Planted Forests: A Key Nature Based Solution for Restoring Forest Landscapes and Mitigating Climate Change

In education for sustainable development, widely regarded as a framework that offers us the opportunity to improve the ways in which we cope with climate change issues, the need for student teachers to express willingness to act in order to deal with numerous issues and challenges of sustainable development, especially climate change, is of particular importance. Therefore, the focus of this study is on the examination of predictors of student teachers’ willingness to act in a climate-change mitigation and adaptation context. For the purpose of this study, measurement instruments of willingness to act in climate change mitigation and adaptation context, attitudes towards climate change, perception of action possibilities in climate change mitigation and adaptation context, interest in climate change and concern for ecological problems were validated. A total of 201 student teachers from the University of Rijeka (Croatia) participated in the study. It was determined that (I) attitudes towards climate change, (II) perception of action possibilities in climate change mitigation and adaptation context and (III) interest in climate change represent significant predictors of willingness to act in climate-change direction and mitigation contexts. Based on the results of this study, recommendations for teacher education in the climate change context have been offered.

Climate change brings more challenges to agriculture, ecosystems, and human health, with increasing incidences of soil degradation, water scarcity, and contamination from heavy metals. Hydrophytes are water-loving plants which offer a sustainable, environment friendly solution through their natural capacity for phytoremediation. The study evaluates the role of hydrophytes in climate change mitigation, and Sustainable Development Goal 13 (SDG13), mainly focusing on the role of hydrophytes in the bioremediation of heavy metals. By utilizing hydrophytes in bioremediation practices, the study explores innovative pathways for developing resilient food systems and restoring aquatic ecosystems amid changing climatic conditions. Integration of hydrophyte-based bioremediation systems into climate change adaptation and mitigation strategies offers a low-cost, nature-based solution, particularly for developing regions. The chapter emphasizes the need for interdisciplinary approaches, supportive policies, and public awareness to harness the full potential of hydrophytes in achieving SDG13.

Soil health underpins ecosystem services like food security and therefore underpins human health. Poor soil health is a global problem which is hindering attempts to deliver the UN’s Sustainable Development Goals. We focus on goals 3 (human health), 13 (climate change) which are intimately linked to goal 15 (soil health). Soil health is arguably most fragile in regions such as sub-Saharan Africa (SSA) where aged soils are characterised by poor nutrient and water holding capacity, and are largely deficient in micronutrients such as Zinc. Poor soil health coupled with the largely cereal-based diets can mean that micronutrient malnutrition is high in the region. In sub-Saharan Africa, where much of the population is too poor to purchase mineral supplements, poor soil health (SDG15) can therefore negatively impact on human health (SDG3). We surveyed 3661 school children aged 13–15 in three African countries, Ghana, South Africa and Zimbabwe, for their ‘Attitudes, Behaviours and Competencies’ of soil, which we termed ‘ABC’. The ‘ABC’ survey results showed significant soil illiteracy. The survey showed that although students were generally equipped with a good attitude to (overall 52% positive) and behaviour towards soil (overall 60% engagement), they had little competency as to how to improve soil health (overall 23% knowledge). For example, less than 35% of respondents across all countries know that soil is living. Less than 13% of students are aware of the important role of soil in climate change mitigation. We believe that these two knowledge gaps must be addressed for Generation Z to understand the important linkages between climate change, soil and human health. We propose a hands-on ‘ethics of care’ approach to engage society with soil, piggybacking on existing climate change educational resources by building terrariums with living soil can empower children to learn about soil, plant, human and planetary health. The future of food security depends on Generation Z having soil literacy. Our survey clearly shows that students who think farming is a good way to make money have significantly higher levels of overall soil literacy. We propose that the future of human health depends on soil literacy.

