Introducing the concept of Carbon-Smart Forestry

A new feature article written by Forest Research exploring Carbon-Smart Forestry, an important component of Climate-Smart Forestry, has been published today by the Royal Forestry Society.

Read the full article

Available both in the summer edition of the Quarterly Journal of Forestry and on the Royal Forestry Society website, ‘Carbon-Smart Forestry: What Could it Look Like?’  explains how managing existing woodlands can contribute towards carbon sequestration, setting out key principles for forestry practitioners while noting the need to balance multiple management objectives.

It also discusses how much carbon is in woodlands, with soil carbon representing nearly 70% of the total stock in woodlands at UK national scale.

Defined as ‘the act of planning and carrying out forest management with awareness of potential impacts on the carbon balance’, Carbon-Smart Forestry outlines what is within the power of woodland planners, owners and managers to influence in terms of carbon in their woodlands and contribute towards the goal of achieving net zero emissions.

The article focuses on the conservation or enhancement of carbon in existing woodlands and enhancing wood production in existing woodlands, to achieve substitution in other sectors, and emphasises the potential trade-offs between the two.

For an overview of some of the main topics regarding carbon, including the carbon impacts of managing woodland, climate change impacts on soil carbon and wood products, visit the Forest Research Climate Change Hub.