A guide to help local authorities and landowning businesses achieve net zero
Sustainably managed woodlands perform a vital role as carbon sinks and reservoirs by capturing CO2 from the atmosphere and storing it as a component of wood itself. Over time, the soil beneath them is enriched by adding carbon in the form of organic matter from leaf litter, branch fall and root death. In general, woodland soils have low and infrequent levels of disturbance and the total carbon content per unit area of woodland is higher than that for agricultural soils which are subject to more frequent and significant disturbance. The rate of CO2 capture is closely related to tree growth rate (or yield class – YC) and wood density, and it differs between species.
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