Growing our future: Assessing the outcome of afforestation programs in Ontario, Canada
The United Nations Framework Convention on Climate Change (UNFCCC) requires its signatories, including Canada, to estimate and report their annual greenhouse gas (GHG) emissions and removals. Forests are an important natural resource as they slow the accumulation of atmospheric carbon through the pr...
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| Format: | Article |
| Language: | English |
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Canadian Institute of Forestry
2021-06-01
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| Series: | The Forestry Chronicle |
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| Online Access: | https://pubs.cif-ifc.org/doi/10.5558/tfc2021-019 |
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| author | Georgina K. Magnus Elizabeth Celanowicz Mihai Voicu Mark Hafer Juha M. Metsaranta Andrew Dyk Werner A. Kurz |
| author_facet | Georgina K. Magnus Elizabeth Celanowicz Mihai Voicu Mark Hafer Juha M. Metsaranta Andrew Dyk Werner A. Kurz |
| author_sort | Georgina K. Magnus |
| collection | DOAJ |
| description | The United Nations Framework Convention on Climate Change (UNFCCC) requires its signatories, including Canada, to estimate and report their annual greenhouse gas (GHG) emissions and removals. Forests are an important natural resource as they slow the accumulation of atmospheric carbon through the process of carbon sequestration. Due to the role of forests as carbon sinks, governments consider afforestation projects as feasible climate change mitigation strategies. This article outlines a spatially-explicit approach to validating afforestation data in Ontario, Canada. Validation is a user-supervised process that uses satellite imagery, remote sensing tools, and other auxiliary data to confirm the presence of seedlings planted through Forests Ontario’s 50 Million Tree program. Of the 12 466 hectares assessed, 83% is identified as afforested, 6% is not afforested and 10% is not determined. The area classified as successful afforestation is used as input for the Generic Carbon Budget Model (GCBM), to simulate afforestation effects on carbon stocks. Our findings show the afforestation activities will create a small carbon sink by 2060. From this project, it is evident that spatial validation of afforestation data is feasible, although the collection of additional standardized auxiliary data is recommended for future afforestation projects, if carbon benefits are to be reported. |
| format | Article |
| id | doaj-art-68c2dff09665432f8488b697807049eb |
| institution | Kabale University |
| issn | 0015-7546 1499-9315 |
| language | English |
| publishDate | 2021-06-01 |
| publisher | Canadian Institute of Forestry |
| record_format | Article |
| series | The Forestry Chronicle |
| spelling | doaj-art-68c2dff09665432f8488b697807049eb2025-08-20T03:39:00ZengCanadian Institute of ForestryThe Forestry Chronicle0015-75461499-93152021-06-01970217919010.5558/tfc2021-019Growing our future: Assessing the outcome of afforestation programs in Ontario, CanadaGeorgina K. Magnus0Elizabeth Celanowicz1Mihai Voicu2Mark Hafer3Juha M. Metsaranta4Andrew Dyk5Werner A. Kurz6Pacific Forestry Centre, Canadian Forestry Service, Natural Resources Canada, 506 Burnside Road W, Victoria B.C. V8Z 1M5, CanadaPacific Forestry Centre, Canadian Forestry Service, Natural Resources Canada, 506 Burnside Road W, Victoria B.C. V8Z 1M5, CanadaNorthern Forestry Centre, Canadian Forestry Service, Natural Resources Canada, 5320 – 122 St., Edmonton, Alberta, T6H 3S5 CanadaPacific Forestry Centre, Canadian Forestry Service, Natural Resources Canada, 506 Burnside Road W, Victoria B.C. V8Z 1M5, CanadaNorthern Forestry Centre, Canadian Forestry Service, Natural Resources Canada, 5320 – 122 St., Edmonton, Alberta, T6H 3S5 CanadaPacific Forestry Centre, Canadian Forestry Service, Natural Resources Canada, 506 Burnside Road W, Victoria B.C. V8Z 1M5, CanadaPacific Forestry Centre, Canadian Forestry Service, Natural Resources Canada, 506 Burnside Road W, Victoria B.C. V8Z 1M5, CanadaThe United Nations Framework Convention on Climate Change (UNFCCC) requires its signatories, including Canada, to estimate and report their annual greenhouse gas (GHG) emissions and removals. Forests are an important natural resource as they slow the accumulation of atmospheric carbon through the process of carbon sequestration. Due to the role of forests as carbon sinks, governments consider afforestation projects as feasible climate change mitigation strategies. This article outlines a spatially-explicit approach to validating afforestation data in Ontario, Canada. Validation is a user-supervised process that uses satellite imagery, remote sensing tools, and other auxiliary data to confirm the presence of seedlings planted through Forests Ontario’s 50 Million Tree program. Of the 12 466 hectares assessed, 83% is identified as afforested, 6% is not afforested and 10% is not determined. The area classified as successful afforestation is used as input for the Generic Carbon Budget Model (GCBM), to simulate afforestation effects on carbon stocks. Our findings show the afforestation activities will create a small carbon sink by 2060. From this project, it is evident that spatial validation of afforestation data is feasible, although the collection of additional standardized auxiliary data is recommended for future afforestation projects, if carbon benefits are to be reported.https://pubs.cif-ifc.org/doi/10.5558/tfc2021-019afforestationcarbon sequestrationCBM-CFS3climate change mitigationboisementséquestration du carbone |
| spellingShingle | Georgina K. Magnus Elizabeth Celanowicz Mihai Voicu Mark Hafer Juha M. Metsaranta Andrew Dyk Werner A. Kurz Growing our future: Assessing the outcome of afforestation programs in Ontario, Canada The Forestry Chronicle afforestation carbon sequestration CBM-CFS3 climate change mitigation boisement séquestration du carbone |
| title | Growing our future: Assessing the outcome of afforestation programs in Ontario, Canada |
| title_full | Growing our future: Assessing the outcome of afforestation programs in Ontario, Canada |
| title_fullStr | Growing our future: Assessing the outcome of afforestation programs in Ontario, Canada |
| title_full_unstemmed | Growing our future: Assessing the outcome of afforestation programs in Ontario, Canada |
| title_short | Growing our future: Assessing the outcome of afforestation programs in Ontario, Canada |
| title_sort | growing our future assessing the outcome of afforestation programs in ontario canada |
| topic | afforestation carbon sequestration CBM-CFS3 climate change mitigation boisement séquestration du carbone |
| url | https://pubs.cif-ifc.org/doi/10.5558/tfc2021-019 |
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