ABSTRACT
Introduction Forestry has widely been considered by policymakers as a low cost option for reducing net greenhouse gas emissions into the atmosphere. The basic idea, as described elsewhere in this volume, is that an increase in the stock of forests or forest products (either absolutely or in comparison to a baseline) constitutes a reduction in carbon in the atmosphere. The current, global stock of carbon in forests is estimated to be around 860 GtC (1 Gt = 1 Pg = 1·1015 grams) and current rates of deforestation suggest that it could be declining by 0.7-1.2 GtC per year over the coming decades (Metz et al., 2007). Most of these losses are projected to occur in developing countries located in Africa, South America and Southeast Asia. While it is widely recognized that reductions in the rate of deforestation would increase the stock of carbon in forests, and reduce emissions to the atmosphere (SoaresFilho et al., 2006), there is relatively little information available on what the costs of avoiding this deforestation may be.
