Let’s take our hearts for a walk in the woods and listen to the magical whisper of old trees. – Anonymous
Forests are magical places full of life and wonder. In a hot world, forests are the best way to draw down excess carbon dioxide from the atmosphere and store it in the soil. Restoring the forest soil with Terra Preta would lock the carbon in for thousands of years. Forest carbon offsets are the smart way to preserve the forests, protect tourist revenues, and provide a risk-free revenue stream for forest owners. Arkansas can enjoy a healthy economy with a Climate Forest Initiative. Let’s dig in.
Forest Communities
Forests are special places with a variety of many trees. Healthy forests are full of life. Rain, wind, temperature, and other environmental factors determine the type of forest. Forest communities include producers, consumers, and decomposers.
Producers are the trees and other plants. They make food by taking sunlight and using the energy to make sugar. Plants use this sugar, called glucose, to make wood, leaves, roots, and bark. Photosynthesis is a miracle of Nature.
Consumers are the animals eating plants or other animals. They can’t make their food. Animals come in many sizes and are part of a complex food chain.
Decomposers feed on dead animals and plants, and the waste from living organisms. Decomposers break down dead material into their nutrient components. Nitrogen, potassium, phosphorus, and other nutrients are used by plants to make more food. Fungus, mildew, and yeast are examples of decomposers.
Under the Forest
In the last 25 years, ecologists have learned trees are interconnected by their roots and fungi, sharing nutrients and caring for each other. Old growth forests have a wide variety of trees, growing together, similar to the way people live in small communities.
Under the forest, trees and fungi create fungal networks to communicate and share resources: sugar from trees, nutrients from the soil, plus carbon and other mixed resources from the network. Mother Trees play a special role caring for many young trees, improving resiliency.
Clear cutting trees destroys all the connections, leaving stumps in the ground. Constructing logging roads and using massive tree harvesters, compacts and destroys the soil, the treasure of the forest.
Pine tree plantations are tree crops, not forests. In a hot world, pretending to restore forests by planting pine plantations is an ignorant and destructive behavior.
Forest Carbon Markets
Forest owners deserve a return for their time and investments. Stumpage prices and market demand vary creating uncertainty. Wood mills control local markets and the price paid for deliveries at the mill. Protecting the forests and the future of life on Earth is a better alternative.
A forest carbon offset is a metric ton of carbon dioxide paid to the forest owner by greenhouse gas emitters. The trade agreement includes an evaluation of the forest carbon sequestration capacity and the promise to protect the forest. Many climate jobs are created for carbon trading and experienced foresters. The Dogwood Alliance suggests trading cooperatives for large tracks of forests, to reduce the time to seek and negotiate a carbon offset agreement. Please see the American Carbon Registry and the Climate Trust.
Carbon trading is not new in Arkansas. Data centers are high users of electric power. Microsoft purchased carbon offsets from Arkansas rice growers who adopted a new process to reduce methane emissions. The US Department of Agriculture and Entergy participated in the carbon trading agreement.
Arkansas Climate Initiatives
Arkansas needs high-paying jobs and a heathy economy. The Natural State has been blessed with abundant forests, rivers and awesome landscapes, the main reason tourists visit every year. Protecting the forests would avoid thousands of logging trucks making deliveries to wood mills, racing on country roads, spewing diesel emissions, and destroying our roads. Arkansas tourism, public health, and the quality of life are at high risk.
Survival is on the line. The race to draw down man-made greenhouse emissions is not looking good for homo sapiens.
Dr. Luis Contreras