Management Strategies

Question 1

REDD strengths

Answer 1

• Provided an economic value on forests
• Compensated forest dependent people for not deforesting/degrading their land
• Allows indigenous groups to sell “carbon credits” from what their forest is absorbing to polluting countries/companies

Question 2

REDD weaknesses

Answer 2

• Weak definition of forest- so degraded areas and even areas of monoculture included
• If REDD was 100% effective, even then it would only contribute 20% of needed carbon sequestration
• REDD protection can lead to increased deforestation in surrounding areas
• The UN final review of REDD in 2014 rated the overall performance as, moderately satisfactory, but the overall, “likelihood of impact” rating was moderately unlikely

Question 3

REDD

Answer 3

Reducing Emissions from Deforestation and Forest Degradation

Question 4

Ramsar

Answer 4

International Convention on Wetlands

Question 5

Ramsar strengths

Answer 5

• Dedicated, experienced staff with diverse skills
• Extensive: 2,181 Ramsar sites, 168 parties (global network)
• Single issue focus: key universal issue, flexible approach
• Passionate members and governments directly involved
• Sound organisation, clear structure, good governance

Question 6

Ramsar weaknesses

Answer 6

• Limited budget and capacity, broad plan
• Little public knowledge, no clear message
• “Soft” decision making, guidelines not always followed by implementation
• Slow to act, missing opportunities to influence and cooperate

Question 7

Ramsar threats

Answer 7

• Negative global trends, overall wetland loss, increasing population and water use
• Lack of wetland awareness, benefits not widely known or valued
• Waning of political will, dropping in priority, parties indifferent
• Biodiversity and water conservation space is crowded due to other organizations

Question 8

Wetlands

Answer 8

• Wetlands include freshwater marshes, salt marshes, peatlands, floodplains and mangroves
• Common feature is a water table near the surface causing the ground to be permanently saturated
• Wetlands occupy 6-9% of the Earth’s land surface, and 35% of the terrestrial carbon pool

Question 9

Afforestation/Reforestation scheme

Answer 9

In China in 1978, the government sponsored a project that aimed to aforest 400,000km^2 of land (roughly the size of Spain) by 2050. They managed 30,000km^2 during the 2000’s, with a secondary aim of combatting desertification and land degradation in northern China

Question 10

Agricultural practises

Answer 10

• Land and crop management (???)
• Animal management (improving the quality of feed to lower CH4 emissions by mixing it with methane inhibitors)
• Manure management (controlling decomposition to combat CH4 emissions by storing it and using the gas as a renewable energy source)

Question 11

Wetland problems

Answer 11

• Population growth, economic development and urbanisation have put huge pressure on wetland environments
• In the lower 48 US states wetland areas have halved since 1600
• Canada’s prairie lost 70% of its wetlands in the 1900’s

Question 12

Wetland restoration

Answer 12

• 112,000 Ha have been targeted for restoration in Canada (this could sequester 364,000 tonnes of carbon/Ha/year)
• Up to 400 Ha of grade 1 farmland is being converted back into wetland in Cambridge, UK, with a similar scheme in Somerset
• The UK government target is 500 Ha by 2020
• These schemes aim to raise the water table (e.g. with controlled flooding, removal of flood defences and drainage systems, installing sluice gates etc.)