Forests are vital components of the ecosystem when it comes to combatting climate change.
Forests are the second largest carbon sinks after oceans and they sequester 19% of carbon emissions world wide. Forests and soil act as carbon sinks because they store atmospheric carbon dioxide during the process of photosynthesis.
Importance of forests
Forests play a vital role in combatting climate change in a number of ways ie sequestration, storage and substitution.
In sequestration, trees capture carbon dioxide from the atmosphere and store it in the form of carbon in living biomass and later in dead biomass, leaves and soil.
In storage, the wood products derived from forests store carbon through out their useful life. These products can also replace other more energy intense materials and nonrenewable fuels that emit green house gases.
Tree planting
The sustainable forest management can combat the green house effect effectively by planting trees to expand the area under forest cover. Planting more trees produces more high quality wood for building and furniture as well as energy production.
The goal is to shorten the production cycle as young trees are more effective in absorbing carbon dioxide than old trees.
The choice of spices planted needs to be revised for adaptation to climate change. It is important to reduce deforestation and restring degraded forests to their previous state.
