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Energy & Carbon Management ... Agriculture & sustainability ... Forget cattle and switch to ‘carbon farms’ farmers urged
Farmers could make more money growing carbon rather than farming cows, according to a new study by top universities.
Changing cattle fields to forests is a “cheap way of tackling climate change and saving species threatened with extinction” says the study.
A study of the Western Andes of Columbia, thought to be one of the world’s most threatened ecosystems, found that letting cattle pastures grow as forests could help wildlife and remove carbon dioxide from the atmosphere – with farmers making the same or more money in the process.
Changing cattle fields to forests is a “cheap way of tackling climate change and saving species threatened with extinction” said the study.
Researchers from leading universities, including the University of Sheffield, carried out a survey of carbon stocks, biodiversity and economic values of the region where the main use of land in communities is cattle farming.
But the study claims farmers could make more money by allowing their land to naturally regenerate, with carbon markets paying them to change the use of their land from growing cows to ‘growing carbon’ – receiving around US$1.99 per tonne of carbon dioxide the trees remove from the atmosphere.
'This could be a critical mechanism for stopping climate change and protecting some of the world’s most endangered species.'
“This would cost very little money,” said senior scientist, Dr David Edwards, of the University of Sheffield’s Department of Animal and Plant Sciences. “Providing people are willing to spend the money, this could be a critical mechanism for stopping climate change and protecting some of the world’s most endangered species.
“The economic benefits of cattle farming are minimal, so this is a way farmers could make the same, if not more money. The land would be rented off farmers for 30 years and they would be paid for the carbon grown.
“We studied older forests that are around 20-30 years old and found they had recovered around half of the carbon of a really mature forest. More carbon comes back every single year, and as it does so, large numbers of highly threatened species return.
“The impact on reducing the biodiversity extinction crisis and climate change could be huge.”
The study also found that letting forests regenerate had a massive impact on the populations of threatened species. In secondary forests in the region, researchers found 33 of 40 red-listed bird species that are threatened with extinction. However, in cattle pastures there were only 11.
Lead researcher Dr James Gilroy from the University of East Anglia’s school of Environmental Sciences carried out the research while at the Norwegian University of Life Sciences. “This research shows that there are great environmental and ecological benefits to changing land use from cattle farming to forest, and there may even be financial benefits too,” he said.
“If these areas were instead allowed to regenerate to forest, then significant amounts of carbon dioxide would be captured from the atmosphere. Biodiversity would also be restored, improving habitats for many species at risk of extinction – all at minimal cost.
“It’s a win-win situation.”
For more information visit the University of Sheffield website.
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