A Forest's Journey to Carbon Sink Development

A Forest's Journey to Carbon Sink Development

一片林的“碳汇之旅”

 

Covering an area of 5,430 mu (1 mu equals to 0.067 hectares) in the Dabie Mountain range, I am a fir forest distributed in Wangchong village of Shawo town, Xinxian county, Xinyang city, Henan province. Thanks to the evergreen firs, I'm still verdant although it is winter now.

我是大别山区的一片杉树林，占地5430亩，分布在新县沙窝镇汪冲村的层峦叠嶂中。杉树是常绿乔木，所以，尽管已入冬，我依然葱茏。

The fir forest in Wangchong village. [Photo by Liu Xiaoyang for Henan Daily]

More than 10 years ago, the land where I was born was barren and overgrown with weeds. In 2009, organized by a local cooperative, over 400 villagers created me by planting fir saplings throughout the year.

十多年前，我诞生的这片地方还是荒地，杂草丛生。2009年，在兴盛种植农民农林专业合作社统一组织下，历时一年，周边400多名村民亲手把一棵棵杉树苗栽下，才有了今天郁郁葱葱的我。

 

Forestry experts say that the climate and soil conditions of Xinxian county are particularly suitable for my growth. Furs usually grow fast with straight shape and soft texture, thus enjoying a broad market. It is worth noting that with the country's carbon peaking and neutrality goals put forward, another unique function of me and my family—forest carbon sink—has been increasingly valued.

林业专家说，新县的气候和土壤条件特别适合我们杉树生长，杉树是速生林，外形笔直、木材质地柔软，适合做家具、船舶等，很受市场欢迎。更值得一提的是，随着国家“双碳”目标的提出，除了木材，我和我家族的另一独特价值——森林碳汇，越发被看重啦！

 

Carbon sink, which may sound unfamiliar, is actually like bank deposit. The difference is what we store is carbon dioxide instead of money. Plants usually absorb carbon dioxide through photosynthesis, but they cannot take in completely because part of it will be released as plants and soil breathe or by fires, pests, logging and their natural deaths. After deduction, the remaining is known as the carbon sink.

碳汇，听起来可能有点儿陌生，其实，就好比银行存款，只不过我们是通过植物光合作用，存储的是二氧化碳。当然，植物光合作用吸收二氧化碳后，并不能完全存储下来，有一部分会随着植物和土壤的呼吸释放出来；植物死亡以及火灾、病虫害、采伐等，也会释放一部分碳，最终折合后，剩余存储的二氧化碳就是碳汇。

 

Statistics speak louder. According to a study published by the Chinese Academy of Sciences in 2018, China's terrestrial ecosystems sequestered 201 million tons of carbon dioxide annually between 2001 and 2010, equivalent to offsetting 14.1 percent of the country's fossil fuel emissions during the same period, of which about 80 percent of carbon sequestration were contributed by our forest family.

让一组数据来加深一下印象吧。中国科学院2018年发布的一项研究成果显示，我国陆地生态系统在2001年至2010年间，年均固碳2.01亿吨，相当于抵消了同期中国化石燃料碳排放量的14.1%；其中，我们森林家族是固碳主力军，贡献了约80%的固碳量。

 

In recent years, our forest family keeps expanding. During the 13th Five-Year Plan period alone, a total of 13.38 million mu of trees were planted across Henan, with a forest coverage rate of 25.07 percent. Apart from natural carbon sequestration, my families worked together and contributed a lot to biodiversity protection, water conservation, windbreak and sand fixation, etc.

近年来，我的家族扩充加速，仅“十三五”期间，河南就累计完成造林1338万亩，森林覆盖率达25.07%。除了自然固碳，家族成员齐心协力，在保护生物多样性、涵养水源、防风固沙等生态效益方面也“大显身手”。

 

You might wonder how is the carbon sink traded? Wang Heguang, head of the cooperative, said, "Carbon sink trade is to 'set a price' on the ecological functions of forests. Enterprises or individuals can purchase forest carbon sinks through carbon trading platforms to neutralize their carbon dioxide emissions."

说了这么多，你可能会好奇，碳汇又是如何进行交易的呢？合作社理事长汪和光说：“碳汇交易就是把森林的生态服务功能变得‘有价’，控排企业或个人通过碳交易平台，购买森林碳汇，中和在生产生活中排放的二氧化碳。”

 

With great potentials, I became Henan's first carbon-sink forestry project that completed the whole project establishment process of the National Development and Reform Commission with the assistance of Wang Heguang and related forestry departments.

看出来了吧，我是个大大的“潜力股”。请允许我自豪地强调一下，2017年，在汪和光和相关林业部门的帮助下，我通过了国家发改委备案和网上公示，并成为河南省首个顺利执行开发流程的林业碳汇项目。

 

That is only the first step. A healthy, stable and efficient ecosystem with regular forest cultivation, banning illegal logging, prevention and control of forest diseases and insect pests can better increase my carbon sinks.

当然，成功备案只是第一步。定期森林抚育，严禁偷砍盗伐，防治森林病虫害，建立一个健康、稳定、高效的生态系统，才能更好地增加我的碳汇量。

 

To increase my "value", the cooperative built a forest resource management and protection station with over 10 panoramic cameras installed, so as to monitor my growth through an app on their smart phones.

为了让我“升值”，合作社专门建了森林资源管护站，安装十多个360度全景摄像头，通过手机APP可随时随地查看到我的生长状况。

 

People in Wangchong village also care about me. At the critical moment of forest fire prevention, forest ranger Wang Xianshu and other villagers are stepping up their patrols to protect me from any fire threats.

汪冲村村民们更是操心，眼下正是森林防火的关键时刻，护林员汪显书和其他村民正加大巡护力度，排查防火隐患，确保我的安全。

 

The national carbon emissions trading market launched online trading in July this year, which is good news for me and the villagers of Wangchong. Hopefully, my carbon sinks will make money in the near future.

今年7月，全国碳排放权交易市场启动上线交易，这对我和汪冲村的村民来说都是个好消息——不久的将来，我的碳汇量就能变成真金白银了！

 

Looking ahead, China has set new targets to tackle climate change: China will increase the forest stock volume by 6 billion cubic meters from the 2005 level by 2030. It means that our forest family will play a more prominent role in achieving carbon neutrality. I cannot wait!

放眼未来，为应对气候变化，我国提出了新目标：2030年的森林蓄积量将比2005年增加60亿立方米。这意味着，我们森林家族将在实现碳中和目标过程中发挥更显著的作用。好期待！（中文来源/河南日报 记者/刘晓阳 翻译/赵汉青 海报/王君艺 审校/丁岚）