Project Drawdown is a nonprofit organization with the goal of creating the 100 most substantive solutions to reverse global warming. Based on research by leading scientists and policymakers from around the world, Project Drawdown seeks to ‘drawdown’ the amount of CO2 and other greenhouse gases within the atmosphere. Each of the solutions presented by Project Drawdown is deployable on a global scale and is ranked based on their feasibility and economic viability.
The following activity is based on land use solutions. We will look at two solutions from Project Drawdown: Temperate Forest Restoration and Afforestation. We will also use the Atlas of Forest and Landscape Restoration Opportunities created by the World Resources Institute to visualize forest cover changes.
Read ‘Land Use: Temperate Forests’ in Project Drawdown and answer the following questions:
Question: What percentage of temperate forests has been altered in some way, through timbering, conversion to agriculture, and/or development?
Question: How do temperate forests act as a ‘net-carbon sink’? Roughly how many gigatons of carbon can these ecosystems absorb in a given year?
Question: Why have large swaths of farmland been abandoned in the past few decades? How might this abandonment aid forest restoration?
Question: Why is preventing loss of forest better than trying to restore forest?
Next, we will use the interactive map to look at current and potential forest cover in the United States. Access the Atlasof Forest and Landscape Restoration Opportunities.
Click on ‘Current Forest Cover’ and zoom in to the United States.
Question: Where is the current extent of forest cover and woodlands located in the United States? Is the extent mostly closed forests (canopy cover > 45%), open forests (canopy cover 25-45%), or woodlands (canopy cover < 25%)?
Zoom in on West Virginia and use the transparency slider on the left-hand side to visualize the current forest cover across the state.
Question: Describe the forest cover of West Virginia. Why might the forest cover in West Virginia be higher than other states? Think geography, population, terrain, and climate.
Click on ‘Forest Condition’ and visualize the current condition in West Virginia.
Then, click on ‘Human Pressure’ and visualize where pressure is located in West Virginia.
Question: What is the current condition of forests and wetlands in West Virginia? Why might most areas be fragmented / managed? Think about forest management practices in the United States at large.
Question: Why might certain sectors of West Virginia be deforested?
Question: Where is the most human pressure in the state? What human activities might cause the pressure on forests to be increased?
Click on ‘Restoration Opportunities’ and use the transparency slider on the left-hand side to visualize areas for restoration in West Virginia.
Question: Describe opportunity areas in West Virginia. Where are they located across the state?
Question: Look at the neighboring state of Ohio. Are there most opportunities for restoration here? Hypothesize why this might be.
Read ‘Land Use: Afforestation’ in Project Drawdown and answer the following questions.
Question: Name 3 places that are suited for afforestation.
Question: What are some sources of vulnerability for forests? How might afforestation projects be more successful?
Question: How might afforestation projects such as China’s Three North Shelter Program [aka the ‘Green Wall’] negatively impact local and indigenous communities?
Question: What is the ‘Miyawaki method’? How might this method create self-sustaining forests?
Activity Summary:
Question: How do we balance economic activities, such as logging and forestry, with ‘drawing down’ CO2 in the atmosphere via forest restoration?
Question: Who or what would benefit from forest restoration activities?