Baseline carbon stocks assessment and projection of future carbon benefits of a carbon sequestration project in East Timor

Issue Date

5-2006

Abstract

Climate change is one of the most pressing environmental problems humanity is facing today. Forest ecosystems serve as a source or sink of greenhouse gases, primarily CO2. With support from the Canadian Climate Change Fund, the Community-based Natural Resource Management for Carbon Sequestration project in East Timor (CBNRM-ET) was implemented to "maintain carbon (C) stocks and increase C sequestration through the development of community-based resource management systems that will simultaneously improve livelihood security". Project sites were in the Laclubar and Remexio Sub-districts of the Laclo watershed. The objective of this study was to quantify baseline C stocks and sequestration benefits of project components (reforestation with fast-growing species, primarily Casuarina equisetifolia, and agroforestry involving integration of Paraserianthes falcataria). Field measurements show that mature stands (≥30 years) of P. falcataria and C. equisetifolia contain up to 200 Mg C ha-1 in above ground biomass, indicating the vast potential of project sites to sequester carbon. Baseline C stocks in above ground biomass were very low in both Laclubar (6.2 Mg C ha-1 for reforestation sites and 5.2 Mg C ha-1 for agroforestry sites and Remexio (3.0 Mg C ha-1 for reforestation and 2.5 Mg C ha-1 for agroforestry). Baseline soil organic C levels were much higher reaching up to 160 Mg C ha-1 in Laclubar and 70 Mg C ha-1 in Remexio. For the next 25 years, it is projected that 137 671 Mg C and 84 621 Mg C will be sequestered under high- and low C stock scenarios, respectively. © 2006 Springer Science+Business Media, Inc.

Source or Periodical Title

Mitigation and Adaptation Strategies for Global Change

ISSN

13812386

Volume

12

Issue

2

Page

243-257

Document Type

Article

Language

English

Subject

Agroforestry, Carbon sequestration, East Timor, Soil organic carbon, Tropical plantations

Identifier

https://doi.org/10.1007/s11027-005-9011-8

Digital Copy

YES

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