Biodiversity underpins the health and vitality of forests and is the basis for a wide range of ecosystem services necessary for peoples. A desire to expand into forest covered lands has resulted in scarred land, displaced species including humans, larger cities. International conference on forests for biodiversity and climate. Climate change toolbox forests, when sustainably managed, can have a central role in climate change mitigation and adaptation. Forests, desertification and biodiversity united nations.
Tropical forest degradation emits carbon at a rate of 0. The soil only stays nutrient rich for so long, about two years11, after this time, the nutrients from the burned biomass are used up. These include cutting greenhouse gas emissions, sequestering carbon, providing other ecosystems services, and maintaining intact. Desertification and the associated loss of vegetation, causes biodiversity loss and contributes to climate change through reducing carbon sequestration. Desertification and the role of climate change resilience. Forests cover approximately 30% of the earths land surface and provide critical ecosystem goods and services, including food, fodder, water, shelter, nutrient cycling, and cultural and recreational value. Nonetheless, humans are destroying forest biodiversity at an alarming rate. Overall, protecting forests means protecting biodiversity and working for a climate neutral and climate resilient land. Land use change 19912001 000 ha land use year ecological region change annual himal hills terai all change %. Fao, forests and climate change 3 fao, fo rests a nd clim a te ch a nge 1 sfm is described by the united nations as a dynamic and evolving concept that aims to maintain and enhance the economic. By strengthening forest management practices, fao supports countries to achieve sustainable forest management, which is an effective framework for forestbased climate change mitigation and adaptation. Role of forest on climate change adaptation 3 the study.
Elucidating space, climate, edaphic, and biodiversity effects. Climate change mitigation and adaptation forests present a significant global carbon stock. Forest degradation results owing to decrease in tree cover, the biodiversity in the forests or the changes to a lower state of the forest structure. Nov 10, 2011 such a restriction would, in turn, ease biodiversity concerns over the sustainable management of forests, which could be applied only to modifiednatural forests and planted forests. Landuse change 19912001 000 ha land use year ecological region change annual himal hills terai all change %. It is hypothesized that deforestation has affected hydrology of the escarpment. The land challenges, in the context of this report, are climate change mitigation, adaptation, desertification, land degradation, and food security.
The conversion of forests to agricultural land, overgrazing, unsustainable management, introduction of invasive alien species, infrastructure development, mining and oil exploitation, manmade fires, pollution and climate change are all having negative impacts on forest. Conversely, deforestation contributes to climate change see figure 2. It is estimated that about 84,000 hectare of forest land becomes deforested annually. Conversion of forests to agricultural land deforestation non sustainable forest use degradation of forests emissions of ghg co 2, ch 4, n 2 o. There is compelling evidence that climate change is directly affecting biodiversity in forests throughout the world. While not as widely recognised within policymaking circles, the steady deterioration of forests across places such as the amazon and borneo could be responsible for 614% of all humancaused emissions. Many studies have shown that climate change causes range shifts to higher latitudes and elevations, as species expand into areas that become climatically suitable and contract from areas that become too warm wilson et al. For example, some perceive forests and landuse change as a distraction from reducing energy. Land degradationthe deterioration or loss of the productive capacity of the soils for present and futureis a global challenge that affects everyone through food insecurity, higher food prices, climate change, environmental hazards, and the loss of biodiversity and ecosystem services. The agriculture, forestry and land use sectors account for about a quarter of all global greenhouse gas ghg emissions and are the largest sources after cars, trucks, trains, planes and ships combined. Local perceptions of climate change clearly link recently observed climate variability with forest and land degradation.
In this context, dg environment organised an international conference on forest for biodiversity and climate on 45 february 2020 in brussels. The chapter also discusses implications for natures contributions to people ncp, including biodiversity and water, and sustainable development, by assessing intersections with the sustainable. Special report on climate change and land ipcc site. But forests are being destroyed and degraded at alarming rates. Tropical forests used to protect us from climate change. This study aims to disentangle the direct and indirect roles of space, climate, edaphic, and biodiversity effects on aboveground biomass in natural tropical forests, thereby evaluating the relative effects and contribution of abiotic and biotic factors on aboveground biomass. Conserving and sustainably using our forests protects more than twothirds of all landbased animal and plant species. Land is a vital resource to humankind, like air and water. Mar 26, 2018 land degradation is a major contributor to climate change, and climate change is foreseen as a leading driver of biodiversity loss. This helps conserve the benefits that people and societies get from forests, including forest carbon stocks and livelihoods. Ozone depletion biodiversity loss freshwater depletion degraded ecosystems soil, chemical, etc land degradation odesertification odeforestation osalinization ocompaction osoil erosion land degradation.
