SSS9.5

Forest-based initiatives are receiving greater attention in global and national strategies on change and bio-economy. It is therefore vital to identify multi-win activities and strategies for the tropical forest industries within the context of global and national climate and bio-economy policy. The “Good Wood” value chain could be one of these solutions—restoring natural tropical forests, mitigating climate change, and improving livelihoods. The “Good Wood” value chain adopts an integrated timber processing business concept to tropical timber utilization. This concept contrasts conventional forestry practices—, which rely on logging large trees of a few species from relatively pristine natural forests—in that it is adapted to degraded natural forests with small and damaged trees of many species. It also includes a number of value-adding steps—such as drying and further finishing—to enable access to regional and export markets. Linking manufacturers directly with customers allows for product development and customized timber products, which maximizes both wood recovery and profit. Drying onsite dramatically improves quality and access to high-value markets reduces waste (e.g., warped, rotten, and low-quality timber), and allows for greater use in long-lived wood products (e.g., construction materials).

The overarching purpose of the study is to assess the extent to which the “Good Wood” timber processing business concept contributes to climate change mitigation, forest restoration, and sustainable development. We discuss emerging results from our empirical study in Mozambique. The main goal of the study is to contribute to the development of new forest management systems in accordance with the Good Wood timber processing business concept—integrated with a sawmill and market—to restore degraded forests and provide timber.

The intent is that findings will be used to support and promote the Good Wood concept to governments as a strategy for meeting sustainable development and Nationally Determined Contributions to the UN climate agreement and Forest Landscape Restoration commitments, and business entrepreneurs.

How to cite: Ofoegbu, C.: Modelling pathways for development of a new forest industry in Mozambique, EGU General Assembly 2022, Vienna, Austria, 23–27 May 2022, EGU22-2028, https://doi.org/10.5194/egusphere-egu22-2028, 2022.

Forest regrowth is key to achieve restoration commitments, but a general lack of understanding when it occurs and how long secondary forests persist, hampers effective upscaling. We quantified spatiotemporal forest dynamics in a recently colonized agricultural frontier in southern Mexico, and tested how temporal variation in climate, and cross-community variation in land ownership, land quality and accessibility affect forest disturbance, regrowth and secondary forest persistence.

We consistently found more forest loss than regrowth, resulting in a net decrease of 45% forest cover (1991-2016) in the study region. Secondary forest cover remained relatively constant while secondary forest persistence increased, suggesting that farmers are moving away from shifting cultivation. Temporal variation in disturbance was explained by annual variation in climatic variables and key policy and market interventions.

We found large differences in forest characteristics across communities, and these were explained by differences in land ownership and soil quality. Forests were better conserved on communal land, while secondary forest was more persistent when farms were larger and soil quality is better. At the pixel-level both old forest and secondary forests were better represented on low-quality lands indicating agricultural concentration on productive land. Both old forest and secondary forest were less common close to the main road, where secondary forests were also less persistent.

We demonstrate the suitability of timeseries analyses to quantify forest disturbance and regrowth and we analyse drivers across time and space. Communities differ in forest dynamics, indicating different possibilities, needs and interests. We warrant that stimulating private land ownership may cause remaining forest patches to be lost and that conservation initiatives should benefit the whole community. Forest regrowth competes with agricultural production and ensuring farmers have access to restoration benefits is key to restoration success.

How to cite: Lohbeck, M., Devries, B., Bongers, F., Martinez-Ramos, M., Navarrete-Segueda, A., Nicasio-Arzeta, S., Siebe, C., Pingarroni, A. P., Wies, G., and Decuyper, M.: Mexican agricultural frontier communities differ in forest dynamics with consequences for conservation and restoration, EGU General Assembly 2022, Vienna, Austria, 23–27 May 2022, EGU22-3978, https://doi.org/10.5194/egusphere-egu22-3978, 2022.

