Why is rainforest regeneration such a powerful form of carbon compensation?
Rainforests are huge carbon sinks, tying up tonnes of carbon in their biomass – both above and below ground. Research from CSIRO indicates that the amount of carbon sequestered in these forests varies from 280 tonnes of carbon (tC) to 450 tC per hectare. Loosing these forests would release this carbon into the atmosphere through CO2, contributing to climate change. ARF has taken a conservative position of allowing 295 tonnes of carbon per hectare as the calculator for stored carbon in a mature tropical rainforest. The AGO has provided a factor of 3.67 to convert tonnes of carbon to tonnes equivalent of CO2 released by destruction i.e. 295 tC = 1082.65 tonnes equivalent of carbon dioxide per hectare (tCO2 e/ha). At the recent Carbon Market Expo on the Gold Coast (Oct 2008) Dr Tim Flannery said that saving our old growth rainforests is the first thing we should be doing to alleviate climate change. Further scientific research indicates that a rainforest of mixed species stores approximat
