless a solution is found for the permanent retrieval and sequestering of

a sizable proportion of the enormous amount of C floating now in the
atmosphere -because of the unavoidable decomposition of biomass and
soil organic matter - in the foreseeable future the retrieved C is vulnerable
to return to the atmosphere in a century or so since re-capture. In other
words, future sequestration of CO2 will be in transient, non-permanent
pools. This is precisely the case of C sequestration in forest biomass and
in soils. In this new scenario, soil and roots of terrestrial ecosystems are of
particular importance, since about two-thirds of terrestrial C is found
below-ground. Adding to the importance of this sink is the fact that below-
ground C has a slower turnover rates than the above-ground C, which
means that it can be maintained in storage over longer periods of time,
being more protected during fires and other disturbances. However, even
small changes in such large pools of C would be expected to have
dramatic impacts on the global climate system. Under a warmer
atmosphere, sudden losses of organic soil matter could exacerbate global
warming. On the other hand, increases of soil organic matter (e.g. from
litter accumulation under more productive forests) could reduce the rise
of atmospheric CO2 and provide negative feedback to global warming.

Although sequestering atmospheric C in forest biomass and soils is only a

temporary solution, on a time scale of 50 to 100 years, this delay buys
time for developing other solutions. It is conceivable that an active
forestry program could hold C in forest biomass not intended for
fuelwood, on average for at least 2-3centuries, while the C residence in
soil, under forest, might be even longer. Since the rates of soil CO2 efflux
vary with soil temperature, it is to be expected that avoiding the exposure
of soils to direct radiation and aeration would result in a substantial
additional sink. Whereas it is estimated that soils will lose about 45 Pg
(pentagrams, 109 g) C as the climate warms from today’s conditions to
those anticipated with a doubling of CO2, it appears that, through the
manipulation of stand density and thereby shading the soil, it will be
possible to reduce significantly this amount and take advantage of the
additional sink thus created in forest soils.

CO2 Fertilisation
A few scientists have recently suggested that the "CO2-fertilisation effect"
may be causing land vegetation to absorb much more of the excess CO2
than was previously thought. The idea is that plants in a CO2-rich
atmosphere grow faster, and so absorb more CO2. Such an effect clearly
exists: horticulturists today pump CO2 into greenhouses to encourage
their tomatoes. Results from a global biogeochemical model, BIOME,
which considers only environmental factors, project that net primary
productivity of forests may increase up to 25%. Nevertheless, these
predictions still need to be confirmed by the large-scale open-air
experiments at the ecosystem level, evaluating the long-term impacts of
CO2 enrichment on carbon cycling.

Most crops and trees are expected to have higher productivity at higher
carbon dioxide concentrations, all other things being equal. The extent to
which those plants benefit from elevated carbon dioxide concentrations
depends on factors such as air temperature, rainfall and soil nutrients.
Studies in Australia and USA have shown that a forest can initially
increase productivity by up to 24% with a doubling of atmospheric carbon
dioxide. However, this productivity increase cannot be sustained and will
drop significantly as soil nutrients become limiting. Most Australian soil is
deficient in phosphorus, a deficiency that may counteract the beneficial
effect of higher carbon dioxide. Studies at the UK Hadley Centre also
suggest that the impact of climate change on tropical forests may
counteract and eventually reverse the impact of carbon dioxide
fertilization. It has been also shown that some of the temperate tree
species “down regulate” photosynthesis at elevated levels of CO2, so that
there is less production compared to the normal trees. In general, it is
expected that the negative impacts of climate change on forests will have
a greater impact than any positive effect due to an increase in growth
rates as a result of elevated atmospheric carbon dioxide concentrations.

