A joint stocktaking of CGIAR work on forest and landscape restoration

Despite the high level of political engagement and the wide range of organizations involved in restoration projects from local to global levels, beyond some success stories, restoration is not happening at scale. To address this issue, three CGIAR Research Programs (CRPs) – Forests, Trees and Agroforestry (FTA); Policies, Institutions and Markets (PIM) and Water, Land and Ecosystems (WLE) – decided to bring together their expertise in a joint stocktaking of CGIAR work on restoration. This publication illustrates with concrete examples the powerful contribution of forest and landscape restoration to the achievement of most, if not all the 17 sustainable development goals. It can be used to support the design of future restoration activities, programs and projects. We hope that this document will help upscale restoration efforts and deliver enhanced impact from our CGIAR research

Setting priorities for land management to mitigate climate change

<p>Abstract</p> <p>Background</p> <p>No consensus has been reached how to measure the effectiveness of climate change mitigation in the land-use sector and how to prioritize land use accordingly. We used the long-term cumulative and average sectorial C stocks in biomass, soil and products, C stock changes, the substitution of fossil energy and of energy-intensive products, and net present value (NPV) as evaluation criteria for the effectiveness of a hectare of productive land to mitigate climate change and produce economic returns. We evaluated land management options using real-life data of Thuringia, a region representative for central-western European conditions, and input from life cycle assessment, with a carbon-tracking model. We focused on solid biomass use for energy production.</p> <p>Results</p> <p>In forestry, the traditional timber production was most economically viable and most climate-friendly due to an assumed recycling rate of 80% of wood products for bioenergy. Intensification towards "pure bioenergy production" would reduce the average sectorial C stocks and the C substitution and would turn NPV negative. In the forest conservation (non-use) option, the sectorial C stocks increased by 52% against timber production, which was not compensated by foregone wood products and C substitution. Among the cropland options wheat for food with straw use for energy, whole cereals for energy, and short rotation coppice for bioenergy the latter was most climate-friendly. However, specific subsidies or incentives for perennials would be needed to favour this option.</p> <p>Conclusions</p> <p>When using the harvested products as materials prior to energy use there is no climate argument to support intensification by switching from sawn-wood timber production towards energy-wood in forestry systems. A legal framework would be needed to ensure that harvested products are first used for raw materials prior to energy use. Only an effective recycling of biomaterials frees land for long-term sustained C sequestration by conservation. Reuse cascades avoid additional emissions from shifting production or intensification.</p

Past and future carbon fluxes from land use change, shifting cultivation and wood harvest

Carbon emissions from anthropogenic land use (LU) and land use change (LUC) are quantified with a Dynamic Global Vegetation Model for the past and the 21st century following Representative Concentration Pathways (RCPs). Wood harvesting and parallel abandonment and expansion of agricultural land in areas of shifting cultivation are explicitly simulated (gross LUC) based on the Land Use Harmonization (LUH) dataset and a proposed alternative method that relies on minimum input data and generically accounts for gross LUC. Cumulative global LUC emissions are 72 GtC by 1850 and 243 GtC by 2004 and 27–151 GtC for the next 95 yr following the different RCP scenarios. The alternative method reproduces results based on LUH data with full transition information within <0.1 GtC/yr over the last decades and bears potential for applications in combination with other LU scenarios. In the last decade, shifting cultivation and wood harvest within remaining forests including slash each contributed 19% to the mean annual emissions of 1.2 GtC/yr. These factors, in combination with amplification effects under elevated CO2, contribute substantially to future emissions from LUC in all RCPs

Climatic yield potential of Japonica???type rice in the Korean Peninsula under RCP scenarios using the ensemble of multi???GCM and multi???RCM chains

