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Innovative wood use can enable carbon-beneficial forest management in California.

ABSTRACT: Responsible stewardship of temperate forests can address key challenges posed by climate change through sequestering carbon, producing low-carbon products, and mitigating climate risks. Forest thinning and fuel reduction can mitigate climate-related risks like catastrophic wildfire. These treatments are often cost prohibitive, though, in part because of low demand for low-value wood "residues." Where treatment occurs, this low-value wood is often burned or left to decay, releasing carbon. In this study, we demonstrate that innovative use of low-value wood, with improved potential revenues and carbon benefits, can support economical, carbon-beneficial forest management outcomes in California. With increased demand for wood residues, forest health-oriented thinning could produce up to 7.3 million (M) oven-dry tonnes of forest residues per year, an eightfold increase over current levels. Increased management and wood use could yield net climate benefits between 6.4 and 16.9 million tonnes of carbon dioxide equivalent (M tCO₂ e) per year when considering impacts from management, wildfire, carbon storage in products, and displacement of fossil carbon-intensive alternatives over a 40-y period. We find that products with durable carbon storage confer the greatest benefits, as well as products that reduce emissions in hard-to-decarbonize sectors like industrial heat. Concurrently, treatment could reduce wildfire hazard on 4.9 M ha (12.1 M ac), a quarter of which could experience stand-replacing effects without treatment. Our results suggest that innovative wood use can support widespread fire hazard mitigation and reduce net CO₂ emissions in California.

SUBMITTER: Cabiyo B

PROVIDER: S-EPMC8670525 | biostudies-literature |

REPOSITORIES: biostudies-literature

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Project description:Although indigenous forest management practices have been used effectively by local people in the management and conservation of forest resources, these practices are eroding, causing negative consequences on the welfare of the people and their forests. To stem the erosion of the indigenous practices and instead stimulate, preserve, or improve their use, this study determines the socioeconomic factors that drive the household's use of the practices in the management and conservation of plant species of non-wood forest products (NWFPs). The study was carried out in Nigeria derived savannah. Data was collected from 200 randomly selected households in 10 randomly selected forest communities. Multivariate probit model was used to estimate the socioeconomic factors that influence the simultaneous use of indigenous forest management practices by households. Given multiple use of the practices, the result shows that the indigenous forest management practices used by the households are selective weeding (82.98%), controlled harvesting (82.45%), enrichment planting (75.53%), fire breaks (76.06%) and indigenous protective mechanism (45.74%). The majority (71.28%) of the respondents said they managed bush mango (Irvingia gabonensis and wombulu) using the practices, while the lowest proportion (21.28%) managed bush buck (Gongronema latifolium). The result of the multivariate probit model shows that virtually all the indigenous forest management practices are positively and significantly associated and are thus, complements. However, local protective mechanisms and controlled harvesting, local protective mechanisms and selective weeding, and local protective mechanisms and enrichment planting are not significantly associated. Farming occupation significantly increases the likelihood of simultaneous use of controlled harvesting, enrichment planting, and fire breaks as indigenous forest management practices in the management and conservation of NWFP. On the other hand, age significantly reduces the likelihood of the use of controlled harvesting and selective weeding. The study recommends the provision of support for young people who are more likely to be involved in the indigenous forest management practices; support to farmers who simultaneously use the practices, for example, through the provision of credit facilities; and a proper definition of user rights in community forests.

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Innovative wood use can enable carbon-beneficial forest management in California.

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