08/01/04

Carbon sinks and conserving biodiversity

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<h1>Carbon sinks and conserving biodiversity</h1>
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<p>Concern has been raised that projects to enhance carbon sequestration in terrestrial ecosystems may be damaging to biodiversity; for example, old growth, biodiversity-rich forests could be replaced by plantations of fast-growing trees.</p>
<p>But Bas van Wesemael and Eric Lambin argue in a letter to <em>Science</em> that it is possible to strike a good balance between climate change mitigation and the conservation of biological diversity.</p>
<p>Policies for the conservation and sustainable use of existing forests should, they say, be aimed at increasing rural incomes, empowering local users of forests and promoting good governance of natural resources.</p>
<p><a onclick="pageTracker._trackPageview('/tracking/external/'+this.href);" target="_blank" href="/sci.cfm?redir=http://www.sciencemag.org/cgi/content/full/294/5549/2094?ijkey=9P76HQ2NFJa/g&keytype=ref&siteid=sci" rel="noopener noreferrer">Link to full text</a></p>
<p>Reference: <em>Science</em> 294, 2094 (2001)</p>

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<p>This article was originally published on <a href="https://www.scidev.net" target="_blank">SciDev.Net</a>. Read the <a href="https://www.scidev.net/global/opinions/carbon-sinks-and-conserving-biodiversity/" target="_blank">original article</a>.</p>
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Concern has been raised that projects to enhance carbon sequestration in terrestrial ecosystems may be damaging to biodiversity; for example, old growth, biodiversity-rich forests could be replaced by plantations of fast-growing trees.

But Bas van Wesemael and Eric Lambin argue in a letter to Science that it is possible to strike a good balance between climate change mitigation and the conservation of biological diversity.

Policies for the conservation and sustainable use of existing forests should, they say, be aimed at increasing rural incomes, empowering local users of forests and promoting good governance of natural resources.

Link to full text

Reference: Science 294, 2094 (2001)