----- forwarded message ----- Date: Sun, 18 Feb 2001 09:13:38 +0100 From: info <[EMAIL PROTECTED]> Subject: Agro-forestry could reduce global warming, experts say ----- forwarded message ----- Subject: [gaia-l] Agro-forestry could reduce global warming, experts say Date: Sat, 17 Feb 2001 12:36:21 -0400 (AST) From: Mark Graffis <[EMAIL PROTECTED]> Reply-To: [EMAIL PROTECTED] To: all <[EMAIL PROTECTED]>, [EMAIL PROTECTED] I/we may not agree with this one but here it is to be objective 2/17/01 By FREDRICK NZWILI © Earth Times News Service NAIROBI--Planting row after row of tree may be the best bet to reduce global warming and at same time reduce poverty in developing countries, says the International Centre for Research on Agro-Forestry (ICRAF) here. A recent study by the center indicates that transforming low productivity croplands to agro-forestry systems provides a global service by taking carbon out of the atmosphere and putting it back in the soil and in the biomass. "A key advantage of agro-forestry is that it benefits poor farmer in developing countries and yields global environmental payoffs at the same time," says Pedro Sanchez, the director of ICRAF. About 1.2 billion people, 20 percent of the world's population depend on agro forestry services for their survival, with the idea encapsulating large stores of indigenous knowledge developed by the farmer since the birth of farming. The system is now rapidly spreading in Africa, Asia, Latin America and more recently in developed world, according to ICRAF. Studies by Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change (IPCC), a consortium of scientists studying the climatic phenomenon, which shows that some agro-forestry systems may trap three times more carbon than do the same area of croplands and grass lands, and also at least 60 percent as much as the same areas of newly planted and re-growing forests. "The future of forest in developing countries is in the farms. In high rainfall area, as populations grow and the lands are cleared for agriculture, farmers grow trees since they need tree products. This has led to afforestation," says Sanchez. An IPCC special report released in May 2000 titled Land Use, Land Use Change, and Forestry, indicates that conversion of unproductive croplands and grasslands to agro-forestry have the best potential to soak up atmospheric carbon. "Tree in natural forests only soak up carbon when they are growing, so while preventing deforestation stops release of stored carbon, it does not decrease the amount of carbon dioxide in the atmosphere," says the report. Statistics by the organization indicate that during one year, well managed, no till cropland can trap 12 megatons, newly grazing land, 240 mega tons, newly planted and re-growing forests, between 197 and 584 megatons, and agro-forestry 390 mega tons. By contrast the report say that deforestation produces losses of 1788 megatons of carbon in the atmosphere annually. In response to concerns that human activities are increasing atmospheric concentration of greenhouse gases such as carbon dioxide, methane and nitrous oxide- the main gases associated with global warming, 160 countries signed the Kyoto Protocol in December 1997. This calls for industrialized countries to reduce their greenhouse gas emissions to 5 percent below their 1990 levels by 2012. Under the protocol, developed countries that cannot meet their targeted reduction would be allowed to invest in carbon offsets project in developing countries , and receive credit that can be applied towards meeting targets set by the rotocol. "The atmosphere is one. It doesn't matter where you apply. We may not use it in developed countries due to the fast changes taking place there, but we can use it here because it is most applicable," says Sanchez. If small holders adopt agro-forestry practices, they reverse this situation. "Many agro-forestry systems use fast growing, nitrogen fixing trees to restore soil fertility and improve soil physical properties," Louis Verchot, a senior ecologist At ICRAF explains in the report, Trees for Change. "A major part of this soil restoration process involves recovery of organic based nutrients cycle through replenishment of soil organic matters, about half of which is carbon. Thus by increasing carbon stores above ground trees on farms and below ground in soil organic matter, agro-forestry produces global benefits. It withdraws carbon dioxide from the atmosphere, where the gas contributes to global warming, and stores it in the agro -ecosystem, where it contributes to their sustainability," The main challenge remains how to make the farmer adopt the new idea. "The bottom line is that agro-forestry is the best land use system for both carbon sequestration, which mitigates global warming and reduces poverty," says Verchot. Copyright © 2000 The Earth Times All rights reserved. References 1. mailto:[EMAIL PROTECTED] 2. http://www.earthtimes.org/lowgraphics.htm
