Enhancing China's plantation carbon sequestration for future sustainability

Enhancing China's plantation carbon sequestration for future sustainability
by Simon Mansfield
Sydney, Australia (SPX) Sep 05, 2024

Since the first industrial revolution, the rapid development of human economy and society has directly increased CO2 emissions from activities such as fossil fuel combustion, industrial processes, agriculture, and land use. As global greenhouse gas concentrations continue to rise, primarily driven by CO2, the effects of the greenhouse effect have become more pronounced, leading to a serious trend of global warming. In response to this ongoing climate change, China has actively engaged in global climate governance, aiming to mitigate climate change impacts. Despite significant efforts that have slowed the rapid increase in CO2 emissions, China remains the largest emitter globally, facing immense pressure to achieve substantial emission reductions in the future. To achieve carbon neutrality, it is critical not only to reduce emissions but also to leverage the carbon sequestration potential of forests through photosynthesis.

Since the 1970s, China has initiated major ecological projects, including extensive afforestation, making it the country with the largest plantation area worldwide. However, there has been a lack of comprehensive analysis regarding the evolution of carbon sequestration capacity, benefits, and effective pathways to achieve carbon neutrality through forest carbon sequestration. This has resulted in no consensus on the role and potential of forest carbon sequestration in reaching carbon neutrality, and a systematic theoretical framework has not yet been established.

The carbon sequestration function of China's large-scale plantations faces several challenges, including the current distribution of plantations, their contribution to national carbon sequestration, and ways to enhance their sustainable carbon sequestration capacity in the future. Addressing these issues is crucial for China to effectively combat global climate change.

To tackle these challenges, Zhouping Shangguan, Deng Lei, and their team from Northwest A&F University analyzed the current status of China's plantation construction. They found that plantations account for 32.94% of the national forest area and 8.31% of the land area. Over the past 40 years, the area of preserved plantations has grown steadily, though this growth has recently slowed. The predominance of young forests within these plantations suggests significant carbon sequestration potential in the coming decades. From 1970 to 2000, China's forest carbon stock increased by 40%. From 2001 to 2010, projects such as the Natural Forest Protection, Grain for Green, Three-North Shelterbelt Forest, China Rapid-Growing and High-Yield Forest Construction, and Beijing-Tianjin Sandstorm Source Control contributed to 63.4% - 71.2% of the country's forest carbon sequestration, accounting for 25% of global carbon sequestration from vegetation restoration projects.

Despite the considerable carbon sequestration achieved by China's plantations, several challenges persist as afforestation efforts continue. These include:

1. Reduced space for afforestation, increasing the difficulty of expanding the total area.

2. A large area of afforested cultivated land, which faces a risk of reversal.

3. Low overall quality and productivity of plantations.

4. Increased reliance on wood, highlighting a supply-demand imbalance.

5. Serious overharvesting issues.

To address these challenges, the researchers proposed several countermeasures:

1. Further promote land greening initiatives and expand ecological development space through multifaceted approaches. This involves fully utilizing the afforestation potential of existing forest lands, continuing key ecological projects, and enhancing land greening efforts.

2. Strengthen scientific management to improve plantation resource quality. This includes promoting forest management system construction and implementing measures to enhance forest quality.

3. Optimize plantation structure to boost timber supply. This can be achieved through intensive plantation management, reforming and cultivating existing forests, and focusing on tending and replanting efforts. These measures aim to reserve and cultivate rare and large-diameter forest resources, gradually addressing the shortage of such timber in China.

4. Enhance supervision to effectively protect afforestation outcomes. This requires accelerating forest harvesting management reforms, improving forest harvesting management systems, and enhancing forest resource monitoring to protect afforestation achievements.

These countermeasures are based on a comprehensive understanding of the dynamic evolution of plantation carbon sequestration. They propose future pathways and benefit improvement solutions for plantation carbon sequestration, aiming to support China's carbon neutrality goals more effectively.

Research Report:Pursuing the goal of carbon neutrality in China: path for realization of carbon sequestration in planted forests