Forest management and carbon storage: An analysis of 12 key forest nations

Abstract

Forests of the world sequester and conserve more C than all other terrestrial ecosystems and account for 90% of the annual C flux between the atmosphere and the Earth’s land surface. Preliminary estimates indicate that forest and agroforest management practices throughout the world can enhance the capability of forests to sequester C and reduce accumulation of greenhouse gases in the atmosphere. Yet of the 3600 x 106 ha of forests in the world today, only about 10% (350 x 106 ha) are actively managed. The impetus to expand lands managed for forestry or agroforestry purposes lies primarily with nations having forest resources. In late 1990, an assessment was initiated to evaluate the biological potential and initial site costs of managed forest and agroforest systems to sequester C. Within the assessment, 12 key forested nations were the focus of a special analysis: Argentina, Australia, Brazil, Canada, China, Germany, India, Malaysia, Mexico, South Africa, former USSR, and USA. These nations contain 59% of the world’s natural forests and are representative of the world’s boreal, temperate, and tropical forest biomes. Assessment results indicate that though the world’s forests are contained in 138 nations, a subset of key nations, such as the 12 selected for this analysis, can significantly contribute to the global capability to sequester C through managed tree crops. Collectively, the 12 nations are estimated to have the potential to store 25.7 Pg C, once expanded levels of practices such as reforestation, afforestation, natural regeneration and agroforestry are implemented and maintained. Initial site costs based upon establishment costs for management practices are less than US$33/Mg C.