Search
The effectiveness of global protected areas for climate change mitigation

June 01, 2023 | Nature Communications |

A recent study led by the University of Maryland has highlighted the crucial role that forests play in stabilizing the Earth's climate. The researchers focused on protected areas (PAs) as a strategy for forest conservation and quantified their global impact on the carbon cycle. By utilizing lidar data from NASA's GEDI mission, they estimated that PAs contain a total aboveground carbon stock of 61.43 gigatons (Gt), which accounts for about 26% of all mapped terrestrial woody carbon. Additionally, the study revealed that PAs contribute an additional 9.65 Gt of carbon, primarily through the prevention of deforestation and degradation compared to unprotected forests. This figure is equivalent to the carbon emissions produced by global fossil fuel usage in one year. The findings emphasize the importance of preserving high biomass forests within protected areas as a means of avoiding carbon emissions and safeguarding future carbon sequestration.

PAs effectively preserve additional AGC across continents and biomes, with forest biomes dominating the global signal, particularly in South America. The additional preserved AGC (Gt) in WWF biome classes (total Gt + /− SEM*area). World base map made with Natural Earth. The full set of analyzed GEDI data are represented in this figure (n = 412,100,767).

Viewed Articles
The effectiveness of global protected areas for climate change mitigation
June 01, 2023 | Nature Communications |A recent study led by the University of Maryland has highlighted the crucial role that forests play in stabilizing the Earth's climate. The researchers focus
Read More
Future carbon emissions from global mangrove forest loss
February 28, 2021 | Global Change Biology | Source |  Introduction: Mangroves significantly contribute to global climate mitigation by storing substantial carbon, yet their continuous loss poses major
Greenhouse gas emissions and carbon sequestration in organic dehesa livestock farms. Does technical-economic management matters?
October 20, 2022 | Journal of Cleaner Production | Source |  Introduction: While organic livestock systems are often hailed as environmentally friendly, their greenhouse gas (GHG) emissions and carbon
Blue carbon as a natural climate solution
November 1, 2021 | Nature Reviews Earth & Environment | Source | Introduction: An international research team from Australia, USA, Singapore, UK and Saudi Arabia, led by Deakin University (Australia)
Deep-sea impacts of climate interventions
March 9, 2023 | Science | Source | Introduction: As climate interventions, such as geoengineering and carbon sequestration, are increasingly considered to combat global warming, their potential effect
Priority areas to protect mangroves and maximise ecosystem services
September 21, 2023 | Nature Communications | Source | Introduction: Human activities are threatening global biodiversity and the ecosystem services provided by mangroves. Current conservation efforts
TOP