19. What policies and practices could Georgia use to increase carbon sequestration in agriculture and forestry?
Why this question is important: Increases in atmospheric carbon dioxide can be reduced by sequestering carbon in the environment through increased growth of trees, improvements in soil health, and reduction of losses from urbanization and draining wetlands (Lackner 2003; Lal 2004; Mitsch et al. 2013; Nowak and Crane 2002). Best management practices of farms, forests and other ecosystems can reduce the emission of carbon into the atmosphere, improve the uptake of carbon from the air by plants, and retain carbon over the long term (Snyder et al. 2009; West and Marland 2002; Yang et al 2008). Such practices have potential synergies (Paustian et al. 1998), helping to maintain soil quality, bolstering the financial viability of farms and agribusinesses, and maintaining ecological processes and ecosystem services, including protection of valuable and endangered species (Hampe and Petit 2005). Georgia’s forests and agricultural land already provide a net carbon sink of more than 50 million tonnes, and the potential development of future carbon trading markets (Sorrell and Sijm 2003) offer an incentive to understand how sequestering carbon efficiently can provide economic opportunities for Georgia businesses.
