Climate change R&D at the World Agroforestry Centre (ICRAF)-Philippines

Climate change is one of the primary concerns of humanity today. It is considerably the greatest environmental challenge in the 21st century based on increasing scientific information in global warming. There are some possible serious implications of climate change, which include variations in the frequency and intensity of storms up to greater occurrence of climate induced pests and diseases. The most recent Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change (IPCC) assessment report concludes that there is strong evidence that anthropogenic influences have affected the world’s climate (IPCC, 2001). The rise in global temperatures has been attributed to emission of greenhouse gases, notably CO2 (Schimell, et al., 1996). If current trends on human activities will continue, a 1°C increase in global temperature can cause current sea level to rise about 400 to 500 mm by year 2100 and flood coastal areas and key cities of the world and habitat changes can cause the extinction of some species of plants and animals (Chanton, 2001). Similarly, increases in precipitation have been experienced to cause floods and landslides, while decline may lead to droughts and forest fires. This range of effects and future possible consequences is the reason behind the global consensus and efforts to understanding and addressing the projected adverse impacts of climate change. Forests play a critical role in climate change. The forest ecosystems can be sources and sinks of carbon (Watson, et al., 2000). Deforestation and burning of forests releases CO2 to the atmosphere. Indeed, land-use change and forestry is responsible for about 25% of all greenhouse emissions. However, forest ecosystems could also help reduce greenhouse gas concentrations by absorbing carbon from the atmosphere through the process of photosynthesis. Of all the world’s forests, tropical forests have the greatest potential to sequester carbon primarily through reforestation, agroforestry and conservation of existing forests (Brown, et al., 1996). This is stored in the biomass, soil and their products. Philippine forest ecosystems have likewise been a source and sink of carbon (Lasco and Pulhin, 2004; Lasco and Pulhin, 2001). Since the 1500s, deforestation of 20.9 million ha of Philippine forests contributed 3.7 billion tons of C to the atmosphere of which 2.6 billion tons were released this century(Lasco and Pulhin, 2000). Of this amount, 70% (2.6 Gt) was released this century alone. However, present land-use cover also absorbs carbon through regenerating forests and planted trees. The vast areas of degraded land in the Philippines, in fact, offer great potential for carbon sequestration through rehabilitation activities such as reforestation and agroforestry. The World Agroforestry Centre (ICRAF)-Philippines is heavily involved in climate change research and development (R&D). The objective of this paper is to present the current and future R&D activities of ICRAF on climate change mitigation and adaptation in the agriculture, forestry, and natural resources sector.

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