Opportunity costs of carbon sequestration in a forest concession in central Africa

Background: A large proportion of the tropical rain forests of central Africa undergo periodic selective logging for timber harvesting. The REDD+ mechanism could promote less intensive logging if revenue from the additional carbon stored in the forest compensates financially for the reduced timber yield. Results: Carbon stocks, and timber yields, and their associated values, were predicted at the scale of a forest concession in Gabon over a project scenario of 40 yr with reduced logging intensity. Considering that the timber contribution margin (i.e. the selling price of timber minus its production costs) varies between 10 and US$40 m?3, the minimum price of carbon that enables carbon revenues to compensate forgone timber benefits ranges between US$4.4 and US$25.9/tCO2 depending on the management scenario implemented. Conclusions: Where multiple suppliers of emission reductions compete in a REDD+ carbon market, tropical timber companies are likely to change their management practices only if very favourable conditions are met, namely if the timber contribution margin remains.

Bibliographic Details

Main Authors:	Ndjondo, Michel, Gourlet-Fleury, Sylvie, Manlay, Raphaël, Engone Obiang, Nestor Laurier, Ngomanda, Alfred, Romero, Claudia, Claeys, Florian, Picard, Nicolas
Format:	article biblioteca
Language:	eng
Subjects:	K10 - Production forestière, K01 - Foresterie - Considérations générales, P01 - Conservation de la nature et ressources foncières, forêt tropicale humide, politique de l'environnement, politique forestière, rentabilité, exploitation forestière, déboisement, dégradation de l'environnement, incitation, gaz à effet de serre, stockage, carbone, aménagement forestier, séquestration du carbone, http://aims.fao.org/aos/agrovoc/c_7976, http://aims.fao.org/aos/agrovoc/c_2597, http://aims.fao.org/aos/agrovoc/c_3060, http://aims.fao.org/aos/agrovoc/c_6214, http://aims.fao.org/aos/agrovoc/c_7775, http://aims.fao.org/aos/agrovoc/c_15590, http://aims.fao.org/aos/agrovoc/c_34821, http://aims.fao.org/aos/agrovoc/c_3818, http://aims.fao.org/aos/agrovoc/c_34841, http://aims.fao.org/aos/agrovoc/c_7427, http://aims.fao.org/aos/agrovoc/c_1301, http://aims.fao.org/aos/agrovoc/c_16129, http://aims.fao.org/aos/agrovoc/c_331583, http://aims.fao.org/aos/agrovoc/c_3161,
Online Access:	http://agritrop.cirad.fr/573803/ http://agritrop.cirad.fr/573803/1/document_573803.pdf
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