Forest Protection
Land Use
With mature canopy trees and complex understories, forests contain 300 billion tons of carbon and are the greatest repositories of biodiversity on the planet.
Rank and results by 2050 #38
Forest Protection
| Reduced CO2: | 6 gigatons |
|---|
TOTAL CO2-EQ REDUCTION (GT)
Total CO2-equivalent reduction in atmospheric greenhouse gases by 2050 (gigatons)
NET COST (billions US $)
Net cost to implement
SAVINGS (billions US $)
Net savings by 2050
Impact:
For each acre of forest protected, the threat of deforestation and degradation is removed. By protecting an additional 687 million acres of forest, this solution could avoid carbon dioxide emissions totaling 6.2 gigatons by 2050. Perhaps more importantly, this solution could bring the total protected forest area to almost 2.3 billion acres, securing an estimated protected stock of 245 gigatons of carbon, roughly equivalent to over 895 gigatons of carbon dioxide if released into the atmosphere. Financials are not projected, as they are not incurred at the landholder level.
Forest Protection
Land Use
With mature canopy trees and complex understories, forests contain 300 billion tons of carbon and are the greatest repositories of biodiversity on the planet.
The most critical of all forest types is primary forest, known as old-growth or virgin forest. Examples include the Great Bear Rainforest of British Columbia and those of the Amazon and the Congo. With mature canopy trees and complex understories, these forests contain 300 billion tons of carbon and are the greatest repositories of biodiversity on the planet.
In 2015, there were an estimated three trillion trees in the world. That count is substantially higher than previously thought, but more than 15 billion are cut down each year. Since humans began farming, the number of trees on earth has fallen by 46 percent. Carbon emissions from deforestation and associated land use change are estimated to be 10 to 15 percent of the world’s total.
Strategies to stop deforestation and protect forests include:
public policy and the enforcement of existing anti-logging laws;
market-driven mechanisms, primarily eco-certification programs that inform consumers and affect purchasing decisions; and
programs that enable wealthy nations and corporations to make payments to countries and communities for maintaining their forests.
The benefits of forest conservation include biodiversity protection, non-timber products, erosion control, pollination, ecotourism, and other ecosystem services.
