Active restoration accelerates the carbon recovery of human-modified tropical forests

Background:

More than half of all tropical forests are degraded by human impacts, leaving them threatened with conversion to agricultural plantations and risking substantial biodiversity and carbon losses. Restoration could accelerate recovery of aboveground carbon density (ACD), but adoption of restoration is constrained by cost and uncertainties over effectiveness. Therefore, is necessary to  understand the economic feasibility of restoration treatments in the context of global carbon pricing and the Paris climate agreement.

Goals and methods:

The authors aim to understand the effectiveness of active restoration in accelerating the recovery of aboveground carbon density in human-modified tropical forests compared to naturally regenerating forests. They aim to provide insights into the potential of active restoration as a viable strategy for enhancing the health and resilience of tropical forests. Finally, the study seeks to understand the economic feasibility of restoration treatments in the context of global carbon pricing and the Paris climate agreement, providing a basis for policy and decision-making related to tropical forest restoration.

conclusions and Takeaways:

Active restoration, specifically through a combination of climber cutting and enrichment planting, significantly accelerates the recovery of aboveground carbon density (ACD) in logged tropical forests compared to natural regeneration. The research findings indicate that active restoration enhances decadal ACD recovery by more than 50%, with areas subject to restoration recovering at a considerably higher rate than naturally regenerating forests.