PROJECT DESCRIPTION
BACKGROUND
Broadleaf Mediterranean forests and, in particular, cork oak (Quercus suber) forests in the south west of the Iberian Peninsula, are experiencing decay and are highly vulnerable to climate change. This raises demands for improving the management model for this type of forest in order to improve their resilience and enhance mitigation through carbon silviculture. Forests dominated by other Fagaceae tree species, such as the European beech (Fagus sylvatica), could also benefit from similar forestry approaches.
Cork provides added mitigation value. Unlike some types of timber, it has the potential for developing long-lasting products. In addition, because the bark is removed every nine years from the living trees, it has the ability to provide continuous sequestration.
In order to take advantage of the potential contribution to climate change mitigation of slow growth broadleaf forests, LIFE CO2RK will support the voluntary offset of emissions. In effect, emission rights trading systems support the global effort for reducing greenhouse gas (GHG) emissions by creating economic incentives for compensating emissions across a wide variety of sectors. However, they are not mandatory for the so-called diffuse sectors – those which are less energy intensive, such as housing, transportation, waste, agriculture, etc. - which account for around 40% of EU GHG emissions (and more than 60% in Spain).
For that reason, the EU issued Regulation 2018/842 - also known as the effort sharing regulation - setting up binding GHG emissions reduction targets for each European country until 2030. Several national and regional systems allow for the certification of afforestation and reforestation of degraded habitats, but management of existing forests is not counted. In 2018, the Andalusian government created a voluntary registry – the Andalusian System for Compensating Emissions (SACE) – but its wider application depends on the creation of standards and a governance structure giving companies and citizens guarantees on the process and its outcomes.
OBJECTIVES
The main objectives of the project are:
- To develop and test a legal and operational framework allowing companies from different sectors to direct their interest in voluntary offsetting GHG emissions through investments in sustainable forest management, thus supporting the recovery of high value natural areas.
- To implement and disseminate a sustainable forest management carbon silviculture model which maximises adaptation to and mitigation of climate change through cork oak forests, thereby fostering CO2 sequestration in slow growth tree species from the Fagaceae family.
These overarching objectives will be achieved through these specific objectives:
- To develop calculations and methodologies for quantifying carbon fluxes in sustainable forest management for climate change mitigation.
- To define the requirements of setting up a specific standard for the certification of the above-mentioned forest management model.
- To test a normative and operational model at regional scale in Andalusia, and to foster its transfer to other Fagaceae species (European beech) and other regions (Alentejo, Portugal and Marche, Italy) by liaising with the relevant regional authorities.
- To attract private investors to finance climate change mitigation silviculture, in particular within Natural 2000 sites.
- To develop and promote a carbon silviculture model applied to slow growth species.
- To halt the decline of cork oak - a species representative of the EU and with a high carbon-binding capacity - and to transfer the results obtained to all Fagaceae using the European beech as a case study.
- To foster consumption of products linked to carbon sequestration in European ecosystems, such as the industrial use of cork in the wine, building and car industries, and of beech timber in construction and furniture.
RESULTS
The main expected results are:
- Development and demonstration of a methodology for the modelling, accountability and certification of carbon fluxes regarding the application of the proposed forest management model to degraded forests within Natural 2000 areas.
- Legislation and administrative tools for implementing voluntary agreements for trading GHG emissions (including forest management guidelines, a certification standard and a web tool for accounting carbon absorption units) will be developed and tested in practice in Andalusia.
- A White Book to develop a regulatory framework for voluntary emission offsetting through carbon silviculture will be drafted and presented to the relevant national authorities.
- A transfer event with the participation of the relevant Andalusian and Portuguese authorities will be organised in Italy to support technical transfer to the Marche region.
- Both private companies from across the whole sector and forest owners / managers will be involved and will receive support for reaching voluntary agreements for financing and implementing, respectively, at least 22 carbon silviculture projects.
- Conservation status of habitat 9330 (cork oak forests) improved across 220 ha.
- Conservation status of habitat 9210 (Apenines beech forests) improved across 100 ha.
- Increase in carbon sequestration ability of 180 t/C02eq/year.