Suggested climate change mitigation measures

At this point in time, it appears that one of the main tasks of forest
management is to prepare a portfolio of valid actions, differentiated by
species and environments, emphasizing active CO2 sequestration and
increased ecological stability of future forest ecosystems. The proposed
mitigation measures are:

Reforesting immediately after harvest

This measure has several facets. First, the forest coverage should
be restored to every surface that was previously covered by forest,
as soon as possible after harvest, to maintain an active and almost
continued C sequestration function. This refers chiefly to areas not
successfully regenerated, where the species composition is
undesirable, or with low productivity.
Secondly, from the C sequestration viewpoint, this is the occasion
when the foresters can change the composition of the forest,
introducing new species and silvicultural methods that may be
better adapted to changes in ecological conditions.
Thirdly, reforesting immediately avoids long intervals with the forest
soil exposed, when, because of decomposition of soil organic
matter, the area may become a CO2 source.

Restoring the productive forest cover

In many forest zones, large areas exist where the forest has been
harvested, but, for various reasons, regeneration did not succeed.
Such areas bear some pioneer, low-productivity forest types, are in
marginal agricultural use, have been degraded, or are simply
abandoned. In terms of land area, this is probably the largest area
on the planet that could be covered with active CO2 retrievers,
estimated at over 200 mil. ha.
Expanding existing forest carbon sinks

Large areas of forest at all latitudes are not storing carbon at their
potential. These forests could sequester considerably more C in
future decades, especially if management practices to expand
forest sinks would be applied, thus favouring soil carbon pools, such
as:

i. reforesting to arrest erosion,

ii. adding chemical amendments to boost fertility,
iii. reducing shifting cultivation,
iv. reforesting marginal agricultural lands, and
v. retaining litter/debris after logging operations.

Management of the relatively short-rotation species for C storage in

wood products may be preferable through extending their rotation
length, particularly where there is a significant risk of stand
replacing disturbance. However, in plantations managed for
pulpwood production, C storage can be made more effective
increasing growth rate by planting on more productive sites, genetic
improvement, or intensive management.

Establishing new plantations

Establishing plantations of productive species, including mono-

specific, industrial plantations, managed on the basis of economic
principles, on all suitable sites will satisfy both the requirements of
traditional timber-related industries, especially for pulpwood, and
the CO2 retrieval function. However, adequate importance should be
given to hydrological requirements when introducing new and
exotic species.

Substituting wood fuels for fossil fuel

An effort that could be very rewarding in terms of C conservation,

applicable in all geographic zones, is the substitution of biomass
energy, a renewable resource, for fossil fuel combustion. This
measure does not change the C balance of atmosphere, since CO2
released from burning wood or biofuels is cycled back to forest
biomass through photosynthesis. Short-rotation woody crops have
the greatest potential here, provided the several advances in
cultural techniques obtained in the last three to five decades are
implemented. The productivity of these specialized crops can be
further enhanced using the latest genetic progress related to fast
growing species, particularly eucalypts (Eucalyptus sp.), poplars
(Populus sp.), willows (Salix sp.) and other hardwoods, some of
 which are able to occupy narrow niches (e.g. bottomlands of major
rivers), that otherwise remain unused.

Increasing protection measures

It is a known fact that the population dynamics of potential insect

pests are highly dependent on temperature. Insect pest outbreaks
result in considerable economic losses and accumulation of
combustible material (dead biomass) in the forest. Many
monocultures are especially vulnerable to such outbreaks.
At the same time, because the virulence of insect pest outbreaks is
affected by the physiological state of trees, foresters should make
every effort to ensure vigorous forest stands. Silvicultural practices
and biocontrol means should be resorted before chemical means
are used.
VII. Increasing fire prevention measures
Intensifying forest fire prevention activity is important to minimize
economic losses, reduce the accidental release of CO2 into the
atmosphere, maintain forest cover on soils, and allow existing CO2
sinks to remain effective.
Fire risks are known to be increased by the amount of dead biomass
left after logging, or litter in the forests. Important are also the
characteristics of these materials, especially the water content,
which vary with rainfall, air temperature and air saturation deficit.
More fire protection measures, such as fire breaks and fire fighting
equipment may be needed for achieving a relatively high level of
fire protection in the future.

