Carbon Sequestration and Conservation of Tropical Forests Under Uncertainty

Abstract

Concern for global warming has focused attention on the role of tropical forests in the reduction of ambient CO2 levels and mitigation of climate change. Deforestation is a major land use change in the tropics, with forest resources undergoing degradation through the influence of logging and conversion to other uses. Land use change is a product of varied local and regional resource use policies. Management of forest resources is one such major temporal factor, influencing resource stability and the carbon pool. Under a given management policy, both the long period of forest growth, and the slow turnover and decay of the carbon pool, enhance the relevance of stand level management policies as cost‐effective mechanisms mitigating climate change. Apart from regional level uncertainties like the nature of land use and the estimation of carbon storage in vegetation and soil, the carbon flux of tropical forests is greatly influenced by uncertainty in regenerative capacity of forests and in harvest and management policies. A case study from India is used to develop a transition matrix model of natural forest management, and to explore the economic implications of maintaining and expanding existing carbon sinks. The study further explores the significance of investments in additional carbon sinks in plantation forests, given continued uncertainty in natural forest management.

Climate engineering management: an emerging interdisciplinary subject

“…In addition, organizing function prevails in carbon cycle engineering based on the agroforestry system. Reddy and Price (1999) analyzed the economic impact of maintaining or expanding the tropical forest carbon stocks under uncertain circumstances and proposed the optimal policy of organizing forest carbon sequestration. Cacho et al (2013) proposed a mechanism to overcome the barriers to carbon trading in forestry and provided insights for resource optimization and low-cost development in afforestation technology.…”