The rate of tropical forest fragmentation is increasing globally. This process is essentially driven by commodity demands on the international market, and consequent conversion of forested lands to agricultural land-uses. The extension of urban settlements and other land uses such as roads, infrastructure, small-scale clearing, selective logging, fire, and natural disturbance are major drivers of tropical forest loss and fragmentation.  Even though tropical forests are an essential component of the earth system, and fundamental for biodiversity conservation, ecosystem functioning and social well-being, anthropogenic pressures continue unabated and at an increasing rate. Indeed, recent research has shown that forest fragmentation and loss are particularly high in arable landscapes where fragments are smaller, reflecting their easier access.  As such, there is an urgent need to map and monitor the dynamics of remaining smaller tropical forest patches/fragments and identify their multiple benefits and values. Recognizing their existence is expected to help ensure their continued provision of social-ecological functions, while facilitating their conservation.  The main objective of this study is therefore to inventory and characterise the current extent of forest patches for a West-Africa region (Nigeria), by combining multi-source remote sensing products, time-series analyses, and ancillary datasets.  Here, we collated and analysed descriptive and dynamics metrics derived from various sources, and provide estimates of fragment size, age, biophysical conditions, and relation to social-ecological variables, which together provide insights into their dynamics over four decades. Specifically, forest patches with a tree cover ≥ 30%, a tree height of ≥ 5 m, an area ≥ 1 hectare and ≤ 10 km2 and which are outside of protected areas, are mapped. Appended to each patch are descriptive (country, administrative region, coordinates, area, biome, distance to water and roads, tree height and cover, primary/secondary forest, estimated age) and dynamics attributes (land cover in 1975, forest loss/gain, as well as trend and disturbance metrics for last two decades).  We find tree cover loss is widespread, the more numerous smaller fragments cumulatively lose a greater forested area, while fragment number increased slightly (2000-2020). Widespread greening occurs in larger fragments, the trend is pronounced for secondary forests (which predominate). Patch size is related to human disturbance metrics, e.g., distance to roads, larger patches being more distant. Thus, this inventory forms the basis for understanding forest patch change and condition, as well as prioritizing them for in-depth, social-ecological field investigation and conservation. 

How to cite: Wingate, V., Akinyemi, F., Iheaturu, C., and Ifejika Speranza, C.: A remote sensing-based inventory of West-Africa tropical forest patches, EGU General Assembly 2022, Vienna, Austria, 23–27 May 2022, EGU22-5073, https://doi.org/10.5194/egusphere-egu22-5073, 2022.

The ability of forests to provide multiple ecosystem functions and services including Nature’s Contributions to People is a key concern for achieving their sustainability. The multifunctionality of an ecosystem is its ability to maintain multiple functions simultaneously. The concept of ecosystem multifunctionality has been defined broadly in various studies to measure the abiotic and biotic functions of ecosystems including their contributions to ecosystems services. However, applications of multifunctionality to fragmented forests remain limited, particularly in the case of tropical forest patches. This review synthesizes the current knowledge on ecosystem multifunctionality of forest patches in the tropics. Moreover, it explores the key factors that affect the multifunctionality of forest patches and the trade-offs to consider. The presented analysis and results will highlight the multiple functions of tropical forest patches, and will explore particular contexts such as forest patches in agricultural landscapes in West Africa and contrast with other tropical regions. The findings can inform stakeholders on the valuation of ecosystems multifunctionality related to tropical forest patches and their contributions to human wellbeing.

KEYWORDS: Ecosystem multifunctionality, Ecosystems services, Nature’s Contributions to People, Multifunctional landscape, Forests patches, Tropics, West Africa.

How to cite: Tabi Eckebil, P. P., Wingate, V. R., Akinyemi, F. O., and Ifejika Speranza, C.: Ecosystem multifunctionality of forest patches in the tropics: A systematic literature review, EGU General Assembly 2022, Vienna, Austria, 23–27 May 2022, EGU22-5089, https://doi.org/10.5194/egusphere-egu22-5089, 2022.

