Notes From the Field
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Carbon release and carbon capture loss
in Karukinka Natural Park, Tierra del Fuego (Chile): Using
GIS as a tool for estimating real and potential damage to the Southern Cone.
By Ricardo Muza and Bárbara Saavedra,
Wildlife Conservation
Society, Chile
Since 2004, the Wildlife
Conservation Society (WCS) has protected the most important terrestrial carbon
stocks that exist in the Southern Hemisphere. Karukinka Park, preserves the largest conserved
ecosystems of sub-antarctic forests and peat bogs of Tierra del Fuego - storing
or capturing massive amounts of carbon. In Karukinka, WCS is developing
a novel conservation model, based on science and education, with the aim of
developing tools for effective management and long term sustainability of global
biodiversity.
One of the
major threats to these ecosystems is an increasing population of non-native beaver
species. As newcomers to a pristine habitat, beaver activity causes major
damage to local ecosystems, including forests and peat bogs. When beavers arrive and colonize riparian
forests by building dams and eating the surrounding vegetation, the forests
virtually disappear. In addition, because the loss of soil and the small size
of the tree seeds, invasive grasses colonize the area, preventing the establishment
of recruits, changing the direction of the succession from a forest to exotic
grassland.
The
loss of forests due to beaver activity diminishes the ability of forests t o
sequestrate carbon. Carbon sequestration is the
capture and secure storage of carbon dioxide that would otherwise be emitted to
or remain in the atmosphere. The potential for storing (or
"sequestering") significant amounts of carbon in forests and other ecosystems is
an alternative mean for offsetting the effect of emissions of greenhouse gases
into the atmosphere.
Carbon
is sequestered in growing trees principally as wood in the tree bole. However,
accrual in forest ecosystems also depends on the accumulation of carbon in dead
wood, litter, and soil organic matter. When wood is harvested and removed from
the forest by beavers, not all of the carbon flows immediately to the
atmosphere, but the there is immediately loss of capacity to sequestrate
carbon.
Carbon
stocks in undisturbed and beaver-impacted forests in Karukinka were measured as
part of an assessment in 2008. The main impact of beavers on forest carbon
stocks is the transition from live biomass, which sequesters carbon dioxide, to
dead biomass, which emits carbon dioxide over time through the process of
decomposition. The baseline emissions caused by the destruction of riparian
forests by beavers can be estimated as the carbon emissions resulting from this
decomposition.
Average carbon stocks in undisturbed and beaver-impacted lenga forests
in Karukinka, Tierra del Fuego*.
 No
beavers, no forest destruction, and no carbon emissions. Starting from the data
above, plus the preliminary estimation of the total area affected by beavers in
Karukinka inferred from GIS data, the
potential reduction of carbon emissions in the case beaver eradication from
Karukinka, indicates a net offset 82,576 (t CO2) in 30 years.
Using
GIS to Estimate Carbon Loss
For
this, GIS is a powerful tool that can provide precise estimations of the real loss
of carbon sequestration ability, not only inside Karukinka boundaries, but in
all the impacted area of Tierra del Fuego. WCS is working in developing a beaver eradication program in Patagonia,
allowing the restoration of these subantarctic forests, and their ability to
sequester and store carbon in high latitudes of the Southern Hemisphere.
*
2008, Winrock International. Assessing the potential for generating Carbon
Offsets in WCS´s Karukinka reserve, Tierra del Fuego, Chile.
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| Take A Look
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Expand your knowledge on community-based forest management with these diverse resources.
Governance of the Global Carbon Market: Does Scale Matter?  This 2008 working paper was developed under the USAID-funded TransLinks Program (from Wildlife Conservation Society). The author identifies the potential opportunities for the growing carbon market and Reducing Emissions from Deforestation and Degradation (REDD) policy to help preservation efforts for large tracks of tropical forests by using innovative financing mechanisms. A secondary benefit of these programs will be habitat preservation which will result because of these policies. The paper describes the challenge to making these sustainably financed forest-carbon protected programs a reality - the governance systems developed to manage risk across multiple scales. Click here to read the working paper.Successful Farmer Managed Natural Regeneration - VideoWorld  Vision Australia documents successes of Farmer Managed
Natural Regeneration (FMNR) in this video. From Senegal to Ethiopia and beyond Africa, FMNR has bolstered food security and combated desertification and degradation through this rapid, sustainable method of reforestation. FMNR involves the selection, pruning ,and regrowth of plants already in the soil. The video discusses advantages of FMNR over traditional re-planting of trees, including low cost, rapid results, and adapted to drought-prone environments. The video also discusses response and challenges from the communities themselves, such as the need for legal frameworks for user rights to the trees. Click here to watch the video.  Clean Development Mechanism Forestry for Rural Poverty Reduction and Biodiversity Conservation: Making the CDM work for rural communities This booklet developed by Forest Trends and the Katoomba Group provides an overview of the Clean Development Mechanism (CDM) and demonstrates its benefits for the rural development community.
The author's argue that the CDM could be a very important contributor and catalyst for rural development and ecosystem restoration in low-income countries. Click here to read the full report. |
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 Featured Community/Partner Page - Africa Biodiversity Collaborative Group (ABCG)
The Africa
Biodiversity Collaborative Group (ABCG), which is comprised of seven
U.S.-based international conservation NGOs with field programs in Africa (African Wildlife Foundation, Conservation International, the Jane Goodall Institute, The Nature Conservancy,
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Fund), works
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The litany of impacts and concerns regarding climate change ranges from
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natural resources, among many others.
ABCG uses FRAMEweb to host a variety of topics such as an experts' meeting on Global Climate Change: Biodiversity Impacts and Conservation Responses in Africa. Other resources include those shared during a 2005 meeting
on Payments for Ecosystem Services (PES). Participants learned about PES,
the steps required, and how such strategies fit with other conservation
activities and mechanisms, as well as the opportunities for PES to contribution
to poverty reduction and improved natural resource management. The above
elements are critical for current discussions of the role of REDD+
(Reducing Emissions from Deforestation and Forest Degradation). These efforts link
to broader processes as well. The Dar Vision for the Future of Biodiversity in Africa lays out the importance of
mitigating and adapting to climate change as one of the critical steps in
assuring that there will be a shared future for biodiversity and human society
by 2025. With support from the U.S. Agency for International Development's Africa
Bureau program Biodiversity Analysis and Technical Support (BATS) ABCG is now developing further work
on adaptation to climate change, and will share new information developed
through this effort through the ABCG website, listserv and events. For more information, visit the ABCG page on FRAMEweb (www.abcg.org).
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