Tuesday, February 12, 2008

Ecosystem Restoration: The Other Strategy for Climate Change

Beyond recycling and reducing/reusing, there is a third R in the sustainability picture: restoration. Here's a look at how forward-thinking organizations can gain by helping make things green again.
By Robert Falls, Ph.D., R.P.Bio.

While reduced burning of fossil fuels is the most common answer to rising levels of heat-trapping carbon dioxide (CO₂) in our atmosphere, there is another, longer term remedy that is gaining ground in the public view and business world: the restoration of destroyed and degraded ecosystems.

This fundamental strategy for addressing climate change is founded on a simple premise: While cutting use of fossil fuels will reduce CO₂ emissions into the atmosphere, the only viable way to remove CO₂ from the atmosphere is through photosynthesis, which occurs in plant life.

Since the industrial revolution, almost 500 billion tonnes of CO₂ have been released into the atmosphere from destroyed and degraded ecosystems. Getting it "back to earth" through ecosystem restoration projects represents a huge opportunity.

How huge? Recent estimates suggest that in Canada alone we can remove tens of millions of tonnes of CO₂ from the atmosphere annually by restoring degraded forest ecosystems. Because trees are the most powerful concentrators of carbon on earth, a hectare of healthy forest can remove all of the CO₂ from a column of air rising 1.4 kilometres into the atmosphere. (Source: Greenspirit website: The Forest and Carbon Fixing - Some Stunning Figures â€“ January 2004.)

We know that the impact of climate change stands to be very long-term in nature, spanning many decades, if not centuries. We also know that functional forests and other ecosystems are the most manageable, cost-effective and therefore viable way of removing CO₂ in the centuries ahead.

While ecosystem restoration is not a substitute for energy efficiency, fuel switching, technology transfer or conservation measures, it must be seen as an essential element of any comprehensive approach to reversing climate change.

In addition to the positive impact it has on atmospheric CO₂, ecosystem restoration offers a number of ecological and economic benefits.

Ecological benefits:

Riparian (riverside ecosystem) restoration and improved storm-water management.
Fish and wildlife habitat enhancement.
Native biodiversity restoration.
Invasive species removal and endangered species refugia.

Economic benefits:

The foundations of a restoration economy will have positive effects on education and employment.
Organizations that support ecosystem restoration through the carbon offset market. will help increase carbon market intelligence and encourage cost-effective offset transactions.
Organizations become environmentally credible and can help shape sensible public policy.
Intelligent offset investments can prepare organizations for regulatory developments.

According to IPCC climate scientists, some 33% of the human contribution to climate change throughout history can be attributed to deforestation and land use change.

Surely it makes good sense to restore the majestic forests and other ecosystems that once covered our landscapes-oxygen-generating ecosystems that will support a myriad of life forms, while re-capturing vast tonnages of the CO₂ that continue to be released through human activity.

Robert Falls is CEO of ERA Ecosystem Restoration Associates Inc.

Ecosystem Restoration: The Other Strategy for Climate Change
posted by EcoNeutral on Tuesday, February 12, 2008