The non-availability of annual land cover maps for Switzerland at the national and local levels hampers setting a Land Degradation Neutrality (LDN) baseline (2000 – 2015) and monitoring until the year 2030. Land cover change is an LDN sub-indicator required to assess the proportion of degraded land to total land area (Sustainable Development Goal 15 indicator — SDG15.3.1). The Swiss version of the European CORINE Land Cover (CLC), which is available for the years 1990, 2000, 2006, 2012 and 2018, is often used to analyse land cover and land cover change. However, the approximately 6-year production cycle of the CLC is only partially in line with the internationally agreed LDN baseline and monitoring periods.

Yet, annual land cover maps are required not only for baseline setting but crucial for monitoring the SDG15.3.1 on an annual basis until 2030. Further, most studies evaluating the effects of land cover and change often do not consider the impact of differing annual land cover configurations and sizes on their analysis results. Doing so is important, especially for the LDN, because of the pervasive influence land cover and its changes have on other sub-indicators such as Land Productivity Dynamics (LPD) and the change in Soil Organic Carbon stock, whose computation is currently based on land cover change.

Aimed at contributing to the scientific basis for operationalizing LDN for Switzerland, this study developed and applied a remote sensing-based method for generating land cover data. It took advantage of the availability of big spatial data (e.g., Sentinel-1 and Sentinel-2 satellite images, digital elevation model — DEM, CLC) to map land cover for the years 2015 and 2020, with reference datasets created with high resolution images. For 2015 and 2020, 100 training and validation points were created for each of the seven land cover classes (Forest, Grassland, Cropland, Wetland, Artificial Surfaces, and Otherland). Land cover change was calculated for the baseline period of 2000 – 2015 and 2016 – 2020 for the monitoring period. DEM was used in land cover classification, as topography was one of the main limiting factors for identifying land use types, particularly the need to reduce misclassifications of shady mountainous areas.

The methodology and results provide a basis for periodic assessments of the land cover dimension of the LDN and for automating the production of annual land cover maps for Switzerland. Evaluating the changes in land cover both for the baseline and monitoring periods also enabled us to separately analyze how changes in land cover differed between both periods. The land cover change for the monitoring period until 2020 was compared to the baseline, based on which we identify and discuss some challenges relating to land degradation in Switzerland.

How to cite: Akinyemi, F. O., Bär, V., and Ifejika Speranza, C.: Creating land use-land cover baselines for monitoring Land Degradation Neutrality in Switzerland, EGU General Assembly 2022, Vienna, Austria, 23–27 May 2022, EGU22-6523, https://doi.org/10.5194/egusphere-egu22-6523, 2022.

The conservation of tree communities in forest ecosystems across the world is challenged by various anthropogenic pressures such as deforestation and fragmentation. In many areas in West Africa, fragmentation has reduced the original continuous forest ecosystems to small and isolated forest patches, mostly managed by local communities. While the importance of such small patches in biodiversity conservation is recognized in literature, evidence from tropical forest ecosystems and plant-based studies are still limited. In our study, we (i) assessed the contribution of small, unprotected forest patches to tree species conservation; (ii) determined the variation of seed dispersal syndromes in tree stands between a continuous forest and small forest patches; and (iii) identified the drivers of tree species colonization among forest patches. We sampled 69 plots in the Lama forest reserve (continuous forest) and the surrounding small isolated forest patches within 20-km radius. Trees and natural regenerations were recorded in two vegetation types including the degraded dense forest and old fallow. For each species, the IUCN conservation status and functional traits including dispersal syndrome, seed weight and maximum height were recorded. We used Generalized Linear Models to identify the determinants of immigrant regeneration densities in isolated forest patches. In total, 103 woody species were recorded and the species richness was higher in the forest patches than in the continuous forest for all vegetation types. In the dense vegetation, a similar trend was found and the number of threatened species was higher in the forest patches. Tree assemblages differed between the continuous forest and the forest patches. Tree density was higher in the continuous forest than in small forest patches. Defaunation somewhat affected the regeneration of disturbed forest patches as germination and seedling were dominated by abiotic-dispersed species and local species. Taller or heavier seed species were more likely to colonize forest patches and the density of tree species in a forest patch increased with abundance of immigrant regeneration in the nearest neighbor. We recommend the implementation of sustainable management in form of participative restoration of low-regenerated species in forest remnants  for enhanced biodiversity conservation.