Monocultures of crops have created problems and challenges, including damage to soil fertility, reduction of biodiversity, and impact on water resources and pollinators. Increased use of fertilisers and fossil fuels has enhanced climate change, leading to a reduction in farm income. Hence, areview of the literature was conducted to diagnose the significant horticultural and short forestry systems suitable for climate change adaptation and mitigation. The review highlighted that the short forestry systems are mostly practised in developing countries rather than developed countries. Silvi-Horti-pisciculture is a short forestry system where fish, wood, fruits, and annuals are cultivated synergistically. Silvi-Horti-pisciculture with beekeeping offers better ecosystem services such as control and prevention of pollution, food security and environmental sustainability, the protection of biodiversity, and adaptation to climate change in climate change scenarios. The order of significance is: carbon sequestration, nutrient recycling, biodiversity conservation, water conservation, and economies of the different components in the short forestry system, which include fruit trees, timber trees, bees, fish, medicinal plants, flowers, vegetables and crops. In the system of short forestry, the dominant component is fruit trees, where annual vegetables are intercropped. Hortoforestry can be a multifunctional tool for high food production, poverty population reduction, input reduction, water conservation, improved soil quality, biodiversity conservation, climate change mitigation, and climate change adaptation. Water bodies (both ground and surface water) have provided importance to hortoforestry, around the world, since the early twentieth century, with the rise of both the global population and society’s consumerism, agriculture has intensified, having a direct impact on the degradation of soils, water, air, natural landscapes and biodiversity. The study concluded that short forestry systems are a possible multifunctional solution for global food security, environmental protection, and mitigation and climate change and adaptation in the wasteland.

Carbon stock assessment quantifies carbon stored in ecosystems, which is vital for understanding their role in sequestering carbon dioxide, informing sustainable land management crucial for human activities and climate change mitigation. Employing purposive sampling to evaluate the biomass, carbon (C) stock, and carbon dioxide (CO2) sequestered in Daclan Communal Forest, using non-destructive methods, it informs climate change monitoring, mitigation, and adaptation strategies while promoting proper forest management and sustainable development. Additionally, it underscores the potential economic value derived from the forest's carbon pools. The methodologies used include measuring trees at diameter breast height (DBH) and sampling herbaceous vegetation, litter, and soil for C content determination, using eight (8) 30m by 30m plots to gather the data and samples. The Communal Forest boasted substantial biomass totaling approximately 262 Mg ha-1, comprising 182.17 Mg ha-1 of carbon and sequestering 671.26 Mg ha-1 of CO2. This abundance holds a significant economic value estimated at Php3,038,237.09. The figures highlight the considerable role of the Communal Forest in sequestering atmospheric carbon, indicating its potential for carbon crediting and trading. Therefore, collaborative efforts from Local Government Units (LGUs), community residents, and relevant organizations are imperative for the enhancement, sustainability, and conservation of these forests.

Forest plantations have the ability to sequester carbon in their biomass and reduce the rate of increase of atmospheric carbon dioxide. Therefore, plantation forestry forms an important option for mitigating global warming and consequent climate change. The objective of the present study was to estimate the biomass and carbon stocks of the existing forest plantations in Sri Lanka. Height and diameter measurements of the trees at breast height from 22 monocultures and 51 mixed-cultures, established and maintained by the Forest Department, were obtained from the FORDATA data base and used to calculate the existing carbon stocks using allometric relationships. The total estimated monoculture C stock in 2008 amounted to 4.23 million metric tons in an area of 57618.8 ha. Around 89% of this total C stock in monocultures is contributed by five tree species, namely, Pinus caribaea (44%), Tectona grandis (21%), Eucalyptus grandis (11%), Eucalyptus camaldulensis (7%) and Swietenia macrophylla (6%), occupying 92% of the area. Total C stock in mixed cultures in 2008 amounted to 0.681 million tons in 5949.6 ha. Five mixed cultures, i.e. Eucalyptus robusta and E. grandis (17%), Pinus mixed (13%), E. grandis and E. microcorys (12.5%), Eucalyptus mixed (7%) and Acacia mangium and A. auriculiformis (5%), contributed to 55% of this C stock. Monocultures, which showed the highest per ha C stocks were Pinus caribaea in Badulla (205 t ha-1) and Nuwara Eliya (164 t ha-1) and Eucalyptus grandis in Ratnapura (197 t ha-1) and Nuwara Eliya (168 t ha-1). Mixed plantations of Acacia decurrens and different species of Eucalyptus grown in Nuwara Eliya showed the highest combined per ha C stocks ranging from 226 – 279 t ha-1. The maximum per ha C stock in some of the Sri Lankan forest plantations in different climatic zones were either on par or above the benchmark average C stock values specified by the IPCC for the respective climatic zones. Age distribution of the monoculture C stocks showed that the highest percentage (i.e. 39%) was in the 21-30 year plantations, followed by the 31-40 year plantations (32%).Keywords: Carbon sequestration, climate change mitigation, forest biomass, tropical forests.DOI: http://dx.doi.org/10.4038/jnsfsr.v40i1.4166 J.Natn.Sci.Foundation Sri Lanka 2012 40 (1): 9-41

