Locking carbon in harvested wood products, from forests to sustainable wood products

Introduction

The forestry sector is central to the ongoing transition to a low carbon, circular and nature positive future. Forests are a major player in the absorption of CO2 and mitigation of climate change, while delivering multiple ecosystem services.

Ecosystem Services

Afforestation, forest restoration, and improved forest management can enhance removals in soils and biomass, while the use of wood-based materials in long-lasting products ensures long-term carbon storage out of the forest.

Challenges

However, high fragmentation, lack of associative forms and sector skills, low-value wood supply chains, and missing remuneration of Ecosystem Services are increasing forest abandonment. This leads to less resilience to climate change.

Project Overview

WOOD4LIFE will engage the key actors of the forest value chain. It will test improved Forest Management practices in productive forests in Castilla-La Mancha, Spain, for enhancing carbon sequestration, biodiversity conservation, and wood production to supply the industries of wood-based long-lasting products, such as the construction sector.

Objectives

The overarching objective is to propose tools and business models to reactivate the forest value chain and strengthen its pivotal role in mitigating climate change through carbon sequestration capacity and by providing less GHG-intensive materials, in line with the Carbon Farming Initiative. In particular, WOOD4LIFE will:

1. Increase and improve the forms of associations to enhance sustainable forest management for the provision of Ecosystem Services (ES) and wood for long-lasting products.
2. Improve climate change mitigation performances of forest-wood value chains through the engagement and training of key actors and the development of a value chain protocol for climate mitigation actions.
3. Reinforce the existing systems and development of business models for emissions compensation outside and within the value chain, through the improvement and development of payments for ecosystem services.

Geographic Scope

WOOD4LIFE acts at the EU level, in the Castilla-La Mancha region, with replication sites in Appennino Tosco Emiliano National Park in Italy. The project has replicability and transferability potential through the FSC network.