The challenges of deforestation and forest degradation in the context of climate change, development and biodiversity loss on 26 and 27 may 2014, some 120 representatives of eu member states, third countries, international organisations, the private sector, ngos and research organisationsthink tanks. F orests, climate change and biodiversity are closely linked. Soil degradation a major threat to humanity summary soil degradation needs to be recognised, alongside climate change, as one of the most pressing problems facing humanity. Impact of mangrove forests degradation on biodiversity and ecosystem functioning. When forests are burned or cleared for uses such as cropland, pasture, infrastructure or urbanisation. Land degradation worsening climate change and undermining. It is defined as a reduction or loss of the biological or economic productivity and complexity of land. The human dimension of deforestation and climate change is that of an intentionally created feedback loop that only amplifies the destruction of the planet and to a large degree the species as a whole citation needed. Climate change might exacerbate land degradation through alteration of spatial and temporal patterns in temperature, rainfall, solar radiation, and winds. What is forest degradation and what are various causes of it. These impacts occur as a result of changes in temperature, rainfall, storm frequency and mag nitude. Land degradation is a global challenge that affects everybody through food insecurity and higher food prices, through climate change and environmental hazards, and through the loss of biodiversity and ecosystem services. Forests climate change, biodiversity and land degradation.
Reducing emissions from deforestation in developing countries. Degradation refers to damage or reduction in quality of certain features of the forests. As a result, the impact of climate change on biodiversity in plantation forests will be the product of an interaction between the direct impacts of climate change and the indirect effects of new management approaches taken to address these predicted impacts. The land use sector represents almost 25% of total global emissions. F orests act as a sink for greenhouse gases, help to. Although there is a link between land degradation and conflict, we should be careful not to blame the victims.
Forests also store carbon, provide habitat for a wide range of species and help alleviate land degradation and desertification. Predictable waves of sequential forest degradation and. Forests also play a critical role in mitigating climate change because they act as a carbon sinksoaking up carbon dioxide and other greenhouse gases that would otherwise be free in the atmosphere and contribute to ongoing changes in climate patterns. Understanding degradation drivers and patterns is therefore crucial to managing forests to mitigate climate change and reduce biodiversity loss. Combatting deforestation and forest degradation in areas of high biodiversity and cultural significance, such as primary forests and world heritage sites. These approaches must at the same time contribute to the welfare of rural people in developing countries. Nov 27, 2010 climate change is expected to rival land use change as the most important impact on tropical forest biodiversity. Forests are more biologically diverse than any other landbased ecosystem.
No midcentury scenarios examined in this assessment simultaneously met the global goals for the avoidance of land degradation, limiting of climate change and halting of biodiversity loss given the accelerating growing demand for. The assessment report on land degradation and restoration. Confronting land degradation, biodiversity loss, and climate change. The central role of forests in climate changethe central role of forests in climate change forests are vulnerable forests emit ghg s e c o n d m o s t i m p o r t a n t s o u r c e o f g hg e m m i s s i o n s i m p a c t s o n e c o s y s t e m s, p e o p l e a n d t h e w o o d c h a i n. Forests, climate change and biodiversity are closely linked. Issues and opportunities emerging from the kyoto protocol examines why the role of forests and landuse change under the kyoto protocol remains controversial and attempts to clarify and separate the issues. Degradation of tropical forests could be as severe a problem as fullscale deforestation when it comes to their carbon emissions. Climate change and land degradation co 2induced climate change and land degradation remain inextricably linked because of feedbacks between land degradation and precipitation. Nowadays six environmental topics such as land degradation, desertification, threats of biodiversity, climate change, gradual degradation of ozon layer, the reduction of water resources and in the. Loss of soil organic carbon is one of the principal signs of land degradation, and land degradation is one of the leading challenges for sustainable development, biodiversity conservation, and mitigating and adapting to climate change. Forests and climate change are intrinsically linked, in ways that extend beyond carbon. An moebbc trust study in 2011 of knowledge, attitudes and practices kap summarises rural peoples explanations for locally observed climate change see below. Impact of mangrove forests degradation on biodiversity and.
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