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Land
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Impact of Sustainable Forest Management on Biomass Growth and Carbon...
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Impact of Sustainable Forest Management on Biomass Growth and Carbon Accumulation Capacity

A special issue of Land (ISSN 2073-445X).

Deadline for manuscript submissions: closed (31 March 2022) | Viewed by 10841

Special Issue Editors

Dr. Prem Raj Neupane

E-Mail Website
Guest Editor
Institute for Wood Sciences - World Forestry & Center for Earth System Research and Sustainability, University of Hamburg, 21031 Hamburg, Germany
Interests: sustainable forest management (SFM); applied silviculture; community-based forest management; international forest/environmental policies and regimes; biodiversity monitoring; forest resource assessment; carbon forestry
Prof. Dr. Michael Köhl

E-Mail Website
Guest Editor
Institute for Wood Sciences - World Forestry & Center for Earth System Research and Sustainability, University of Hamburg, 21031 Hamburg, Germany
Interests: SFM; applied silviculture; international forest/environmental policies and regimes; biodiversity; forest resource assessment; carbon forestry
Dr. Philip Mundhenk

E-Mail Website
Guest Editor
Institute for Wood Sciences - World Forestry & Center for Earth System Research and Sustainability, University of Hamburg, 21031 Hamburg, Germany
Interests: SFM; applied silviculture; forest resource assessment; survey statistics; forest growth and yield studies; carbon forestry
Dr. Archana Gauli

E-Mail Website
Guest Editor
Institute for Wood Sciences - World Forestry & Center for Earth System Research and Sustainability, University of Hamburg, 21031 Hamburg, Germany
Interests: SFM; forest genetics; community-based forest management; biodiversity monitoring; project management

Special Issue Information

Dear Colleagues,

Forests provide a wealth of goods and services that are indispensable for human wellbeing. Storage of a quarter of a trillion tons of carbon, reduction of carbon dioxide (CO2) concentrations in the atmosphere, regulation of water and climate services, and maintenance of biodiversity are major ecosystem services provided by the forests. Despite their enormous benefits, forests are still being destroyed at an alarming rate – 10 million hectares annually. Consequently, forest and other land use sectors (excluding agriculture) are responsible for about 11% of global net greenhouse gas (GHG) emissions. On the other side of the forest carbon ledger, researchers have indicated that avoiding tropical deforestation and forest degradation and safeguarding current sequestration produce a combined tropical forest mitigation of a total of 3.45 billion tons per year, which could amount to ~29% of all anthropogenic carbon mitigation. Protection and sustainable management of forest are the only proven carbon-capture and storage techniques that are natural, safe, and affordable and can be deployed at a large scale globally. The circumstances motivated the international community to consider sustainable forest management (SFM) as one of the most effective strategies in addressing the imminent ‘bio-climate catastrophe’.

New global commitments and international mechanisms (e.g., Agenda 2030 for Sustainable Development, Paris Agreement, REDD+, FLEGT) have increased the political focus on forests. The Paris Agreement encouraged parties to take action to implement and support policy approaches and positive incentives for SFM and the enhancement of forest carbon stocks in developing countries. Without sustainable management of all types of forests, a global balance between anthropogenic emissions and removals of GHGs in the second half of this century is not likely.

Therefore, this Special Issue focuses on the contribution of forestry practices and activities under the umbrella of SFM approaches to mitigate the bio-climate catastrophe through enhanced forest growth and consequently increased carbon stocks within the forests. It includes case studies from several countries exploring the environmental and ecological dimensions of SFM.

Dr. Prem Raj Neupane
Prof. Dr. Michael Köhl
Dr. Philip Mundhenk
Dr. Archana Gauli
Guest Editors

Manuscript Submission Information

Manuscripts should be submitted online at www.mdpi.com by registering and logging in to this website. Once you are registered, click here to go to the submission form. Manuscripts can be submitted until the deadline. All submissions that pass pre-check are peer-reviewed. Accepted papers will be published continuously in the journal (as soon as accepted) and will be listed together on the special issue website. Research articles, review articles as well as short communications are invited. For planned papers, a title and short abstract (about 100 words) can be sent to the Editorial Office for announcement on this website.

Submitted manuscripts should not have been published previously, nor be under consideration for publication elsewhere (except conference proceedings papers). All manuscripts are thoroughly refereed through a single-blind peer-review process. A guide for authors and other relevant information for submission of manuscripts is available on the Instructions for Authors page. Land is an international peer-reviewed open access monthly journal published by MDPI.

Please visit the Instructions for Authors page before submitting a manuscript. The Article Processing Charge (APC) for publication in this open access journal is 2600 CHF (Swiss Francs). Submitted papers should be well formatted and use good English. Authors may use MDPI's English editing service prior to publication or during author revisions.

