Carbon Sequestration by Desert

Rehabilitation

Economic Aspects, Agricultural Productivity

and Ecological Considerations

NASA Goddard Institute for Space Studies (GISS) press release ,

..."the solar increases do not have the ability to cause large global

temperature increases...greenhouse gases are indeed playing the

dominant role..." The Sun is once again less bright as we approach

solar minimum, yet global warming continues .

• The truth about global warming - it's the Sun

that's to blame (The Telegraph)

• The researchers around Sami K. Solanki stress

the fact that solar activity has remained on a

roughly constant (high) level since about 1980 -

apart from the variations due to the 11-year

cycle - while the global temperature has

experienced a strong further increase during that

time

Global Climate Change – Our

Worst Nightmare

• Exponential growth of CO2 concentration drives

exponential temperature increase.

• Temperature increase is enhanced and accentuated by

land use change (deforestation) and positive feedback

mechanisms: Release of CO2 and Methane from thawing

permafrost, lower ice albedo, increased exposed water

surface, more irrigation etc.

• The major negative feedback mechanism to greenhouse

warming - cloud formation - is inhibited by deforestation.

Global Change Today: A Disaster

Tomorrow: Utter Disarray Today:

• Hundred thousands of climate related deaths, could be millions

• Hundreds of billions of climate related damages

In the last few years alone!

In 2100: 50% chance for + 5oC or more:

• No more polar ice

• Sea levels rose by 1 m and rising: Everglades, major East Coast cities and New Orleans flooded

• A billion or more climate struck refugees

• Maldives flooded

• Coral Reefs disappeared

• No more Alpine-, Himalayan- and Andean Glaciers (water security of 3 billion people)

• Siberian towns sinking in melting permafrost soils

• etc, etc

Global Climate Change is already here!

Observed Global Warming Today

Anomalies from Predictions!!

Deforestation?

Don’t forget to watch the movie!

Atmospheric Carbon Dioxide

Concentration under Current

Trends

Atmospheric Carbon Dioxide

Concentration with Biosphere

Rehabilitation Program

Are there sufficient available areas?

Degraded Drylands!

THE SOLUTION: Carbon sequestration into biomass and soil,

Coupled to development of biomass energy industry

THE ANTHROPOGENIC GREENHOUSE ERA

BEGAN THOUSANDS OF YEARS AGO

WILLIAM F. RUDDIMAN

Climatic Change 61: 261–293, 2003.

Global Climate Change is Amplified by Deforestation, by Increase in

Greenhouse Gasses and by Large Scale Vegetation Dependent Climate

Effects

How much degraded

drylands are there?

Historic Degradation: Mediterranean

Coast: 90% degraded

Degree and extend of degradation are much more

dramatic than we are willing to recognize

Critias: «Soil has been carried to the bottom of the sea.. Earthy high mountains, that in the past carried tall forest and large pastures, have become rocky lands and look like the bones of a sick body... In the past rain water was utilized and did not run on the barren land to the sea as it does now. It infiltrated and stored into the soil and it was distributed in springs, fountains and river streams » .

Plato

(427-347 BCE)

1970 2001

Deforestation Mau Escarpment,

Nakuru, Kenya

Massive Deforestation:

The driving force in

Ethiopia’s failures

Recent Degradation - North East Africa: 95% degraded!

