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Global Climate Change Digest
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FROM VOLUME 5, NUMBER 4, APRIL 1992

REPORTS...
TREES AND FORESTS

Item #d92apr72

Growing Trees: A Least-Cost Way to Cool Global Warming, 15 pp., Feb. 1992, no charge. Ctr. for Clean Air Policy, 444 N. Capitol St., S. 602, Washington DC 20001 (202-624-7709).

Summarizes results of a series of model simulations undertaken with the assistance of ICF Resources, which analyze the costs and impacts of greenhouse gas emission policies on American Electric Power (AEP), a large, mainly coal-fired utility operating in several states. Finds that forestry offsets are one key to cutting net emissions at relatively low costs; coalbed methane is another source, but energy conservation remains the lowest-cost strategy.

Item #d92apr73

Report of the Workshop on the Conservation and Utilization of World Forests, K. Ramakrishna, G.M. Woodwell, 26 pp., 1991, no charge. Woods Hole Res. Ctr., POB 296, Woods Hole MA 02543 (508-540-9900).

Discussions were held (Woods Hole, Oct. 1991) to speed the process of reaching a constructive international convention on forests by articulating interrelated scientific and economic issues. Current knowledge of the ecological and economic implications of changes in the size and management of forests is insufficient to support more than the most general agreement on forests. To address this gap, an international commission on the conservation and utilization of world forests should be established immediately.

Item #d92apr74

Neem: A Tree for Solving Global Problems, Bd. on Sci. & Technol. for Intl. Devel., Nat. Acad. Sci., 141 pp., Feb. 1992, $19 + $3 shipping. National Academy Press, 2101 Constitution Ave. NW, Washington DC 20418 (800-624-6242 or 202-334-3313).

Intended as an economic development document rather than a scientific monograph, this report describes the properties of the neem tree, native to India and Burma, its medicinal, industrial and other uses, and its potential for reforestation in the tropics.

Item #d92apr75

Toward a Worldwide System of Tradable Forest Protection and Management Obligations (ENR91-16), R.A. Sedjo, M. Bowes, 1991, $5. Public. Off., Resour. for the Future, 1616 P St., Washington DC 20036 (202-328-5009).

Examines problems associated with protecting the ecological benefits of forests not captured by the market, such as the ability to store carbon. Describes a system for protection based on tradable management obligations, the crude inverse of a tradable market permit system. This provides a way to internalize the costs of deforestation, and can reflect the "user pays" principle, so that industrialized countries that benefit from forest protection bear most of the costs.

Item #d92apr76

Climatological and Environmental Effects of Rainforest Destruction, House of Commons Select Comm. on the Environ., 1991, £22. HMSO (Her Majesty's Sta. Off.) Pub. Ctr., POB 276, London SW8 5DT, UK (tel: 01-873 9090).

Considers two major issues: the disturbance of the heat and hydrological cycles, and the impact of altered greenhouse gas concentrations. (See New Scientist, p. 65, Apr. 20, 1991).

Item #d92apr77

Proceedings of the International Workshop on Large-Scale Reforestation (EPA/600/9-91/014), J.K. Winjum (Corvallis Environ. Res. Lab., Ore.), P.E. Schroeder, M.J. Kenady, 172 pp., May 1991. NTIS: PB92-109131; $26.

Identified major operational and ecological considerations needed for large-scale reforestation throughout the world. For instance, social and political considerations must be emphasized; large-scale projects can consist of many small, dispersed plantings. Reforestation would likely be a major management tool for carbon sequestration.

Item #d92apr78

Short Rotation Woody Crops for US Energy Production: The Potential for Reducing National Carbon Dioxide Emissions (CONF-9106271-1), R.L. Graham (Oak Ridge Nat. Lab., Tenn.), 19 pp. 1991. NTIS: DE91-017861; $17.

Analyzes three strategies: creation of new forests or plantations and management of existing forests to fix carbon; tree planting in cities to reduce fuel consumption for cooling; and replacement of fossil fuels with wood. The latter two are long-term solutions.