Session title: A-03 (76) Implications of the Paris Climate Change Agreement (CoP21) on Forests, Water and Soils

Moderator: Richard J. Harper, IUFRO Taskforce Coordinator “Forests, Soil and Water interactions”, Murdoch University, Australia

Tuesday, 25th of October 2016, 10:30-12-30 (306B)

Find more information on the IUFRO Task Force of Forests, Soil and Water interactions at: http://www.iufro.org/science/task-forces/forests-soil-water/

 

Tree at lake, Laos. Photo: all-free-download

Tree at lake, Laos. Photo: all-free-download

The Paris Agreement established the ambitious goal to limit the global rise in temperature to below 2° C. This session took a look at the impact climate change as well as mitigation measures potentially have on forests, soil conservation and carbon mitigation.

Climate change can have an array of effects on forest ecosystems including poleward shifting of potential vegetation, increase in biomass production, drought and soil erosion. With forestry being the only land-use system with a natural potential in carbon dioxide capture and sequestration (CCS), it has the potential to play an important role in reaching the CoP21 goals. As land is the critical resource in any mitigation strategy the pressure on forestry and the competition with other forms of land-use is high.

While the global loss of forest area has slowed down, the capacity for carbon storage of forests lost and gained vary. Short-termed, planted forests cannot make up for the primary forest lost due to land-use changes. Nevertheless forest restoration and planting is important, but forests need to be adapted to climate as well as social changes in the long-run.

With this in mind the IUFRO Task Force of Forests, Soil and Water interactions will soon launch an online survey directed at practitioners to learn about their experience with adaptive forest management (AFM).

Presentations in this session:

  • Implications of Paris Agreement on Forest and Water Soils (Wang Chufeng, China)
  • Implications of Paris Agreement for Forest Restoration, Water and Soil Conservation (Andreas Bolte, Thünen-Institut Federal Research Institute for Rural Areas, Forestry and Fisheries Institute of Forest Ecosystems, Germany)
  • Challenges in Effectively Integrating Forests in the Paris Agreement (Rod Keenan, University of Melbourne, Australia)
  • Reforestation of Dryland Farming Systems: Potential and Challenges (Stan Sochacki, Murdoch University, Australia)
  • REDD+ Program in Vietnam: A Win-Win Solution for Paris Agreement (Hai Nguyen Thi, Vietnam)