Is Canadas Forest a Carbon Sink or Source?
The importance of forests in the global carbon cycle—the exchange of carbon dioxide between the atmosphere and the biosphere—is one reason why the Kyoto Protocol gave countries the option of including forest management in their Kyoto accounting for 2008–2012. Canada strongly supported this approach because it was believed that it could provide a positive incentive for sustainable forest management. It was also thought that the managed forest might help Canada meet its Kyoto target. However, the Canadian government did not want to decide whether to include forest management in its Kyoto accounting until it answered this question: Taking into account natural processes and human activities, and the accounting rules of the Kyoto Protocol, is Canada’s forest a carbon sink or source and will that change in the future? Forests store large amounts of carbon in the trees and soil. They accumulate more over time as they remove carbon dioxide, the major greenhouse gas, from the air and store the
