ELEPHANT

As the scope and scale of our work have expanded, we are striving toward an integrated forest landscape restoration (FLR) initiative in the Pai District. The strategies described here and here will only endure if they fit within the biophysical and social constraints of the Pai District. These constraints include the livelihoods of local communities, the water balance, flood and landslide risk, and the balance between land degradation and the dependence of local communities on agriculture and forest resources. 

Considering the scale of our work, Conserve Natural Forests takes a spatially-explicit “precision-planting” approach to select sites suitable for multiple benefits or services. Our goal is to balance the many values provided by forests through multiple-objective management, including the restoration of riparian corridors, improved landscape connectivity, minimising soil erosion, and nature-based solutions to climate change and natural disaster risk mitigation. None of these benefits function in isolation. Any intervention on one part has the potential to affect the whole system.

ELEPHANT

CLIMATE CHANGE MITIGATION: CARBON SEQUESTRATION & STORAGE

We believe that climate change is the most pressing issue of our time. Greenhouse gas (GHG) emissions were the highest in human history between 2000 and 2010 at 49 GtCO2eq/yr. That’s 49 billion tons per year, and this astronomical number is rising. Carbon dioxide accounts for 76% of GHG emissions, which is mainly released by burning fossil fuels. The average American car releases 4,700 kilos of CO2 per year. The average American home produces 7,500 of CO2 per year. A one-way flight from San Francisco to Bangkok is equivalent to 2,670 kilos of CO2 per passenger. Numbers like these are enough to diminish hope and discourage change. What can be done against such overwhelming odds?

One answer: Plant trees! Here at CNF, we believe that every little effort makes a difference. Or in this case, every little tree. With enough trees we have a forest, and forests provide a wealth of critical resources to our world, including medicines, timber, food, and clean water. They also function as carbon sinks, meaning they pull carbon from the atmosphere and store it in their trunks, branches, leaves, and roots for decades or even centuries. Carbon is the basis for 50% of the dry weight of most trees. Every gram of carbon stored in trees as they grow is a gram that is not released back into the atmosphere. And trees are the gifts that keep on giving. Imagine reducing your carbon footprint and restoring a beautiful ecosystem at the same time. We estimate our carbon sequestration rates using IPCC best practice guidelines and site-specific field data we obtain during our annual or bi-annual site assessments.

ELEPHANT

Most scientists agree that a certain amount of global warming is already locked in, and we must prepare for change. The most important consideration of warming temperatures is the disruption of the Intertropical Convergence Zone (ITCZ) and monsoon weather systems. Current climate change models predict less frequent but more intense precipitation as temperature increases, translating to prolonged droughts and higher risk of flooding. The delayed onset of the rainy season may contribute to more frequent and more intense wildfires. 

We select for hardy, drought-tolerant species in anticipation of climate change, but these predictions increase the urgency of landscape-based approaches to conservation and restoration. In particular, we must try to estimate how forest restoration will interact with climate change to affect local water supply and mitigate natural disaster risk. More information is also needed on how climate change will affect species dispersal and migrations. Increased fire risk underlines the importance of policies that address unsustainable fire practices in Thailand while also integrating fire as an essential part of the natural disturbance regime. Conserve Natural Forests recognizes the grave threat we all face with climate change, and we are ready to face it head on with your help!

Riparian corridors improve water quality by decoupling unsustainable and erosive agricultural practices from stream networks, reducing turbidity and excessive nutrient deposition while stabilizing streambanks and regulating microclimate conditions.

We also advocate some agricultural best management practices including the use of cover crops during fallow periods to reduce erosion and improve soil health. By planting a mix of 25-30 species with varying rooting depths, we expect our forest restoration projects to reduce the risk of shallow landslides (<5m) compared to exposed soil or monocultures with uniform rooting depth.