Written by Randy Morrison, SHI Major Gifts Coordinator

The collapse of the UN Climate Change Conference (COP15) in Denmark and the subsequent fallout brought the urgency and complexities of climate change negotiations to the doorstep of our planet’s citizenry. Debates rage on about how to best reduce greenhouse gas (GHG) emissions, support vulnerable island nations, establish equitable mandates and generally implement effective mitigation strategies. There is also continuing political debate on the legitimacy of climate change science and whether the purported threat is anthropogenic in origin. Rather than jump into the debate on industrial reductions in GHG emissions or the root causes of climate change, we believe that supporting sustainable land-use practices can not only provide a crucial mitigation component, but also alleviate the extreme poverty that continues to make families more vulnerable to climate instability.

Any viable solution to the “climate crisis” must be multi-faceted and include an expanded range of management strategies beyond those conventionally defined as “mitigation” (i.e. those based solely on the reduction of GHG emissions). Evidence suggests that there is a significant impact from changes in land-use on local, regional and global temperature trends that has been comparable to the changes seen by GHG emissions. The pervasive deforestation of tropical forests has been associated with reduced rainfall and cloud formation as well as rising temperatures. Extensive conversion of tropical forests into cropland have been linked in recent studies to markedly drier and warmer climates in the region.

MULTI-STORY ENVIROMENTS
SHI employs a variety of sustainable farming practices that ensure food security and economic stability, while also mitigating climate change. Multi-story plantations produce shade coffee, cacao, vanilla beans, hardwood trees, and fruit trees among other flora that provide food and economic security to the families while also providing wildlife habitat, watershed protection and soil conservation. A study by Environmental Services, Inc. assessed the impact of our reforestation efforts within integrated multi-story crop production. The study revealed that SHI’s planting of over 2 million trees has sequestered roughly 73,425,000 pounds of carbon. Recent studies suggest that variations in moisture and energy levels resulting from land-use activies can be of greater consequence than similar changes in emission on regional climate phenomena making multi-story forest plots, and other sustainable farming practices, important for restoring balance to the region.

SOIL AMENDMENTS
SHI is integrating soil amendments that reduce GHGs while also promoting growth to restore forested land to near pre-disturbance conditions. We are able to capture carbon from farm biomass waste streams through the production of biochar. Biochar is produced through a process of pyrolysis that creates charcoal which acts as a receptor for vital nutrients. The charcoal provides a home for beneficial microorganisms, resulting in healthier soils and increased yields. Turning waste biomass into biochar reduces methane (a potent greenhouse gas) generated by the natural decomposition of the waste. Biochar improves soil fertility, stimulating plant growth and consuming CO2 in a feedback effect. SHI has seen significant and worthwile impacts from integrating biochar into the families’ agricultural plots. Currently, we are using biochar on a small scale in order to track its impact and idenitfy the best method of production on our demonstration farms. We hope to expand its use throughout our country programs.

Participating families are producing an abundance of biomass from the sustainable management of the agroforestry systems, as well as other sustainable farming practices such as the use of cover crops. Through a variety of farming practices, SHI is assisting in reducing GHG emissions while also restoring vital forest cover that helps stabilize climate on a variety of geographic scales. CO2 is being sequestered in the soil in the form of mulch, compost and cover crops, and in the case of biochar, it is being kept in the soil for thousands of years.

SHI provides the technical assistance and training in sustainable farming practices that have reforested thousands of acres and saved countless more from being burned. SHI teaches farmers how to achieve economic stability and transform fragmented and degraded land into healthy agricultural and agroforestry systems. These systems have been a proven solution to climate change by restoring forest cover to landscapes, while absorbing significant greenhouse gas emissions. This helps to mitigate climate change beyond solely GHG emissions by incorporating the restoration of forested landscapes. SHI participants are planting millions of trees that will provide crucial carbon sequestration, restore local moisture and energy balances, and provide economic stability that will make families less vulnerable to climate phenomena.