Enhancing forest carbon sequestration in China: Toward an integration of scientific and socio-economic perspectives

To link to full-text access for this article, visit this link: http://dx.doi.org/10.1016/j.jenvman.2006.08.019 Byline: J.M. Chen (a), S.C. Thomas (b), Y. Yin (c), V. Maclaren (a), J. Liu (d), J. Pan (e), G. Liu (d), Q. Tian (f), Q. Zhu (g), J.-J. Pan (h), X. Shi (i), J. Xue (j), E. Kang (k) Keywords: Carbon Sequestration; China's forests; Integrated assessment; Remote sensing Abstract: This article serves as an introduction to this special issue, 'China's Forest Carbon Sequestration', representing major results of a project sponsored by the Canadian International Development Agency and the Chinese Academy of Sciences. China occupies a pivotal position globally as a principle emitter of carbon dioxide, as host to some of the world's largest reforestation efforts, and as a key player in international negotiations aimed at reducing global greenhouse gas emission. The goals of this project are to develop remote sensing approaches for quantifying forest carbon balance in China in a transparent manner, and information and tools to support land-use decisions for enhanced carbon sequestration (CS) that are science based and economically and socially viable. The project consists of three components: (i) remote sensing and carbon modeling, (ii) forest and soil assessment, and (iii) integrated assessment of the socio-economic implications of CS via forest management. Articles included in this special issue are highlights of the results of each of these components. Author Affiliation: (a) Department of Geography, University of Toronto, 100 St. George Street, Room 5047, Toronto, ON, Canada M5S 3G3 (b) Faculty of Forestry, University of Toronto, 33 Willcocks Street, Toronto, ON, Canada M5S 3B3 (c) Adaptation and Impacts Research Division, Environment Canada (d) Institute of Geographical Sciences and Natural Resources Research, Chinese Academy of Sciences, Beijing, PR China (e) Center for Environment, University of Toronto, Toronto, ON, Canada M5S 3B3 (f) International Earth System Science Institute, Nanjing University, PR China (g) College of Geography and Remote Sensing, Beijing Normal University, PR China (h) Nanjing Agricultural University, PR China (i) Nanjing Institute of Soil Science, Chinese Academy of Sciences, PR China (j) Nanjing Forestry University, PR China (k) Cold and Arid Regions Environmental and Engineering Research Institute, Chinese Academy of Sciences, Lanzhou, PR China Article History: Received 10 April 2006; Revised 23 April 2006; Accepted 9 August 2006