Land based carbon
Land carbon describes the carbon that is stored and emitted from different production systems and ecosystems. Agricultural activities such as livestock production, cropping and grazing, and forestry operations such as harvesting and fire management produce greenhouse emissions, while forests and soils provide a sink for emissions.
Greenhouse sinks
Plants take up (sequester) carbon dioxide (CO2) from the atmosphere as they grow, through the process of photosynthesis. While a forest, for example, is actively growing and sequestering carbon the system is termed a carbon sink. The rate at which forests grow and sequester carbon is influenced by a range of factors such as climate, topography and soils as well as bushfire, pests and disease. When a forest is mature, the decay and the growth rates equalise, and the forest no longer sequesters carbon. At this stage the forest no longer acts as a sink, however, it does remain a living store of carbon.
Disturbances such as land clearing and timber harvesting and unintended events such as bushfire and disease, release carbon dioxide back into the atmosphere through burning or decay. If the rate of release from these disturbances (or from natural decay) exceeds sequestration then the forest becomes a net source of greenhouse gas emissions.
Most carbon accounting protocols are conservative, and currently assume that all the carbon in a forest is emitted when it is harvested. Timber harvesting does reduce the carbon stored in a forest. However, some carbon remains stored in roots and soil, some remains stored in the harvested wood products, and some is released back into the atmosphere.
Soil can act as both a source and a sink of greenhouse gases. Emissions typically occur after deforestation, while some land management practices, such as pasture improvement, may actually increase soil carbon.
Protecting existing forests and woodlands and establishing new ones will help Victoria limit greenhouse gas emissions and can also assist biodiversity conservation, address issues such as land degradation and salinity, and in some cases generate an income for landholders.
On a global scale, soils and vegetation absorb about 40% of carbon dioxide emissions. In Victoria, land use and forestry provided a net sink in 2006, removing over 4 megatons of carbon dioxide equivalent from the atmosphere. For further information see greenhouse gas emissions.
Top of pageVic Land Carbon
Victoria is the first state to model the amount of carbon stored in our public forests, parks and reserves using the national carbon accounting system proposed in the Australian Government’s original Emissions Trading Scheme (ETS) of 2009.
The Vic LandCarbon project takes into account how bushfire, planned (fuel reduction) burning and timber harvesting impact levels of carbon stored on our public land.
Find out more about the Vic LandCarbon project.
Vic LandCarbon
What is climate change?