Climate is one of the most important factors that influence and determine the behavior, abundance and distribution of species, as well as having a strong influence on the ecology of habitats and ecosystems structure. Changes in the behavior, abundance and distribution of species are linked to climate. Diversity and plant species are highly interlinked and the relationship between biodiversity and climate change should be explored from several perspectives. This variety provides the building blocks to adapt to changing environmental conditions which are caused due to climate change. Conserved habitats can remove carbon dioxide from the atmosphere, thus helping to address climate change by storing carbon in the plant biomass. Climate is one of the major limiting factors which determine the survival and growth of plants. The conservation and restoration of biodiversity and ecosystem services can play a key role in helping societies to adapt to climate change. Biodiversity is affected by climate change, but biodiversity, through the ecosystem services and function it supports, also makes an important contribution to both climate-change mitigation and adaptation. Maintenance of agro-biodiversity and carbon sequestration through the process of photosynthesis is the two important and complementary environmental services of agro-ecosystems. Climate change affects biodiversity and one of the causes of biodiversity loss. At the same time climate change will accelerate further if biodiversity and ecosystems are not effectively protected. Generally due to the variation of genetic makeup within pants, different plant species diversity plays a great role in climate change adaption and mitigation process.

The forest-based sector plays a crucial role in contributing to urgently required climate change mitigation. To assess this mitigation potential, a system perspective is required. This accounts likewise for the biogenic carbon balances of forests and wood products, as well as for the fossil greenhouse gas emissions of the forest value chain, and those emissions avoided from replaced products, i.e., substitution effects. However, within a system perspective of the forest-based sector, great spatial and temporal complexity, feedback effects and trade-offs exist among possible mitigation measures. This thesis aims at improving the understanding of climate impacts in the forest-based sector from a system perspective to support more effective design of climate change mitigation measures. To that end, four forestbased systems were analyzed across different scales (product vs. market scale) and assessment approaches (supply-driven vs. demand driven) by integrating forest modelling data and life cycle assessment methodology. The overall results indicate that methodological decisions, especially assessment scale and approach, highly influence the estimated climate impact. Within a system perspective, the forest carbon sink has the most important contribution for climate change mitigation. Substitution effects can be misjudged if a supply-driven assessment approach is applied, while a demand-driven approach ensures a more realistic estimation. Future climate impact assessments from a system perspective should focus first on the question of which societal functions (e.g. housing) can expect which demand projection, and second, what role wood can play to fulfil the functions. Only after that should possible substitution effects be calculated, followed by estimating changes in the stored biogenic carbon in wood products, and lastly, the alteration of the forest carbon sink.

