The rate of forest loss worldwide is alarming. According to the Food and
Agriculture Organization of the United Nations (FAO), between 1990 and2020, 420 million hectares of forest were lost due to deforestation, an
area equivalent to the size of the EU. Deforestation refers to the
destruction of forests so that the resulting land can be used for other
purposes. Forest degradation, which is caused by the loss, even
temporary, of forested areas due to the exploitation of wood products or
bioenergy, must also be considered. These processes occur primarily in
the three main forest basins: Amazon (South America), Congo (Central
Africa), and Southeast Asia.
It should be noted that what is happening in the EU, where forests
increased by 5.3% between 2000 and 2021 as a result of reforestation
policies, is far from being a compensation.
The absorption of CO2 by trees (an activity that qualifies them as
carbon sinks) is a fundamental process for climate change mitigation.
Photosynthesis is the chemical process that allows plants to convert
solar energy into chemical energy. With the energy of sunlight and the
absorption of water, CO2 is transformed into carbohydrates and other
organic molecules. The carbon is thus "fixed" and stored in the plant's
biomass (wood, leaves, roots).
Absorption capacity is a very important factor. The amount of CO2 a tree
can absorb varies based on several factors.
One of these factors is the species: some species are particularly
efficient at absorbing CO2, averaging up to 10 tons per hectare per
year, or even exceeding 20 tons in the case of conifers. Another factor
is age and size: young, rapidly growing trees absorb CO2 at a faster
rate. Mature trees, although at a slower rate, continue to store large
amounts of carbon. Yet another factor is the tree's state of health: a
healthy, strong tree absorbs CO2 more efficiently than a diseased or
damaged one. Finally, there is the environmental factor: water
availability, temperature, sunlight, and CO2 concentration in the air
influence the process of photosynthesis. While a higher concentration of
CO2 in the atmosphere favors photosynthetic activity, rising
temperatures and low water availability are certainly factors that
negatively impact the process.
As part of measures to combat the climate crisis, so-called nature-based
projects have been implemented, a series of activities that protect,
manage, and restore natural ecosystems by maximizing CO2 absorption.
First and foremost is reforestation, the replanting of trees where a
forest has been destroyed or degraded.
Unfortunately, however, according to research conducted by Etifor, a
company founded within the University of Padua-a certified B Corp and
active in the environmental consulting sector-even this "storage" of the
most well-known greenhouse gas is being called into question, at least
according to the data analyzed. Among the most notable cases is Canada,
where, from an analysis of 225 million hectares of forest, a shift from
an average annual absorption of 30.5 million tons of CO2 was recorded to
net emissions of 131.2 million tons, caused by fires, climate stress,
insects, and forest degradation. In 2023 alone, fires burned 15 million
hectares, representing 4% of Canada's forest area. This is not an
isolated phenomenon. In Europe, too, forests are beginning to decline:
in Finland, according to the LUKE Institute, net absorption turned
negative in 2021. The main causes are increased logging and increased
soil emissions due to faster litter decomposition caused by rising
temperatures. The same trend has been observed in Estonia since 2020, as
well as in Germany, where, due to drought and diseases affecting
weakened trees, forest carbon stocks have decreased by 41.5 million
tonnes since 2017.
According to Davide Pettenella, senior policy advisor at Etifor, there's
no room for further procrastination: "We've already missed the boat on
properly managing the role of forests in climate policies when we should
have focused on their temporary mitigation role while we changed our
energy model. Now, with average temperatures rising by 1.48°C, forests
risk becoming part of the problem, going from being opportunities to
being managed with greater care and attention to avoid exacerbating
greenhouse gas emissions.
More data. It is possible to quantify the carbon accumulation from new
forests at approximately 2.5 tons per hectare per year, corresponding to
9.2 tons of CO2 equivalent per hectare per year. Considering that the
emissions of an Italian citizen are approximately 9 tons of CO2
equivalent per year, it follows that 1 hectare of new forest could
offset the annual emissions of 1 Italian citizen if all forest
production were used solely for this purpose. For comparison, let's
remember that, with a population of over 60 million people, Italian
forests cover a total area of approximately 9 million hectares. Beyond
the real possibility of further expanding the area covered by trees, it
must be considered that the potential absorption is usually calculated
over a period of decades (30-70 years), corresponding to the forest's
development cycle. It follows that when carbon quotas are "sold" today,
future fixation is being calculated. Over such a long period of time,
events (technically called "disturbances") can occur that can damage the
forest and completely or partially nullify carbon accumulation. For
example, fires, pest attacks, wind damage, drought, etc. may occur. In
relation to the above, the effectiveness of such events should be
assessed in the case of compensatory reforestation, many of which, among
other things, are carried out in developing countries, as required by
the Kyoto Protocol. Obviously, the problem would become dramatic if the
trend continues that sees forests transforming, precisely as a result of
rising temperatures, from carbon sinks to additional sources of CO2
emissions.
MarTa0
Sources: https://www.greenreport.it/ https://www.scienzainrete.it/
https://www.etifor.com/it/
The table shows the absorption capacity of a one-hectare forest for each
species, over a calendar year for forest systems in which the vegetation
has reached maturity.
Vegetation Types
Forest Management
https://umanitanova.org/il-richiamo-della-foresta-stiamo-freschi-il-taccuino-della-crisi-climatica/
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