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Forest biodiversity key to tackling climate change |
Protecting and restoring biodiversity in primary forests and managed forests both help reduce emissions and aid societal adaptation to climate change, says a new study released by the Centre of Biological Diversity (CBD).
Forests are among the largest carbon sinks on earth and contain about half the world's terrestrial biomass of carbon stocks. Consequently, reducing emissions from deforestation (which today stands for some 20% of human greenhouse gas emissions) is now a cornerstone in many national climate strategies (e.g. Brazil). Forest conservation can also help attain climate change adaptation targets through maintaining a steady flow of forest goods and services that are vital in fulfilling human societal needs. In essence they are a reservoir of vital natural capital and alternative livelihood options that can aid societal adaptation to a rapidly changing climate.
Along these lines, a new study released by the Centre of Biological Diversity (CBD) makes compelling arguments that forest-based climate change mitigation and adaptation efforts will ultimately hinge on successful conservation and management of forest biodiversity.
- Diversity is a key factor for human well-being: diversity of natural resources and of cultural practices, linked to biodiversity, increases resilience, said Robert Nasi, Programme Director, Environmental Services and Sustainable Use of Forests with the Center for International Forestry Research in Bogor, Indonesia.
Biodiversity promotes forest resilience
Maintaining and restoring biodiversity in forests promotes their resilience and is an ‘insurance policy’ against projected consequences of climate change. Resilience is the capacity of a forest to withstand external pressures and return, over time, to its pre-disturbance state. When viewed over an appropriate time span, a resilient forest ecosystem is able to maintain its identity in terms of taxonomic composition, structure, ecological functions, and process rates. So, in terms of mitigation strategies, for example, this would translate into that the resilience of forest ecosystems will mediate whether forest bound carbon stocks are lost or conserved.
The study provides several concrete recommendations for resilience-centered forest management, including: i) avoid practices that select only certain trees for harvesting and eliminate conversion of natural forests to reduced-species plantations, ii) maintain stand and landscape structural complexity, using natural forests and processes as models and iii) maintain connectivity and reduce fragmentation.
/Albert Norström
Read the report:
http://www.cbd.int/doc/publications/cbd-ts-43-en.pdf |
