In North America, we know quite a bit about how to manage traditional forests in ways that enhance carbon sequestration and mitigate climate change. But, we are just starting to learn about how forested wetlands capture carbon, and compared to our understanding of traditional forests, there is much more to learn.
What we do know is that wetlands are a large source of carbon capture. However, at the moment there are no tools to quickly determine the amount of carbon stored in wetlands leaving us susceptible in the future to activities that may compromise the carbon stores and contribute to climate change.
SRC is collaborating with Ducks Unlimited Canada and the Sustainable Forestry Initiative (SFI), along with two SFI program participants Louisiana-Pacific Canadian Ltd. and Spruce Products Ltd., to develop a rapid, yet thorough, protocol that will provide estimates of carbon storage in wetlands and can be implemented by forestry professionals as part of their management activities.
SRC Forestry expert Mark Johnston is available for media interviews on September 20-22. Please contact Rebecca Gotto to schedule an interview.
For more information on this project, check out Mark Johnston’s latest blog post Why We Need to Learn More About How Wetlands Store Carbon.
