Environmental impact of teak plantations to be gauged

The environmental contributions of teak plantations is the new area of research related to climate change. The State Forest Department has sanctioned a Rs.12.20-lakh project to estimate the carbon sequestered by a teak plantation during its lifetime.The team of researchers led by M. Balagopal, Head of the Soil Science of the Kerala Forest Research Institute, will assess the environmental contributions, including carbon sequestration capability of the teak plantations in the Nilambur Forest Division.The other members of the research team are Mehar Singh, Chief Conservator of Forests, Working Plan and Research, and Rajan Sehgal, Deputy Conservator of Forests, Research (North).The carbon sequestration is defined as the process of plants absorbing carbon dioxide from atmosphere and storing it in its body parts. The process is of utmost importance in preventing the effects of climate change, including greenhouse gas emissions and global warming.The ozone depletion and increased presence of carbon dioxide in the atmosphere will lead to increased atmospheric temperature and result in global warming. Scientists have estimated that annually, the global atmospheric temperature is increasing in the range of 0.5 to 1 degree Celsius. Plants play a crucial role in arresting the process and efforts were on worldwide to contain the global warming and reduce carbon dioxide emissions, Dr. Balagopal said.As part of photosynthesis, plants absorbed carbon dioxide from the atmosphere and stored it as sugar, starch and cellulose. Oxygen was also released into the air in the process, said Dr. Balagopal.
If it were the economic benefits that prompted the authorities to create teak plantations, now the environmental significance of the trees were also becoming a priority. Studies were on to find out which plant variety sequestrates carbon most and thereby restricted ozone depletion and control climatic changes, he said. Next year, the carbon sequestration of bamboo would be estimated. Later, the sequestration of natural forests would be assessed. The research project was an attempt to create exact data regarding the carbon sequestration capability of different plant varieties.Under the research project, scientists would attempt to produce an estimate of the carbon storage potential of teak plantations in Kerala at harvest age. The researchers also plan to develop two non-destructive indicators of teak carbon storage and biomass.

The Hindu October 15