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Carbon Sinks Science And The Preservation Of Old Growth Forests Under The Kyoto Protocol, Dayna Scott

Articles & Book Chapters

The structure of the mechanisms in the Kyoto Protocol with respect to "carbon sinks," may be integrated so as to place incentives on national governments that counter recent progress made towards the preservation of old-growth forests. A focus on the element carbon fails to recognize values other than sequestration that standing forests can provide. For example, an approach that strictly seeks to increase the rate of fixation of atmospheric carbon will favour replacing old-growth forests with monocultural plantations of trees. The international community, in implementing these mechanisms, may frustrate other environmental initiatives such as the conservation of endangered species habitat …