Link: https://doi.org/10.3389/ffgc.2019.00027
Summary: The authors coin the term ‘proforestation’ – growing existing forests intact to their ecological potential – and quantify the role of this climate smart practice in mitigating climate change and generating a wide range of ecosystem service benefits.
Key excerpts:
- “The IPCC identifies reforestationand afforestation as important strategies to increase negative emissions, but they face significant challenges: afforestation requires an enormous amount of additional land, and neither strategy can remove sufficient carbon by growing young trees during the critical next decade(s).”
- “In contrast, growing existing forests intact to their ecological potential—termed proforestation—is a more effective, immediate, and low-cost approach that could be mobilized across suitable forests of all types.”
- “Proforestation serves the greatest public good by maximizing co-benefits such as nature-based biological carbon sequestration and unparalleled ecosystem services such as biodiversity enhancement, water and air quality, flood and erosion control, public health benefits, low impact recreation, and scenic beauty.”