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Carbon sequestration, biological diversity, and sustainable development: Integrated forest management

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Abstract

Tropical deforestation provides a significant contribution to anthropogenic increases in atmospheric CO2 concentration that may lead to global warming. Forestation and other forest management options to sequester CO2 in the tropical latitudes may fail unless they address local economic, social, environmental, and political needs of people in the developing world. Forest management is discussed in terms of three objectives: carbon sequestration, sustainable development, and biodiversity conservation. An integrated forest management strategy of land-use planning is proposed to achieve these objectives and is centered around: preservation of primary forest, intensified use of nontimber resources, agroforestry, and selective use of plantation forestry.

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Authors and Affiliations

  1. United States Environmental Protection Agency, Environmental Research Laboratory, 200 SW 35th Street, 97333, Corvallis, Oregon, USA

    Michael A. Cairns

  2. United Nations Environment Programme for the Wider Caribbean, 14-20 Port Royal Street, Kingston, Jamaica

    Richard A. Meganck

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  1. Michael A. Cairns
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  2. Richard A. Meganck
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The information in this document has been wholly funded by the US Environmental Protection Agency. It has been subjected to the agency's peer and administrative review and approved for publication of an EPA document. Mention of trade names or commercial products does not constitute endorsement or recommendation for use.

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Cairns, M.A., Meganck, R.A. Carbon sequestration, biological diversity, and sustainable development: Integrated forest management. Environmental Management 18, 13–22 (1994). https://doi.org/10.1007/BF02393746

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