A century ago, about 30% of

the total land area of Eritrea

was covered by forest. This

figure dwindled to 11% in

1952 and in 1960 was

estimated to be 5%. Today,

the closed and open forest

covers less than 1%,

Israel - less degraded 1 - 5%

Degraded 95 - 99%

Experimental proof of degradation by JNF: wherever

planted, trees survive, grow and proliferate – large

underused productivity potential

CONCLUSION 1

• Land degradation across the globe is high

even if currently no ongoing desertification

is observed

• Dryland areas can be ‘overstocked’ with

trees almost at will for creation of carbon

sinks, agroforestry or biomass production

• Available areas: 10 billion ha or more

Area (Bha) Area (%) Rainfall (mm) P/PET (UNEP,

1992)

Classification

1.00 7.50 < 200 < 0.05 Hyperarid

1.62 12.1 < 200 (winter) or

<400

(summer)

0.05 < P/PET <

0.20

Arid

2.37 17.7 200 - 500 (winter)

or 400 - 600

(summer)

0.20 < P/PET <

0.50

Semi-arid

1.32 9.90 500 - 700 (winter)

or 600 - 800

(summer)

0.50 < P/PET <

0.65

Dry subhumid

6.31 47.2 TOTAL

t C ha-1y-1 Sink per year (Gt carbon) 0 – 1 0.5 1 – 2 2.5 2 – 4 7 4 – 8 8

~18 Gt/a

Carbon Sink Potential at the Example of Drylands

Why Reforestations will Mitigate Global Warming 1:

Technically easy, conflicts of interest high

Technically more challenging, less conflicts of interest, more

efficient against desertification

1/3 degraded = available land ~6 Gt/a

THAT IS A POTENTIAL WE CAN NOT NEGLECT,

NEITHER FOR GREENHOUSE MITIGATION NOR FOR

AGRICULTURE!!

CO2 bands Water Bands Methane bands

Photoinhibition

P680/p700

Why Reforestations will Mitigate Global Warming 2: Green vegetation reflects at anti-greenhouse wavelengths!

Simulated cloud water content above

deforested (top) and forested

(bottom) tropical landscapes

Why Reforestations will Mitigate Global Warming 3: Forests Massively Influence Temperature and water Balances!

Why Reforestations will Mitigate Global Warming 4: Forests create their own climate!

Coastal Rain Forest near San Francisco

~ 500 mm mean annual precipitation

Desert Cloud Forest, Oman

PNAS 102, 2005

Trees and Climate

Precipitation Changes in South West Australia

Impact of land cover change on the climate

of southwest Western Australia

A. J. Pitman and G. T. Narisma

Department of Physical Geography, Macquarie University, Sydney, Australia

R. A. Pielke Sr.

Department of Atmospheric Sciences, Colorado State University, Fort Collins, Colorado, USA

N. J. Holbrook

CONCLUSIONS 2

• Reforestation and rehabilitation will

mitigate climate change by carbon

sequestration and by a large range of

vegetation induced benefits on:

• Water cycle

• Nutrient cycling

• Soil conservation and restoration

Savannization and new

afforestations

Sav

ann

ization

New

Plan

tations

Green Line Lahav Forest

Wildlife Migration Corridor Yattir Forest

Rehabilitation and Carbon Sink of the Lehavim-

Yattir Area

An average carbon sink of about 65 tons per ha will be

achieved in the next 50 years by rehabilitation of marginal

degraded lands in the Lehavim-Yattir area, leaving agricultural

areas and nature reserves untouched!

Value in

Carbon

Market

(mio $)

Carbon sink

potential (mio

tons of

carbon)

Areas with 200

– 400 mm

mean annual

precipitation

38 3.8 564 Israel

93 3.1 454 Palestine

294 9.8 1441 Jordan

501 16.7 2459 Total

Applying the same principles to all degraded semi arid regions, a

carbon sink of around 100 Gt can be achieved!

Including rehabilitation of degraded sub-humid and degraded humid

areas, double that amount can be fixed!

Productive Woodlands - Agroforestry: Olives, Ficus, Carob (Lehavim, < 300 mm/a)

Pasture improved, plus fruit, wood and biomass!

Pasture Improvement Project • plants and planting cost about $ 2.- per plant including creation of water harvesting

ditches, (manual planting at labor cost of $ 5.- per hour)

• initial watering $ 0.5 - 1.- per plant(which can be omitted less arid regions),

• fencing (optional) $ 80.- per ha for 100 ha plot.

