Biofuel Plantations on Forested Lands: Double Jeopardy for Biodiversity and Climate

[Lera Miles, UNEP-WCMC]

[crossposted from oil palm group]

A new paper in Conservation Biology has been picked up by BBC News,
see link:

http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/science/nature/7758542.stm

The paper itself is online now and will be published in print in
Conservation Biology in the New Year. You can find it here:

http://www3.interscience.wiley.com/journal/121536533/abstract

Or email Finn Danielsen <f...@nordeco.dk> for a PDF.

All the best,

Ben Phalan




Abstract

The growing demand for biofuels is promoting the expansion of a number
of agricultural commodities, including oil palm (Elaeis guineensis).
Oil-palm plantations cover over 13 million ha, primarily in Southeast
Asia, where they have directly or indirectly replaced tropical
rainforest. We explored the impact of the spread of oil-palm
plantations
on greenhouse gas emission and biodiversity. We assessed changes in
carbon stocks with changing land use and compared this with the amount
of fossil-fuel carbon emission avoided through its replacement by
biofuel carbon. We estimated it would take between 75 and 93 years for
the carbon emissions saved through use of biofuel to compensate for
the
carbon lost through forest conversion, depending on how the forest was
cleared. If the original habitat was peatland, carbon balance would
take
more than 600 years. Conversely, planting oil palms on degraded
grassland would lead to a net removal of carbon within 10 years. These
estimates have associated uncertainty, but their magnitude and
relative
proportions seem credible. We carried out a meta-analysis of published
faunal studies that compared forest with oil palm. We found that
plantations supported species-poor communities containing few forest
species. Because no published data on flora were available, we present
results from our sampling of plants in oil palm and forest plots in
Indonesia. Although the species richness of pteridophytes was higher
in
plantations, they held few forest species. Trees, lianas, epiphytic
orchids, and indigenous palms were wholly absent from oil-palm
plantations. The majority of individual plants and animals in oil-palm
plantations belonged to a small number of generalist species of low
conservation concern. As countries strive to meet obligations to
reduce
carbon emissions under one international agreement (Kyoto Protocol),
they may not only fail to meet their obligations under another
(Convention on Biological Diversity) but may actually hasten global
climate change. Reducing deforestation is likely to represent a more
effective climate-change mitigation strategy than converting forest
for
biofuel production, and it may help nations meet their international
commitments to reduce biodiversity loss.