Fostering Carbon Credits to Finance Wildfire Risk Reduction Forest Management in Mediterranean Landscapes

Fermín Alcasena, Marcos Rodrigues, Pere Gelabert, Alan Ager, Michele Salis, Aitor Ameztegui, Teresa Cervera and Cristina Vega-García
Additional contact information
Fermín Alcasena: USDA Forest Service International Visitor Program, College of Forestry, Oregon State University, 321 Richardson Hall, Corvallis, OR 97331, USA
Marcos Rodrigues: Department of Agricultural and Forest Engineering, University of Lleida, Avenida da Rovira Roure 191, 25198 Lleida, Spain
Pere Gelabert: Department of Agricultural and Forest Engineering, University of Lleida, Avenida da Rovira Roure 191, 25198 Lleida, Spain
Alan Ager: USDA Forest Service, Rocky Mountain Research Station, Missoula Fire Sciences Laboratory, 5775 US Highway 10W, Missoula, MT 59808, USA
Michele Salis: National Research Council (CNR), Institute of BioEconomy (IBE), Traversa La Crucca 3, 07100 Sassari, Italy
Aitor Ameztegui: Department of Agricultural and Forest Engineering, University of Lleida, Avenida da Rovira Roure 191, 25198 Lleida, Spain
Teresa Cervera: Forest Ownership Centre, Government of Catalonia, Santa Perpètua de Mogoda, 08130 Santa Perpètua de Mogoda, Spain
Cristina Vega-García: Department of Agricultural and Forest Engineering, University of Lleida, Avenida da Rovira Roure 191, 25198 Lleida, Spain

Land, 2021, vol. 10, issue 10, 1-23

Abstract: Despite the need for preserving the carbon pools in fire-prone southern European landscapes, emission reductions from wildfire risk mitigation are still poorly understood. In this study, we estimated expected carbon emissions and carbon credits from fuel management projects ongoing in Catalonia (Spain). The planning areas encompass about 1000 km 2 and represent diverse fire regimes and Mediterranean forest ecosystems. We first modeled the burn probability assuming extreme weather conditions and historical fire ignition patterns. Stand-level wildfire exposure was then coupled with fuel consumption estimates to assess expected carbon emissions. Finally, we estimated treatment cost-efficiency and carbon credits for each fuel management plan. Landscape-scale average emissions ranged between 0.003 and 0.070 T CO 2 year ?1 ha ?1 . Fuel treatments in high emission hotspots attained reductions beyond 0.06 T CO 2 year ?1 per treated ha. Thus, implementing carbon credits could potentially finance up to 14% of the treatment implementation costs in high emission areas. We discuss how stand conditions, fire regimes, and treatment costs determine the treatment cost-efficiency and long-term carbon-sink capacity. Our work may serve as a preliminary step for developing a carbon-credit market and subsidizing wildfire risk management programs in low-revenue Mediterranean forest systems prone to extreme wildfires.

Keywords: wildfire risk; landscape management; ecosystem services; carbon credits; green deal (search for similar items in EconPapers)
JEL-codes: Q15 Q2 Q24 Q28 Q5 R14 R52 (search for similar items in EconPapers)
Date: 2021
References: View references in EconPapers View complete reference list from CitEc
Citations: View citations in EconPapers (2)

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Persistent link: https://EconPapers.repec.org/RePEc:gam:jlands:v:10:y:2021:i:10:p:1104-:d:659950

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