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
(Inter-)Governmental investment
National programs
China’s GFGP
Brazil’s Atlantic Forest Restoration Pact (under Bonn Challenge)
REDD+
Enhancement of forest carbon stocks
Cheaply promote further abandonment of marginal farmland?
Unleashing the power of the market
Scale of FLR beyond financial capacity of many governments, NGOs & aid agencies
Take advantage of market forces?
FLR must produce EGS with financial value»_space; opportunity costs of degrading activities
Government role to support transformation of FLR into a new economic activity
Create incentives for positive FLR actions
Brancalion, Edwards et al. 2017 Forest Policy & Economics
Market & FLR = economies of scale
Growing cost advantages with increasing size of operations
Many EGS need large spatial scale
Watershed reserves, erosion prevention
Functional connectivity (vs fragmentation)
FLR is ‘big’ field of activity, like agriculture & infrastructure similar incentive types
Tackle ‘free rider’ problem (beneficiaries do not pay) to promote green business
FLR has broad potential to generate jobs and income, alleviate poverty, & deliver EGS with economic value to society, but…
If viewed as narrowly-focused environmental activity, likely to fail
Land tenure
New policies to leverage a massive engagement of landholders
Will FLR improve livelihoods?
Or will market-based approaches deepen existing inequalities, or even produce new ones?
Brancalion, Edwards et al. 2017 Forest Policy & Economics
Pitfalls of using markets
Restoration divert resources from protection of threatened ecosystems and species
Markets are ineffective to determine the best type of restoration
Markets are ineffective to influence the appropriate location of restoration
Strategies to foster large-scale restoration may undermine the interests of local people
Imbalances for markets for ecosystem good versus services
Supportive regulations
Economic mechanisms - reduce costs or increase profits of restoration (subsidies, loans, direct payments, or tax breaks)
Technological, educational, or infrastructural investment - alter the spatial pattern of agriculture to create space for restoration
Market-led standards and certification schemes - provide access to lucrative markets and/or a price premium to companies engaged in restoration
Legal and enforcement mechanisms - create laws that promote restoration, improve the enforcement of laws
Summary
Preventing >2C warming requires Negative Emissions Technologies
> 2 Bn hectares of degraded land globally
Forest Landscape Restoration agenda
- Sequester carbon
- Return other Ecosystem Goods & Services
Unleash the power of the market?
- Government-led
- Improved local livelihoods (landholders?)
- Research into avoiding potential pitfalls
