Active restoration accelerates the carbon recovery of human-modified tropical forests

Philipson, Christopher D.; Cutler, Mark E. J.; Brodrick, Philip G.; Asner, Gregory P.; Boyd, Doreen S.; Costa, Pedro Moura; Fiddes, Joel; Foody, Giles M.; Van Der Heijden, Geertje M.F.; Ledo, Alicia; Lincoln, Philippa R.; Margrove, James A.; Martin, Roberta E.; Milne, Sol; Pinard, Michelle A.; Reynolds, Glen; Snoep, Martijn; Tangki, Hamzah; Wai, Yap Sau; Wheeler, Charlotte E.; Burslem, David F. R. P.

Abstract

More than half of all tropical forests are degraded by human impacts, leaving them threatened with conversion to agricultural plantations and risking substantial biodiversity and carbon losses. Restoration could accelerate recovery of aboveground carbon density (ACD), but adoption of restoration is constrained by cost and uncertainties over effectiveness. We report a long-term comparison of ACD recovery rates between naturally regenerating and actively restored logged tropical forests. Restoration enhanced decadal ACD recovery by more than 50%, from 2.9 to 4.4 megagrams per hectare per year. This magnitude of response, coupled with modal values of restoration costs globally, would require higher carbon prices to justify investment in restoration. However, carbon prices required to fulfill the 2016 Paris climate agreement [$40 to $80 (USD) per tonne carbon dioxide equivalent] would provide an economic justification for tropical forest restoration.

Citation

Philipson, C. D., Cutler, M. E. J., Brodrick, P. G., Asner, G. P., Boyd, D. S., Costa, P. M., …Burslem, D. F. R. P. (2020). Active restoration accelerates the carbon recovery of human-modified tropical forests. Science, 369(6505), 838-841. https://doi.org/10.1126/science.aay4490

• Journal Article Type: Article
• Acceptance Date: Jun 19, 2020
• Online Publication Date: Aug 14, 2020
• Publication Date: Aug 14, 2020
• Deposit Date: Sep 1, 2020
• Publicly Available Date: Feb 15, 2021
• Journal: Science
• Print ISSN: 0036-8075
• Electronic ISSN: 1095-9203
• Publisher: American Association for the Advancement of Science
• Peer Reviewed: Peer Reviewed
• Volume: 369
• Issue: 6505
• Pages: 838-841
• DOI: https://doi.org/10.1126/science.aay4490
• Public URL: https://nottingham-repository.worktribe.com/output/4846915
• Publisher URL: https://science.sciencemag.org/content/369/6505/838