Australia’s natural forests store up to three times more carbon than previously realised by experts, making their preservation of utmost importance in the battle against climate change according to new research.
Tall, wet eucalyptus forests in Victoria and Tasmania are among the largest carbon stores, according to researchers from the Australian National University, holding up to 10 times more than thought at 1,200 tonnes of CO2 per hectare.
Overall, the research calculates unlogged natural eucalyptus forests store 640 tonnes of CO2 per hectare, compared with the average stock of 217 tonnes in temperate forests.
This equates to 9.3 billion tonnes in the 14.5 million ha of natural forest in south-east Australia, or avoided emissions of 460 million tonnes each year for the next century.
“Protecting the carbon in Australia’s and the world’s natural forests is no longer an option – it is a necessity,” said research author Professor Brendan Mackey.
“The carbon stored in natural forests is a larger and more reliable stock than the carbon stored in commercially logged forests and plantations.”
Figures released last month show Australia’s timber production plantations grew by 1.9 million ha in 2007.