The climate challenges confronting agriculture are multiple, interconnected and multi-scaled. Agriculture is a source of increasing greenhouse gas emissions, but it is also vulnerable to climate change impacts. Adopting resilient approaches in the agricultural industry can help to contribute to both climate change mitigation and climate change adaptation. Climate-smart agriculture has emerged as a solution to address the multiple challenges of climate change and food security by sustainably increasing productivity, enhancing resilience and reducing greenhouse gas emissions. To date, there is limited scholarly evidence on what constitutes climate-smart agriculture, and how it is framed globally and practiced by smallholder farming communities. This research helps to bridge this gap by analysing the international discourse around climate-smart agriculture, and providing local empirical evidence derived from smallholder farming communities in the Philippines and Timor-Leste. At the broad level, this research aims to identify how climate-smart agriculture within community-based adaptation programs is contributing to the integration of mitigation and adaptation responses to climate change. Drawing from political ecology and climate change (adaptation and mitigation sciences) theories, the research explains how socio-institutional factors – inequality, unequal power relations and social injustice – influence climate-smart agriculture. The theoretical arguments are illustrated with empirical case studies of smallholder farmers and civil society organisations in the two case studies. Using mixed qualitative methods and descriptive analysis of over 150 semi-structured interviews, focus group discussions and participant observation, the research examines climate-smart agriculture practices across three broad categories: vulnerability of smallholder farmers (socioeconomic factors), synergistic relationships (adaptation, mitigation and food security) and governance (socio-institutional determinants). This research argues that mitigation and adaptation interventions are climate-smart for smallholder farmers when they directly address local climate risks, support a combination of adaptation, food security and livelihood strategies, and empower at-risk and marginalised populations. Results indicate that climate-smart agriculture in the Philippines and Timor-Leste are characterised and influenced by multiple socio-institutional factors. The increasing burden of loss and damage as a result of extreme climate events subject women to migration, increased discrimination, loss of customary rights to land, resource poverty and food insecurity. In terms of farming practices implemented by smallholder farmers, most adaptation actions were found to have corresponding positive mitigation, food security and livelihood co-benefits. At the community level, climate-smart interventions are highly location-specific, technically rigorous, involve knowledge-intensive processes, and are influenced by the finance and capacities of local farming communities and implementing partners. Furthermore, of relevance at the global level, this research finds that there is a growing divide between how developed and developing countries frame solutions to the impacts of climate change on agriculture despite agriculture featuring prominently in the United Nations Framework Convention on Climate Change negotiations. Such a divide is limiting the recognition of solutions that integrate mitigation and adaptation opportunities. The insights from the Philippines and Timor-Leste make a compelling case for joint adaptation and mitigation actions in the agriculture sector across three broad policy frontiers. First, implementation of climate-smart agriculture will require participatory platforms that have a focus on livelihood and income opportunities for smallholder farmers. Second, policies and institutions on agriculture, agrarian reform, land use and climate change should mainstream both adaptation and mitigation outcomes using local plans and community level programs. Third, partnerships with community-based organisations and local governments are pivotal to coordinating services with farmers, providing an array of agriculture and climate services generating new knowledge and implementing climate-smart farming solutions.

Climate change makes coastal communities more vulnerable to floods associated with storm surges and sea level rise, requiring both adaptation and mitigation measures. Moreover, proper understanding of flood risks and their potential impacts on climate change appears to be a communication challenge. In climate change communication, the effect of framing congruency on perception of risk, efficacy and behavioural intentions towards climate change adaptation and mitigation has received limited attention. Messages have not been congruent in framing risks associated with climate change. We define congruency as the coherent alignment of several aspects of message content. Messages are considered congruent when they provide recipients with consistent contents such as giving concrete and actionable advice, or by providing more abstract and general background information. This research focuses on climate change communication in fostering mitigation behaviours among adolescents in vulnerable locations in the global South. Based on Construal Level Theory, this paper investigates how message congruency affects the link between perceptions of climate change risk and efficacy and two predictors of behavioural change: perceived responsibility and mitigation intentions. We conducted an experiment to test the effect of congruent vs. incongruent risk communication among adolescents in highly vulnerable coastal communities in the Mekong Delta in Vietnam (N = 348). Multiple regression analysis found strong effects of congruency in message framing; when messages were congruent in the content, communicative interventions changed adolescents’ perceptions and attitudes toward climate change mitigation more consistently. This research contributes both theoretically and practically to risk communication among adolescents and toward climate change mitigation behaviour.

