Savanna fire management can generate enough carbon revenue to help restore Africa’s rangelands and fill protected area funding gaps

Timothy H Tear,Nicholas H Wolff,Geoffrey J Lipsett-Moore,Mark E Ritchie,Natasha S Ribeiro,Lisanne S Petracca,Peter A Lindsey,Luke Hunter,Andrew J Loveridge,Franziska Steinbruch

doi:10.1016/j.oneear.2021.11.013

Abstract

<h2>Summary</h2> Many savanna-dependent species in Africa including large herbivores and apex predators are at increasing risk of extinction. Achieving effective management of protected areas (PAs) in Africa where lions live will cost an estimated US$ >1–2 billion/year in new funding. We explore the potential for fire-management-based carbon financing programs to fill this funding gap and benefit degrading savanna ecosystems. We demonstrate how introducing early dry season fire management programs could produce potential carbon revenues (PCRs) from either a single carbon financing method (avoided emissions) or from multiple sequestration methods ranging from US$ 59.6–655.9 million/year (at US$ 5/ton) or US$ 155.0 million/year to US$ 1.7 billion/year (at US$ 13/ton). We highlight variable but significant PCRs for savanna PAs from US$ 1.5–44.4 million/year per PA. We suggest investing in fire management programs to jump-start the United Nations Decade of Ecological Restoration to help restore degraded African savannas and conserve imperiled keystone herbivores and apex predators.

Highlights

Africa’s iconic savanna ecosystems are at a crossroads, as many wildlife species are in precipitous decline, and the protected areas (PAs) intended to conserve them for future generations are facing extreme financial crises
We found that an early dry season (EDS) fire management program could generate potential carbon revenues (PCRs) ranging from US$ 59.6 million to US$ 655.9 million per year (Table 1) based on the lower voluntary market average price (US$ 5/ton)
There is substantial variability in the amount of local emissions produced within most landscapes (Figure 2A), and a significant trend (R2 = 0.61, p < 0.001) that the larger the PA the greater the emissions reduction potential and greater PCR (Figure 3)

Summary

Introduction

Africa’s iconic savanna ecosystems are at a crossroads, as many wildlife species are in precipitous decline, and the protected areas (PAs) intended to conserve them for future generations are facing extreme financial crises. African savannas support a higher diversity of ungulate species than in any other biome or continent.[3] Large mammalian herbivores, megaherbivores, are known to exert strong effects on tropical savannas, especially in high diversity Africa savannas.[4] many large herbivore populations are declining, which is predicted to have significant impacts on human well-being from a variety of direct and indirect pathways, especially in low productivity areas common in Africa.[5] Livestock outnumber wildlife in Africa,[1,6] which has profound implications for the continent in general, and savanna habitats in particular.[7] are herbivores in trouble, but so too are many African savanna predators, in particular the lion (Panthera leo), whose range and population numbers have precipitously declined over the past two decades.[8,9,10] As African savannas are at high risk of significant vegetative change due to a variety of global and local processes,[11] the combination of changing vegetation structure with altered grazing pressures in the context of a shifting climate patterns makes the future of this critical yet transitional ecosystem uncertain

Results

Discussion

Conclusion