Secondary forest and degraded land restoration Flashcards
Forest and Landscape Restoration (FLR)
Late 2015: >400 ppm for first time in human history
Late 2018: 417 ppm
- Warmed by 0.87°C since 1951-80 baseline
- 2015 hottest year in instrumental record
Paris Agreement
2015 United Nations Framework Convention of Climate Change meeting
Restrict future temperature increase to 2°C…
…preferably to 1.5°C
Emphasises urgency of drastically cutting fossil fuel emissions
Assumes deployment of solutions to remove CO2 from atmosphere
2.2 billion ha of degraded lands
What is land degradation?
Overexploitation of natural capital
“Any reduction or loss in the biological or economic productive capacity of the land caused by human activities…often magnified by climate changeand biodiversity loss”
Degradation impacts?
Loss of landscape productivity & resilience
prone to floods, landslides & droughts
Ecological, social and economic threat
40% of intrastate conflicts over 60 years linked to natural resources
Desertification will displace 135 million people by 2045
>70% countries declare climate change / land degradation as national security issues
Forest & Landscape Restoration
Big problems need big solutions
Governments and international organizations are pushing the FLR agenda
“Restore 150 million hectares of the world’s deforested and degraded lands by 2020 and 350 million hectares by 2030.”
Bonn Challenge
Enshrined in the New York Declaration on Forests, announced at the United Nations Climate Summit (Suding et al. 2015 Science)
intended National Determined Contributions (iNDCs)
By 2030…
Bonn Challenge
Brazil – 12 Mha Cameroon – 12 Mha Chad – 5 Mha Ethiopia – 15 Mha India – 21 Mha Ivory Coast – 5 Mha Kenya – 5 Mha Madagascar – 4 Mha Malawi – 4.5 Mha USA – 15 Mha
What counts as FLR?
Range of restoration activities to better meet human needs (incl. carbon sequestration) Natural forest regeneration Often unplanned & uncoordinated Ecological restoration, lower economic benefits? Multi-species silvicultural systems Recover range of Ecosystem Services (ES) Monoculture tree plantations Goods, e.g., timber, pulpwood, firewood
Key characteristics of FLR
Local stakeholders actively involved
Whole landscapes are restored
Mosaic of activities
Reduces tradeoffs between conflicting interests
Provide for an agreed, balanced combination of ES and goods
Complement and enhance food production
Not cause natural forest conversion to plantations
Value for biodiversity?
Gilroy et al. 2014 Nature Climate Change
Rare bird species recover
Expanding forest protection
Half of carbon stock recovered in 30 yrs
Much recovery of primary forest biodiversity
Includes IUCN Red-listed + endemic spp.
Big carbon-biodiversity co-benefits of natural forest restoration on abandoned farmland in Tropical Andes
Restoration via tree plantations
China’s Grains-for-Green Program Largest reforestation program on Earth Pay rural households to re-establish forest on sloped marginal cropland ’99-’13 = 27.8 Mha of forest, US$46.9 Bn Restoration goals Timber, tree fruits, other cash crops Reduce landslides, erosion, flooding Biodiversity not explicitly considered
China’s Grains-for-Green Program
Conclusion: Economically viable to add more consideration of biodiversity benefits to GFGP
38% of mixed forest = 2-5 tree species
82% of monoculture = eucalyptus, bamboo, japanese cedar
36% of semi-mixed forest = monoculture tree + 1-2 shrub/grass species
Improved bird richness with mixed ..but not bee richness with mixed
More specialist birds with mixed
Mixed FLR is not more expensive
Promoting FLR at massive scales
Natural regeneration 2001-10 \+36 Mha Marginal Dry Steep High
Olson et al., 2001