Land degradation is a major problem in Ethiopia, as it contributes to climate change by releasing greenhouse gases (GHG) and slowing carbon sequestration rates. The objective of this review was to assess the role of conservation agriculture (CA) in climate change adaptation and mitigation in Ethiopia. The critical review method processes for identifying and synthesizing peer-reviewed research and review articles, reports, proceedings, and book chapters were followed, with materials obtained from relevant search engines. The findings of the various reports revealed that minimum tillage assists in soil moisture conservation when compared to conventional tillage. Conservation tillage maintains crop residue, reduces soil temperature significantly, and increases nutrient buildup in the surface soil layer, all of which lead to higher crop growth and production thus help as adaptation to climate change. Furthermore, agriculture and other land uses significantly contribute to greenhouse gas emissions; nevertheless, conservation agricultural methods improve soil organic carbon (SOC), soil aggregation, and carbon in aggregate, as well as soil health that contribute to climate changing mitigation. Several studies found that soil health indicators such as soil aggregation, soil organic carbon storage, soil enzymes, and microbial biomass improved under conservation tillage practices, potentially improving the carbon-nitrogen cycle, soil stability, and overall crop productivity. In terms of climate adaptation and mitigation, CA is one of the non-substitutable choices for reducing greenhouse gas emissions. Crop diversity, increased nitrogen consumption efficiency, crop rotation, improved soil carbon sequestration methods; crop residue retention, minimum soil disturbance, manure incorporation, and integrated farming systems are all important factors in minimizing GHG emissions. Moreover, factors impeding CA adoption include a lack of appropriate equipment and machinery, weed control methods, the use of crop residue for fuel wood and animal feed, a lack of awareness about the benefits of CA on soil health and sustainability, and a lack of government technical and financial support for smallholder farmers. Adoption and scaling up of CA practices are critical for ensuring a sustainable development goal and resilient future. Thus, relevant stakeholders should consider the aforementioned considerations while promoting the technology on a large scale through integration with enhanced technology.

Mapping Climate in the 21st Century

When assessing soil organic carbon (SOC) sequestration and its climate change (CC) mitigation potential at global scale, the dynamic nature of soil carbon storage and interventions to foster it should be taken into account. Firstly, adoption of SOC-sequestration measures will take time, and reasonably such schemes could only be implemented gradually at large-scale. Secondly, if soils are managed as carbon sinks, then SOC will increase only over a limited time, up to the point when a new SOC equilibrium is reached. This paper combines these two processes and predicts potential SOC sequestration dynamics in agricultural land at global scale and the corresponding CC mitigation potential. Assuming that global governments would agree on a worldwide effort to gradually change land use practices towards turning agricultural soils into carbon sinks starting 2014, the projected 87-year (2014–2100) global SOC sequestration potential of agricultural land ranged between 31 and 64 Gt. This is equal to 1.9–3.9% of the SRES-A2 projected 87-year anthropogenic emissions. SOC sequestration would peak 2032–33, at that time reaching 4.3–8.9% of the projected annual SRES-A2 emission. About 30 years later the sequestration rate would have reduced by half. Thus, SOC sequestration is not a C wedge that could contribute increasingly to mitigating CC. Rather, the mitigation potential is limited, contributing very little to solving the climate problem of the coming decades. However, we deliberately did not elaborate on the importance of maintaining or increasing SOC for sustaining soil health, agro-ecosystem functioning and productivity; an issue of global significance that deserves proper consideration irrespectively of any potential additional sequestration of SOC.

Climate Change and Health: Strengthening the Evidence Base for Policy

China holds the world’s largest area of planted forests, which play a crucial role in mitigating climate change. Knowledge gaps remain on the responses of the growth of planted forests to climate changes in China, particularly for their long-term changes. This study compared the long-term tree-ring growth patterns and their responses to climate between planted and natural forests. We developed four chronologies from two typical conifer species of Pinus massoniana and Cunninghamia lanceolata from planted and natural forests in humid subtropical China. One chronology is to our knowledge the longest chronology from planted forests in China spanning since 1944. Tree growths of both natural and planted forests are generally limited by summer drought due to the hot and dry summer in this area. In general, tree rings of the natural forests are more sensitive to climate than planted forests as indicated by higher inter-series correlations, which agree with previous studies. The natural forests are more drought sensitive wheareas the planted forests are relatively more limited by temperature. The C. lanceolata forests showed more significant correlations with the accumulated drought than P. massoniana for both the natural and planted forests.