Keywords: Species richness, dispersal syndrome, functional traits, fragmentation, forest patches, continuous forest

How to cite: Agonvonon, G. A., Azihou, A. F., Djagoun, C. A. M. S., Assogbadjo, A. E., and Ifejika Speranza, C.: Tree species diversity and functional traits in forest patches of Benin, West Africa, EGU General Assembly 2022, Vienna, Austria, 23–27 May 2022, EGU22-7370, https://doi.org/10.5194/egusphere-egu22-7370, 2022.

Temperate forests are a considerable sink for methane (CH₄), carbon dioxide (CO₂) and the emissions of nitrous oxide (N₂O) and nitric oxide (NO) are low. Apart from the tree species composition, forest management itself can have a significant long-term influence and act as a driver on the GHG budget, particularly through soil compaction.

To assess the impact of tree species composition, thinning and soil compaction on the GHG budget, we measured GHG soil fluxes in a one-year campaign in a forest located in the catchment of the “Münichbach”, south-west to Vienna, Austria (N 48°07’16”, E 16°02’52’’, 510 m MASL). The soil is classified as Dystric cambisol over sandstone which is known to be sensitive for compaction and has a low recovery capacity. The mean air temperature in the campaign year (2019) was 9.7 °C and the annual precipitation was 820 mm. The experimental setup consisted of four treatments reflecting the heterogeneity of the catchment: a mixed stand (F) which was not thinned since 1913 consisting of beech, spruce, and larch; a pure beech stand last thinned in 2002 (L); a pure beech stand last thinned in 2013 (M), and the skid trails (R) that pass through the area of treatment M. For each treatment, five randomly distributed plots were selected, each equipped with three static chambers. The gas sampling was conducted manually at intervals of 3 weeks. Methane and N₂O in the gas samples were analysed by gas chromatography, those of NO by a soil core incubation approach using a chemiluminescence detector. Fluxes of CO₂ were measured in-situ with an EGM-4 environmental gas monitor (PP Systems).

The regularly wet skid trails (R) showed a significant reduction in CH₄ uptake, and increased CO₂ and N₂O emissions. N deposition was considerably higher at F than at the beech stands (L and M), which affected GHG fluxes, resulting in significantly highest NO emissions of 0.65 ±0.07 kg N ha^-1 y^-1, and N₂O emissions of 0.42 ±0.04 kg N ha^-1 y^-1, comparable to those at R, while CH₄ fluxes did not differ from those of beech stands. The results of the study show lower emissions of beech sites in terms of NO and N₂O. However, in terms of CH₄ uptake beech stands revealed no significant difference compared to mixed stand (F). The treatments F and M showed comparable CH₄ fluxes, while L tended toward a lower uptake. The greatest long-term effect of forest management was apparent at the skid trails (R), with significantly highest CO₂ and N₂O emissions, and lowest CH₄ uptake. Compared to the other treatments, annual GWP₁₀₀ was significantly highest at R with 10.41 ±0.37 t ha^-1, which was 30, 28, and 58% higher than the means of F, L, and M.

How to cite: Hofbauer, A., Michel, K., and Kitzler, B.: Impact of forest management and soil compaction on soil GHG fluxes of a temperate forest, EGU General Assembly 2022, Vienna, Austria, 23–27 May 2022, EGU22-7651, https://doi.org/10.5194/egusphere-egu22-7651, 2022.

Trees have regrown on dozens of million hectares of abandoned farmland in Russia over the past decades. So far, their status has remained largely informal, but recent propositions to formalize forests and forestry on abandoned farmland spurred legislatorial processes and political controversies. Besides a large-scale but unplanned and unstable forest transition over the past decades, there are now propositions to actively develop “new forests” on abandoned farmland.