Establishing surveillance systems

With the development of advanced (spatial) surveillance

technology, it is conceivable that such systems will be expanded to
address forest health and productivity, monitoring biotic vectors
and natural elements, as well as tree and stand responses. In the
future, the main objective of surveillance activities will be minimize
the «loss» of C from biomass to atmosphere, likely to be caused by
either fire and insect outbreaks. In the absence of surveillance and
prompt intervention with modern fighting means, fires and insect
outbreaks will represent positive feedbacks to CO2 atmospheric
concentration.

Mitigation Potential in India

The national emission of CO2 in India is 138 Mt C during 1990 (ALGAS
1998). If all the available land for forestry is revegetated, the annual
carbon sequestration will be 175 Mt C. This shows that forestry alone can
contain all the emissions in India. However, this may not be very
practicable, as forestry is very much demand driven. If we take the
demand driven afforestation into account, this can sequester 78 Mt C
annually.
Taking the above facts, in India the main strategies should be the
following:
• Natural regeneration in open forests
• Enhanced natural regeneration in degraded forests, community
woodlots in degraded village commons
• Short rotation forestry
• Timber forestry and agroforestry in marginal crop lands.

The above strategies should be planned in such a way that the activities
are taken up by Forest Departments, Commercial companies and
participatory forest management. It should be realized, that afforestation
programmes will generate a lot of employment in the rural sector. This
will also provide enough fuel wood to the communities living in the
villages. Industrial wood is also provided to the entire nation. Thus, the
whole programme should be seen in terms of not only climate change
mitigation, but enhancing the livelihood of the people also.
An action plan for India taking into consideration the above strategies,
should address all the impediments to afforestation, reforestation,
commercial and agroforestry programmes. Some of these require strong
policies from the part of both state and central governments. The
following policy options could be examined:
1. Encouragement to participatory afforestation programmes.
2. Provide subsidized financial credits to farmers and timber
companies to promote afforestation work.
3. Removal of regulations on planting, harvesting and transportation of
forest products, mainly timber.
4. Technology transfer for high yields – the research should be strong
enough to answer the problems faced by public and private
growers.
5. Institutional support to be given for projects such as CDM projects,
including monitoring and verification of the mitigation projects.
6. Promote long term contract between farmers and industry (such as
paper mills) so that both feel secure about the future demand and
supply.

Conclusions

At the beginning of the new millennium, the importance of atmosphere’s

condition for the quality of life on Earth has become critically important
and is now much better understood than in the past. Consequently, the
need for healthy forest ecosystems, that are able to restore the
atmosphere to its pre-Industrial Revolution condition, is greater than at
any time in modern history. For this to happen, the world’s forest
ecosystem can be employed, at least as a temporary solution. There are
definitely numerous forestry options and society must implement them,
while searching for permanent solutions. Although intensified carbon
sequestration in forests will not solve the complex effects of climate
change, it can, nevertheless, make a timely and significant contribution.

Several organizations such as the World Bank have come with credits for
afforestation programmes. In this context, the options discussed in this
paper should be thoroughly analyzed, adapted to each country realities
and implemented immediately. In the process, they will be refined and
expanded through the contribution of numerous specialists. Apart from
the possibility of restoring the previous condition of the atmosphere,
application of these measures will result in an important economic gain
and additional timber volume, which will increase the effectiveness of
carbon sequestration.
After the considerable efforts made by the science of climate change, the
time for action has arrived, and urgent intervention is needed to offset
major ecological disturbances.

Further Reading:

IGBP Terrestrial Carbon Working Group. 1998. The terrestrial carbon

cycle: Implications for the Kyoto Protocol. Science 280: 1393-1394.

IPCC 2001. Climate Change 2001: The Scientific Basis. Third Assessment
Report. Shanghai, 20 January 2001. www.ipcc.ch/press/pr.htm

Shukla PR, Sharma SK and Ramana PV (ed.) 2002. Climate Change and
India – Issues, Concerns and Opportunities. Tata-McGraw Hill, New Delhi.

Shukla PR, Sharma SK, Ravindranath NH, Garg A and Bhattacharya S (ed.)
2003. Climate Change and India: Vulnerability Assessment and
Adaptation. Universities Press (India) Pvt. Ltd., Hyderabad.