Forestry for mitigating the greenhouse effect: an ecological and economic assessment of the potential of land use to mitigate CO2 emissions in the highlands of Chiapas, Mexico / Ben H. J. de Jong

Thesis Doctoral Wageningen University and Research 2000

Incluye bibliografía

Glosario: páginas 206-218

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Crediting the sequestration effect of forestry activities has hitherto been implemented on a project-by-project basis, estimating the difference between the long-term C flux to the atmosphere between baseline and project scenarios. The lessons learned from these projects will serve as important precursors for future mitigation projects. However, for significant reduction of global carbon emissions, national governments will need to institute measures that both provide local and national benefits, and mitigate excesses of carbon. The study on which this thesis is based aimed to answer some of the important questions arising from translating projects that have the ecological potential to mitigate carbon excess, into the actual implementation of these projects in a farmer-dominated landscape. Initial studies had indicated that in regions such as Chiapas (southern Mexico), the most appropriate methods for enhancing carbon storage on land managed by small farmers was the introduction of trees into agricultural systems (crops + trees, or tree planting in degraded pastures), i.e. farm forestry (or agroforestry). On communally held areas of natural forest or secondary vegetation the main strategy is the restoration of the degraded forest ecosystem in community forestry projects, generally including a variety of site-specific small-scale systems over a large area, which may be individually adapted to farmer interests. These situations form the context of the Scolel Té international pilot project (model) for carbon sequestration by forestry and agroforestry which is being developed in Chiapas. As part of the background to the project, this study addresses various key questions: the effect of land use/land cover changes on carbon fluxes in a highly fragmented landscape; the preferences of resource-poor farmers for land-use systems that could contribute to carbon sequestration; the carbon mitigation potential and cost of the farmer-selected forestry and agroforestry systems; the sources and levels of uncertainties in calculating carbon fluxes in forestry systems; and the possibility of setting up a cost-efficient monitoring system for carbon mitigation in a farm forestry project. The research programme was carried out as part of the research project 'Sistemas Silvícolas y Agroforestales' at the El Colegio de la Frontera Sur (ECOSUR), San Cristóbal de las Casas unit, in the Highlands of Chiapas. eng

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