The Role of Forests in Carbon Sequestration
 Land clearing for agriculture and forestry together with the conversion to mono-culture re-growth and plantations, is responsible for 28% of the Worlds carbon emissions.
The importance of forests is explained in this article :
OLD GROWTH FORESTS ARE CARBON SINKS and MUST BE PROTECTED

In 2001 Forestry Tasmania conducted its own research in Wet Forests at the Warra Long Term Ecological Research Site in Southern Tasmania, the results of which were significant.

---

The amount of carbon released to the atmosphere after the re-generation burn was between 154.1 and 226.4 tonnes per hectare---- an average of 196.7 tonnes.

---

The study showed between 58 and 63% of the weight of organic matter left on the ground and its carbon content, was lost to the atmosphere after clearfelling and burning.

Research has shown there can be as much as 550 tonnes per hectare of fallen logs on the forest floor of Mt Ash or mixed Wet Sclerophyll forests.  • Ref: David Lindenmayer.

Research by the C.S.I.R.O. has indicated there is a net loss of around 60% of carbon to the atmosphere as a consequence of clearfelling and the conversion to short rotation plantations or re-growth native mono-cultures. It would take in excess of 500 years to recover the lost carbon and get carbon stability back into catchments.

---

 The organic carbon content of soils is reduced by at least 2/3 when undisturbed native forests are converted to plantations or short term re-growth native mono-cultures, i.e. less than 50 years.

---

Planting trees to soak up carbon dioxide in the atmosphere has been shown to be a scientific fallacy. Trees actually release more carbon in the first 10 years of growth than they actually absorb.

If every tree which has been removed in the last 200 years were to be replaced tomorrow it would take in excess of 200 years for the sequestered  carbon to be returned to relative stability, (rainfall patterns permitting).