UNESCO World Heritage forests absorb 190 million tonnes of carbon dioxide

Forests on UNESCO's World Heritage List absorb 190 million tonnes of carbon dioxide from the atmosphere every year, according to a study by the UN agency. The figure represents about half of the CO2 from fossil fuels emitted annually in the UK.

However, the report also notes that 10 of these forests, out of a total of 257, emitted more carbon dioxide than they absorbed, particularly because of pressure from human activity and climate change.

In particular, the study cites land fragmentation due to logging and forest clearance for agriculture at many sites as causes of emissions in excess of the amount of carbon sequestered.

Other causes are related to the increase in the size and severity of forest fires, which are often linked to long periods of drought due to global warming, and to extreme weather events such as hurricanes that slow down carbon sequestration.

Forecasts for the coming years are not positive and suggest that carbon sequestration in forests on the UNESCO World Heritage List will be disrupted by progressive land degradation and fragmentation and increasingly frequent and intense weather events.
 

The research results are part of a joint effort by researchers from UNESCO, the World Resources Institute and the International Union for Conservation of Nature. The scientists calculated the amount of CO2 captured and released by World Heritage forests between 2001 and 2020 and determined the causes of certain emissions.

World Heritage forests cover a total area of 69 million hectares (twice the size of Germany) and form a set of biodiversity-rich ecosystems that, in addition to absorbing carbon dioxide from the atmosphere, store large amounts of carbon.

The carbon accumulated by the forests over centuries amounts to some 13 billion tonnes of the chemical, more than all the oil reserves in Kuwait.

UNESCO points out that if all the carbon stored in these forests were released into the atmosphere in the form of carbon dioxide, this would add one third to the amount of CO2 emitted annually by the planet.

The study calls for safeguarding UNESCO World Heritage sites and their surrounding landscapes with strong protection and sustainable management to ensure that these forests continue to act as carbon sinks for future generations.

To achieve this goal, the UN agency recommends climate change mitigation and adaptation measures, as well as maintaining and strengthening ecological corridors that allow for better management of landscapes.

For example, government agencies in Indonesia have used near real-time fire warning systems to significantly reduce their response times.

The Report also recommends integrating the ongoing management of UNESCO World Heritage sites into international, national and local strategies related to climate, biodiversity and sustainable development, in line with the Paris Climate Agreement, the post-2020 global biodiversity framework and the Sustainable Development Goals.