Rice production in the Korean Peninsula (KP) in the near future (2021-2050) is analysed in terms of the climatic yield potential (CYP) index for Japonica-type rice. Data obtained from the dynamically downscaled daily temperature and sunshine duration for the Historical period (1981-2010) and near future under two Representative Concentration Pathway (RCP4.5 and RCP8.5) scenarios are utilized. To reduce uncertainties that might be induced by using a Coupled General Circulation Model (CGCM)-a Regional Climate Model (RCM) chain in dynamical downscaling, two CGCM-three RCM chains are used to estimate the CYP index. The results show that the mean rice production decreases, mainly due to the increase of the temperature during the grain-filling period (40 days after the heading date). According to multi model ensemble, the optimum heading date in the near future will be approximately 12 days later and the maximum CYP will be even higher than in the Historical. This implies that the rice production is projected to decrease if the heading date is selected based on the optimum heading date of Historical, but to increase if based on that of near future. The mean rice production during the period of ripening is projected to decrease (to about 95% (RCP4.5) and 93% (RCP8.5) of the Historical) in the western and southern regions of the KP, but to increase (to about 104% (RCP4.5) and 106% (RCP8.5) of the Historical) in the northeastern coastal regions of the KP. However, if the optimum heading date is selected in the near future climate, the peak rice production is projected to increase (to about 105% (RCP4.5) and 104% (RCP8.5) of the Historical) in the western, southern and northeastern coastal regions of the KP, but to decrease (to about 98% (RCP4.5) and 96% (RCP8.5) of the Historical) in the southeastern coastal regions of the KP

What diets for sustainable food systems?

International audienceLa question de la durabilité des régimes et des systèmes alimentaires suscite un intérêt grandissant, tant de la part de diverses disciplines scientifiques que de la communauté internationale dans le contexte de l’appel des objectifs de développement durable à l’éradication de la faim et de la malnutrition. Le but de cet article est d’examiner certains des liens entre les deux notions de régime et de système alimentaires durables afin de faciliter leur mise en œuvre. Le concept de régime alimentaire durable a été défini en 2010, combinant deux perspectives totalement différentes : celle de la nutrition, centrée sur les individus, et celle de la durabilité globale, dans toutes ses dimensions : environnementale, économique et sociale. Le point de vue de la nutrition peut être facilement lié à l’objectif de l’amélioration de la santé. La perspective de durabilité pose un problème plus complexe d’analyse. Nous proposons qu’elle soit appréhendée comme la contribution d’un régime alimentaire à la durabilité des systèmes alimentaires. Une telle approche, couvrant les trois dimensions du développement durable, permet d’identifier les interactions et les interrelations entre les systèmes alimentaires et les régimes alimentaires. Elle offre la possibilité de trouver des leviers de changement vers la durabilité. Les régimes alimentaires sont à la fois le résultat du fonctionnement des systèmes alimentaires et des moteurs de changement systémique. Les facteurs de changement pour chacun des acteurs au sein des systèmes alimentaires, consommateurs, entreprises, etc., sont différents et peuvent être déclenchés par des préoccupations différentes (santé, environnement, aspects sociaux et culturels). La prise en compte de ces différentes dimensions et motivations peut encourager la transition vers des régimes alimentaires durables, en fonction des spécificités de chaque système alimentaire. L’adoption de régimes alimentaires durables peut être facilitée et activée par la structure des systèmes alimentaires, ainsi que par des politiques et des incitations appropriées

Reducing Emissions from Deforestation and Degradation in Cameroon–Assessing costs and benefits

A new momentum is underway to account for emissions from “avoided deforestation anddegradation” at the United Nations Framework Convention on Climate Change (UNFCCC).This paper assesses the feasibility of one of the Reducing Emissions from Deforestation andDegradation (REDD) mechanisms currently discussed, namely that of “CompensatedReduction”, in the case of Cameroon. Here we assess the differential revenues that afarmer could get from 1 ha of land out of two alternative land-uses: shifting cultivation, thetraditional land-use pattern in southern Cameroon, or carbon credits as compensation forthe conservation of primary forest. It is found that a break-even price of $2.85/t of carbondioxide equivalent would level shifting cultivation with “Compensated Reduction”. Thisresult suggests that at current carbon prices, and independently form variations in thediscount rate, it could already be more profitable to preserve the primary forest rather thanto log it in order to grow crops