Carbon sequestration via afforestation as a sustainable action to mitigate climate change in Western Iran

Abstract

Climate change involves increasing atmospheric carbon dioxide concentration which is driven by anthropogenic emissions. Afforestation, which is the establishment of forests on previously non‐forested lands, could be a suitable climate change mitigation strategy. The aim of this research is to evaluate the carbon sequestration capability of the Eucalyptus and Prosopis species in the Reza‐Abad afforestation park in western Iran. For this aim, three stands of any species were selected. For quantitative assessment, a transect was implemented at the length of 100 m. In trees located of transects, the general characteristics of species were measured. Also, for estimating the amount of litter, a sample plot has been measured at the center of the quadrate. These samples were taken from the afforested area, the control area inside the afforested area and another control area outside. In each stand, species were selected randomly and one‐eighth of the whole stand was taken for calculating the percentage of carbon and aerial biomass. Then the aboveground organs were weighted and after the transfer of different plant organs to the laboratory, the conversion factor of carbon sequestration of the plant organs was determined individually by combustion method. Also, soil samples were also collected from two depths of 0–15 and 15–30 cm in each of the cultivated and control parts. The results showed that there is a significant difference between the species and Prosopis has higher carbon sequestration than Eucalyptus. The carbon sequestration among different organs showed a significant difference, carbon sequestration was 19.24 t/ha for Eucalyptus and 18.43 t/ha for Prosopis. After an economic calculation, it was concluded that afforestation has a positive effect on the reduction of atmospheric carbon dioxide. Hence, these results allow decision makers to change land use from desert area to forest, and planting the Prosopis species is more recommendable than Eucalyptus for afforestation in such areas which are economically profitable.

Knowledge, Perception and Attitude in Relation to Climate Change: A Cross-sectional Survey

“…Furthermore, a majority of the respondents also con rmed their belief in the impact of sulfate aerosols on the atmospheric temperature and supported the use of the same in lowering the atmospheric temperature by applying geo-engineering principles as these aerosols are proven to mimic the volcanic aerosols in causing the global cooling (Robock, 2000;Mahajan et al, 2019). People alos supported afforestation as a mitigation measure for the fact that they basically understand the role of forests in abating the air pollution and thus protecting the global climate (Miripanah et al, 2019). The vote on going meatless as discarded by the majority was entirely not surprising as the study of Chai et al (2019) suggests that instead of going meatless, its sustainable reduction could help in achieving the desired goals.…”