Money grows in trees

Research into new technologies which will underpin business decisions to invest billions of dollars in environmentally-friendly forests is the focus of a new book published by CSIRO and the Australian Academy of Technological Sciences and Engineering.

Based on papers presented to an international workshop held in Canberra earlier this year, 'Carbon Accounting in Forests' details work by the Australian Greenhouse Office, CSIRO and researchers in China, Thailand and Vietnam on how to measure the amounts of carbon found in different parts of the environment.

"Rising levels of atmospheric carbon dioxide have been identified as one of the major causes of global warming but the problem can be reduced by increasing public and private sector investment in reforestation and forest plantations," says CSIRO Forestry and Forest Products scientist, Dr Trevor Booth.

"The potential carbon credit value of afforestation and reforestation projects around the world is estimated to be worth about US$5 billion," he says.

"However, to attract carbon sequestration investments, organisations will need to be able to predict the amount of carbon that is likely to be stored in different types of forests.

"Carbon Accounting in Forests provides an overview of current and future research needed to develop the required technologies," Dr Booth says.

The Workshop was partially funded by the Department of Education, Science and Training's Frontiers of S&T Missions and Workshops component of the Innovation Access Program - part of the Australian Government's Innovation Statement, 'Backing Australia's Ability'.

Printed copies of the book are being offered to selected libraries around the world and electronic copies are downloadable from the CSIRO Forestry and Forest Products website.

CSIRO Forestry and Forest Products

Item provided courtesy of The CSIRO