Trees and climate change

Forests could be used to combat climate changeIn addition to preventing forests from being turned into other land-uses, new forest-based carbon stores should be created through afforestation (new plantings) and reforestation (replanting of deforested areas), FAO says.Carbon stocks in forest biomass reach the highest values per hectare in Western and Central Africa and Central and South America, according to FRA 2005.Particularly in the tropics, where vegetation grows rapidly and therefore pulls carbon from the atmosphere more quickly, planting trees can remove large amounts of CO2 from the air within a relatively short time. There, forests can fix as much as 15 tonnes of carbon in their biomass and wood per hectare per year.FAO and other experts have estimated that global carbon retention resulting from reduced deforestation, increased forest regrowth and more agroforestry and plantations could make up for about 15 percent of carbon emissions from fossil fuels over the next 50 years. http://www.fao.org/newsroom/en/news/2005/1000176/index.html