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Harvard Forest Symposium Abstract 2011

• Title: The Carbon Sequestration Potential of Small-scale Forestry in the Philippines and the Tradeoffs with Timber Production and Biodiversity
• Primary Author: John Herbohn (The University of Queensland)
• Abstract:

  The Carbon Sequestration Potential of Small-scale Forestry in the Philippines and the Tradeoffs with Timber Production and Biodiversity
  
  
  
  John Herbohn
  
  Bullard Fellow, Harvard Forest
  
  
  
  School of Agriculture and Foods Sciences
  
  The University of Queensland
  
  St Lucia 4072
  
  
  
  This research is being undertaken as part of a Bullard Fellowship. The research addresses the carbon sequestration potential of smallholder treefarms in the Philippines, including both biophysical and human dimensions. Small-scale ‘family-based’ forestry has the potential to provide important economic, social and environmental benefits to smallholders in tropical developing countries. In particular, smallholder treefarms (a small-scale forestry system common in tropical countries) offer the potential to aid in poverty reduction through income generation from the sale of timber products and potentially carbon, and to provide important environmental services including amelioration of degraded landscapes, biodiversity and carbon sequestration. While the potential is great, the reality is that in most cases, smallholder treefarms have failed to realise anywhere near their potential to produce both timber and non-timber products. Carbon sequestration of tree farms of exotic fast growing species on Leyte Island, The Philippines are estimated using the tree farm inventory dataset compiled as part of the ACIAR Smallholder Tree Farm Project (which includes data on 5665 trees from 532 plots established on 119 farms across Leyte Island, Philippines). The two-stage, probability proportional to size (PPS) sampling framework used to select municipalities and then barangays from which tree farms were then selected allows for plot level data to be scaled-up to produce estimates of aggregate carbon sequestration for Leyte. In addition, estimates of carbon sequestration based on growth data from high biodiversity ‘rainforestation’ sites on Leyte are used to investigate the tradeoffs between biodiversity, timber production and carbon sequestration. The research also involves a systems analysis of the factors which influence the capacity of small-scale land holders to engage in carbon forestry under international policy mechanisms. The research employs a Bayesian network to integrate economic and biophysical data with expert knowledge, and finds that there are three key actions likely to have substantial impacts on the capacity of smallholders to engage with carbon markets. These are: (1) to secure suitable funding for project development; (2) to enact capacity building programs to promote awareness and understanding of carbon market mechanisms, best practice silviculture and carbon forestry procedures and requirements; and (3) to maintain project management costs at moderate levels. Early results indicate that voluntary offset schemes may be most suitable for projects under current conditions and that there is real potential for smallholders in the Philippines study area to engage with carbon markets, which would have local and global climate benefits and contribute to sustainable development and adaptation in a vulnerable country. The model applied in this research should be applicable in contexts beyond the initial project study site and will contribute to further research and development.
  
  

• Research Category: International Research Projects