Keywords

  • forest biomass
  • forest carbon
  • mitigation
  • REDD+
  • sustainable forest management

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Published Papers (3 papers)

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Research

15 pages, 2860 KiB  
Article
Timber Losses during Harvesting in Managed Shorea robusta Forests of Nepal
by Upendra Aryal, Prem Raj Neupane, Bhawana Rijal and Michael Manthey
Land 2022, 11(1), 67; https://doi.org/10.3390/land11010067 - 2 Jan 2022
Cited by 2 | Viewed by 3885
Abstract
Logging and sawing of timber using conventional tools by unskilled workers causes enormous damage to the valuable timber, residual stand, regeneration, and forest soil in Nepal. The purpose of this study was to find out the volume reduction factor and identify major strategies [...] Read more.
Logging and sawing of timber using conventional tools by unskilled workers causes enormous damage to the valuable timber, residual stand, regeneration, and forest soil in Nepal. The purpose of this study was to find out the volume reduction factor and identify major strategies to reduce timber losses in the tree harvesting process in the Terai Shorea robusta forest of Nepal. Field measurements and product flow analysis of 51 felled trees from felling coupes and randomly selected 167 sawed logs were examined to study harvesting losses. Responses from 116 forest experts were analyzed to explore strategies for reducing harvesting and processing losses. The results showed that timber losses in the felling and bucking stage with and without stem rot were 23% and 22%, respectively. Similarly, timber losses in the sawing stage with and without stem rot were 31% and 30%, respectively. Paired t-test at 5% level of significance revealed that there was significant loss in both tree felling and log sawing stages with present harvesting practice. The most leading factor contributing to timber loss in all of the three stages was the use of inappropriate equipment during tree harvesting. Use of synthetic ropes for directional felling and skidding as well as flexible and portable sawing machine with size adjustment options during sawing were mainly recommended as strategies to reduce timber losses. This study serves as a baseline study to identify and quantify timber losses in different stages of tree conversion and also formulate their reduction strategies in Nepal. Full article
(This article belongs to the Special Issue Impact of Sustainable Forest Management on Biomass Growth and Carbon Accumulation Capacity)
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16 pages, 691 KiB  
Article
The Role of Social Capital in Rural Households’ Perceptions toward the Benefits of Forest Carbon Sequestration Projects: Evidence from a Rural Household Survey in Sichuan and Yunnan Provinces, China
by Lingling Qiu, Weizhong Zeng, Shashi Kant and Sen Wang
Land 2021, 10(2), 91; https://doi.org/10.3390/land10020091 - 20 Jan 2021
Cited by 9 | Viewed by 2602
Abstract
We examined the associations between social capital and rural households’ perceptions toward social, economic, and environmental benefits of forest carbon sequestration projects by employing the proportional odds model based on data collected from a rural household survey in Sichuan and Yunnan Provinces, China. [...] Read more.
We examined the associations between social capital and rural households’ perceptions toward social, economic, and environmental benefits of forest carbon sequestration projects by employing the proportional odds model based on data collected from a rural household survey in Sichuan and Yunnan Provinces, China. Results revealed that: (i) households’ perceptions toward environmental benefits are more positive than their perceptions toward economic benefits and social benefits, and their perceptions toward economic benefits are more positive than their perceptions toward social benefits; (ii) households having a good relationship with village officials have higher odds of holding more positive perceptions toward social, economic, and environmental benefits of the projects; (iii) households which are members of local associations are more likely to have positive perceptions toward benefits of the projects; (iv) households whose members are more frequently involved in village-level public events are more likely to have more positive perceptions toward benefits of the projects; (v) households having more educated household heads have higher odds of holding better perceptions toward the benefits of FCS projects; and (vi) households of Yunnan Province are less likely to express positive perceptions toward benefits of the projects. Based on the research results, we concluded that social capital is significantly and positively associated with rural households’ perceptions toward benefits of forest carbon sequestration projects. Some policy implications are provided regarding how to make use of social capital elements to shape farmers’ perceptions toward benefits of the projects for the purpose of achieving a higher level of local acceptability for and sustainability of the projects. Full article
(This article belongs to the Special Issue Impact of Sustainable Forest Management on Biomass Growth and Carbon Accumulation Capacity)
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17 pages, 1505 KiB  
Article
Impacts of Future Crop Tree Release Treatments on Forest Carbon as REDD+ Mitigation Benefits
by Sebastian Gräfe and Michael Köhl
Land 2020, 9(10), 394; https://doi.org/10.3390/land9100394 - 18 Oct 2020
Cited by 5 | Viewed by 3322
Abstract
Sustainable forest management activities, such as future crop tree (FCT) release treatments, became part of the REDD+ strategy to avoid carbon emissions from forests. FCT release treatments are intended to achieve increased growth of FCTs by removing competitor trees. This initially leads to [...] Read more.
Sustainable forest management activities, such as future crop tree (FCT) release treatments, became part of the REDD+ strategy to avoid carbon emissions from forests. FCT release treatments are intended to achieve increased growth of FCTs by removing competitor trees. This initially leads to a reduction of the forest carbon pool and represents a carbon debt. We estimated that the time it takes for FCTs to offset the carbon debt through increased growth on experimental sites of 10 km² in Belize, Guyana, Suriname, and Trinidad and Tobago. We further investigated whether the costs of treatment can be compensated by the generated financial carbon benefits. An average of 2.3 FCT per hectare were released through the removal of an average of 3.3 competitors per hectare. This corresponds to an average above ground biomass (AGB) deficit of 2.3 Mg FCT−1. Assuming a 30% increase in growth, the FCT would need on average 130 years to offset the carbon loss. For carbon prices from US$ 5 to 100 Mg CO2e−1 an additional increment between 0.6 and 22.7 Mg tree−1 would be required to cover the treatment costs of US$ 4.2 to 8.4 FCT−1. Assuming a carbon price of US$ 10 Mg CO2e−1, the additional increment required would be between 5.8 and 11.4 Mg tree−1, thus exceeding the biological growth potential of most individual trees. The release of FCTs does not ensure an increase in forest carbon stocks, and refinancing of treatment costs is problematic. Full article
(This article belongs to the Special Issue Impact of Sustainable Forest Management on Biomass Growth and Carbon Accumulation Capacity)
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