What is the role of agroforestry in climate change mitigation and how can we reduce greenhouse gas emissions in forestry?
70%wood requirement by pulp and paper mills is now met in India through Agroforestry. It is an ideal, viable strategy involving farmers in the country. The eucalyptus tree leaves help in sequestering carbon Dioxide and supply oxygen, thus one right strategy for sustainable development and help curbing effect of climate change.
Agroforestry can sequester carbon while leaving most of the field in agricultural production, instead of converting it to forests or other land uses. This is especially true for agroforestry practices that take place at the edge of fields, such as windbreaks and riparian forest buffers.Agroforestry is a sustainable agricultural practice that combines trees and shrubs with crops and/or livestock. Agroforestry has recently gained renewed attention due to its potential to address several of the most pressing environmental and socio-economic issues facing agriculture today. Agroforestry contributes to climate change mitigation in three ways. (1) Sequestering carbon in biomass and soils, (2) reducing greenhouse gas emissions, and (3) avoiding emissions through reduced fossil fuel and energy usage on farms. The advantage of agro-forestry is that on one hand it increases tree cover due to tree-planting on private land and, on the other it reduces pressure on the scrub forests resulting in their improvement and eventual promotion into forest with higher crown density. Agroforestry systems can provide a range of environmental services. As, they can improve soil fertility, protect crops and livestock from wind, restore degraded lands, improve water conservation, limit pests and prevent soil erosion. Agroforestry can create microclimates with lower mean air temperatures [13], reduce crop transpiration rates by shading crops draw water from deeper soil layers and support root water uptake by crops minimize soil loss during heavy rainfall and/or downstream flood events and create windbreaks. Tree restoration, which includes reforestation planting new trees and allowing the forest to regrow, is undeniably a necessary and effective method of mitigating the greenhouse effect. Expanding, restoring and managing tree cover to encourage more carbon uptake can leverage the power of photosynthesis, converting carbon dioxide in the air into carbon stored in wood and soils.If trees are planted in large scale, the carbon dioxide gas present in atmosphere is absorbed by plants for photosynthesis. since burning of fossil fuels produce carbon dioxide so plants absorb it and help in reducing the pollution. Some options such as “reduce deforestation” work because more carbon is stored in the trees and soil of the forest. Others, such as using more long-lived products, store carbon in the wood product itself for a longer period. Substitution or “Product displacement” is also important for long-lived wood products. As tree grow, they help stop climate change by removing carbon dioxide from the air, storing carbon in the trees and soil, and releasing oxygen into the atmosphere. When it comes to removing human-caused emissions of the greenhouse gas carbon dioxide from Earth's atmosphere, trees are a big help. Trees and other plants absorb carbon dioxide from the atmosphere as they grow. This is converted into carbon and stored in the plant's branches, leaves, trunks, roots and in the soil. When forests are cleared or burnt, stored carbon is released into the atmosphere, mainly as carbon dioxide.
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