Carbon Sequestration in Urban Forests: Approaches and Values

"Forest carbon sequestration is one of the key approaches to reducing atmospheric carbon concentrations. It is a safe, environmentally acceptable, and cost-effective way to capture and store substantial amounts of atmospheric carbon. The role of forests in sequestering carbon is becoming increasingly recognized, and financial incentives to consider carbon storage benefits in management decisions are also emerging with the development of tradable carbon storage credits.

"Rapidly growing urban and suburban areas in the United States continue to encompass more and more forestland. The forestland which escapes development is gradually removed from industrial timber management and becomes an urban forest. Today, for example, nearly 20 percent of forestland in Georgia is located in metropolitan areas. Urban forests which are owned and managed by local governments and non-profit organizations frequently become permanent reserves—areas which will not be subject to commercial harvest in the foreseeable future. Therefore, unlike commercial forests, urban forests can under certain conditions be considered as a permanent repository of carbon. As the area of urban forests grows, so does their potential to store atmospheric carbon." [from Introduction]

This factsheet describes the objectives, methods, and time line for a FY2005 Cooperative Agreement with the SCUFR&I in Athens, Georgia.

Attachments and Links

Click to open, view, print, and/or save this TT resource as a PDF