• With 300 trees per ha planted this project ends up with establishment costs of less

than 1000.- $ per ha and a carbon sink of over 100 t per ha.

Approach: Rehabilitation of Degraded Lands Worldwide by Large Scale Dryland

Agroforestry for Food and Biomass Production in Degraded and Vulnerable

Drylands – Based on Private Initiative and Carbon Trading

Investments Required can be Covered by Carbon Trading

It has not been done so far. Why?

Capital and Land Required!!

Who can provide the capital?

a) Governments:

Inefficient, bureaucratic, corrupt – no!

b) International Development Agencies

Tried for fifty years and failed

c) Non Government Organizations

Good job, no capital

d) carbon trading – yes!

50 – 100 billion per year potentially

available for mitigation projects, bound

to increase

How can it work:

Degraded land is allocated to interested

parties.

50 – 200 ha of degraded dryland per family,

5000 – 20000 ha to enterprises.

Carbon banks (to be created) grant interest

free loans in the height of expected carbon

sink against all or part of the land value

(mortgaging), and plan and supervise

planting and maintenance.

Multipurpose plantations will provide profit

after 3 – 5 years for improved income

After 50 years standing biomass value is $

5000 – 10000 per ha), the loan can be

returned!

Agro-forestry has been long recognized as the best solution for

sustainable agriculture and biomass production

RATIONALE

• Multipurpose and fruit trees provide multiple benefits

• Multipurpose trees grow and produce in arid and even hyperarid zones: fruit, biomass (solid and liquid fuels), fodder, soil improvement, nutrient cycling, water balance etc.

• Private landowners will guard the trees because of benefits supplied and financial commitment

• Private lands will be mortgaged against the carbon sequestration funds received

• Land will be confiscated in case of contract violations

• Carbon trading becomes a one to one contract issue instead of huge bureaucratic mess!

URGENT REQUIREMENT - CLEAR LAND POLICIES:

Privatization for Commercial Use or Rehabilitation of Public Lands for Recreation and Ecology

Brazilian Peppertree 3 years Acacia 3 years

Neem 2 years

Balanites 2 years Ziziphus 1 year

Dryland Trees for Rapid Planting and Establishment

The plants shown were

established with initial

watering alone and grow

and survive well at 200

mm/a.

Major problems:

competition by annual

grasses, herbivory

Seed:

Moisture 4.0; Ash 4.2; Protein 30.9;

Fat 57.0; Fibre 2.4; Carbohydrate

(by difference) 1.5

Marula flesh (g/100 g): Moisture

91.7; Ash 0.2; Protein 0.5; Fat 0.1;

Fibre 0.5; Carbohydrate (by

difference) 7.0

Multipurpose Plantations: Marula, Ziziphus, Balanites

A Model for Rural Development and Rehabilitation

Cattle, Livestock

Litter, Foliage

Fruit

Oil

Food

Ethanol Biodiesel

Soil recovery

Wood, Cutting Residues Energy (Heat, Electricity)

Pressing

Cake (Protein and

Carbohydrate)

Industry

Wildlife

Economics:

Investments required are easily covered by carbon trading; plantations

can be established for anything from $ 500 – 1000 per ha with expected

sink of 50 – 150 tons per ha:

To create market incentives and avoid collapse by overproduction:

Absorption of surpluses and waste biomass for development of biomass

energy (successive introduction of wood, charcoal, biogas, biodiesel and

bioethanol)

World Bank Study Nigeria

SUMMARY:

• Degree of Land Degradation is Huge, Creating Huge Opportunities for Rehabilitation

• Private Land Ownership and Carbon Trading can Rapidly Establish the Potentials to make a Difference

• Multipurpose Trees will Supply Income from Food and Fodder Produced during Recovery

• Development of a Biomass Energy Market Constitutes the Engine to move the Process forward

Thank You Very Much!