After introducing characteristics and implications of the ‘informal’ forest transition to date, I discuss how “new forests” have become a new object of political controversy but also future possibility. I show how certain “new forest” models go along with a reframing of abandoned farmland, long associated with loss and degradation, into a future-oriented vision with ecological, social, and economic benefits. The reduction of pressure on primary forests is one such potential benefit, opening up possibilities for new forestry models another one. I also discuss some of the (potentially) problematic implications of these models, such as the bracketing of local knowledge and needs, or companies’ rising interest in reforestation as a means to ‘greenwash’ emission-intensive businesses by carbon offsetting. In methodical terms, I discuss how studying new forests as a socio-natural entitiy in the making offers opportunities for original interdisciplinary collaboration.

How to cite: Vorbrugg, A.: Russia’s New Forests. Controversies around the Future of Abandoned Farmland, EGU General Assembly 2022, Vienna, Austria, 23–27 May 2022, EGU22-8190, https://doi.org/10.5194/egusphere-egu22-8190, 2022.

Reversing the European trend toward a declining land carbon sink has become the new mantra. The decision to increase net carbon uptake in the forest, however, is made without adequately considering the consequences for the circular bioeconomy and climate change mitigation more generally. LULUCF (Land Use, Land Use Change and Forestry) accounting fails to balance net carbon uptake with the positive substitution effects from forest use recorded in the energy sector. The singular focus on the net forest carbon sink distracts attention from the fact that, over the past century, many EU Member states have managed to harvest ever larger amounts of forest, and, simultaneously, to continuously increase both forest carbon stocks, as well as the size of the annual forest increment. In the language of the European Commission’s proposed LULUCF policy framework, however, high harvesting rates and high forest use intensity are seen as anathema to climate change mitigation because they are thought to threaten the reliability of the EU UNFCCC emission reduction commitment framework, as well as the longevity of Europe’s forests, more generally. This, at least, is the unabashed message of one recent Joint Research Centre (JRC) assessment of EU forestry, which argues that rapid increases in harvest rates challenge the environmental integrity of EU emission-reduction commitments. According to the authors, ‘the loss of carbon in standing forests will require additional efforts in other sectors to reach the EU climate neutrality target by 2050’.¹ We explore the parameters of this assessment, highlighting the fact that preferences for more protected forests obscure our understanding of the climate benefits forestry and forest resource use can provide. We argue the continuous net annual contributions to the global carbon budget provided by the circular bioeconomy (avoided emissions, net removals and renewed forest growth) should be more carefully considered. Increasing net forest carbon uptake by reducing forest use intensity (i.e., annual harvest) is not the only, nor is it even the most beneficial, pathway to increasing LULUCF-based climate change mitigation potential. Policymakers should pay greater attention both to the mix of micro-level mechanisms and incentives created by the EU LULUCF policy framework and the mix of public and private sector interests and investment goals intended to undergird future forest growth and LULUCF-based mitigation potential. As we demonstrate, promoting reforestation efforts beyond Managed Forest Lands (MFL) has contributed only minimally to the global carbon budget and has failed to garner the kind of investment momentum required to make it a meaningful mitigation solution. MFL, on the other hand, have witnessed far greater contributions to the global carbon budget but are generally not fully mobilized in the EU climate policy framework. Striking an appropriate balance between the many climate change mitigation, human livelihood and consumption benefits forests and forest-based resources can provide, on the one hand, and protected, biodiverse-rich forest environments, on the other, requires a more balanced approach.

How to cite: Ellison, D., Petersson, H., Fridman, J., Korhonen, K. T., Hentonnen, H., Appiah Mensah, A., and Wallerman, J.: Europe’s Forest Sink Obsession, EGU General Assembly 2022, Vienna, Austria, 23–27 May 2022, EGU22-8950, https://doi.org/10.5194/egusphere-egu22-8950, 2022.

Poor people in rural areas of developing countries are often highly dependent on forest biodiversity to meet their day-to-day livelihood needs because protein from forest wildlife is crucial to rural food security and livelihoods across the tropics. The harvest of animals and reliance of poor, rural communities on forest resources has resulted in destructive gathering practices that directly degrade forest ecosystems; a practice which is largely unsustainable, hence there is a need for alternative livelihoods program in such communities. Several efforts in the past have applied alternative livelihoods programs with little or no success. The study aims to investigate the contributions of the Wildlife Conservation Society (WCS); a nongovernmental organization with the mission to save wildlife and wild places across the globe, in engendering alternative livelihoods program in selected communities in the forested zone in Cross River State, Nigeria. The study design is observational and socio-economic in nature. The sample frame for the study entails detailed appraisal of the success of the WCS alternative livelihoods program in Afi, Mbe and Okwango. Non-probabilistic Snowball sampling is being used; this method will help to identify trained and untrained hunters. The sample size for the study comprises one hundred and seventy four (174) respondents derived from four (4) groups of actors of the target population: Hunters trained by WCS (57), Project Managers (3), Rangers and Eco guards (15) and Hunters not trained by WCS (102). We compare the differences and associations between respondent categories in terms of livelihood strategies and outcomes using T-test statistics and qualitative methods.

How to cite: Ologeh, I. and Farinloye, K.: Alternative livelihood programs to promote sustainable resources use in Afi, Mbe and Okwango Forests in Cross River State, Nigeria, EGU General Assembly 2022, Vienna, Austria, 23–27 May 2022, EGU22-9030, https://doi.org/10.5194/egusphere-egu22-9030, 2022.

Green spaces and recreational soils play a crucial role in ensuring the sustainable development and functioning of cities. They help to reduce the content of volatile organic substances and fine dust in the air, create a microclimate, optimize water balance and preserve biodiversity, and provide cultural, aesthetic, and educational functions and services. The interaction of soil and plant components has a more significant impact on the sustainable development of green infrastructure in urbanized areas. This is especially true for new urbanized territories, where the history of land use has an additional impact on the properties of soil and green spaces.

The study is devoted to studying the recreational areas of New Moscow, formed on the site of a natural forest. The conducted studies make it possible to assess in a complex the interaction of plant and soil components and the impact of land use on the functions and properties of soils and green spaces in 4 parks located in New Moscow. Until July 1, 2012, which included all research objects in Moscow's forest park protective belt, and after 2012 it transferred them to Moscow. All of them have been sampled at 39 points to a depth of 50 cm and 10 points to a depth of 1 m. It carried out a visual assessment for 4117 trees located at each point within a radius of 20 m from the soil sampling. An analysis of species diversity and an analysis of the state of woody vegetation did not reveal significant differences. Thus, the best condition of the trees was found in the Rasskazovka park - 1.61 (on a 6-point scale by V. Alekseev), and the worst in the Ulyanovsk forest park - 1.82. The lowest average density of surface horizons (0–10 cm) was noted for the park of the 3rd microdistrict of the Moscow and Ulyanovsk Forest Park – 0.8 ± 0.1 g/cm3 and 0.8 ± 0.3 g/cm3. The pH value in the Ulyanovsk forest park is 5.1 ± 0.4. Also, there is an excess of approximately permissible concentrations (APC) in the parks for nickel, zinc, arsenic, and cadmium. For example, in the soil in the Troitskaya Grove park, excesses for all four metals are shown for some points. The data obtained indicate that forest parks are subject to anthropogenic impact, which negatively affects soil quality. The analysis of microbiological activity and carbon and the calculation of integral pollution indices will help more accurately determine the differences and factors that have a negative impact on forest ecosystems.

How to cite: Demina, S., Makhiniya, K., and Vasenev, V.: Analysis of the impact of urbanization on the ecological state of soils and woody vegetation in the forest parks of New Moscow, EGU General Assembly 2022, Vienna, Austria, 23–27 May 2022, EGU22-12585, https://doi.org/10.5194/egusphere-egu22-12585, 2022.