BioPak has been donating 1% of profits to Rainforest Rescue since 2012. To date, our donations have helped secure, rescue and replant land in the Daintree Rainforest in Australia, helping to protect the unique flora and fauna of this biodiverse and fragile ecosystem.
Rainforest Rescue is a not-for-profit that has been protecting rainforests for nearly 25 years by purchasing rainforest properties of high conservation value and protecting their biodiversity forever. They have been working relentlessly to restore vulnerable rainforests through restoration, maintenance and raising awareness. Australia’s largest rainforest, teh Daintree, is their key focus, it is one of the most biodiverse environments on the planet, which is unfortunately under threat of being severely degraded. The Daintree is also the world’s most ancient rainforest by far, evolving and thriving for as many as 180 million years. The Amazon, by contrast, though much larger, has only been around for perhaps 65 million years.
In 2023, Rainforest Rescue has partnered with Dr. Alexander Cheesman, Senior Research Fellow the University of Exeter & James Cook University to model the carbon stored by Rainforest Rescue’s work protecting existing and growing forests.
This is an additional measurement of success on top of the other incredibly valuable benefits of ecosystem repair and regeneration.
BioPak’s protection of 7.22 hectares of mature tropical forests has helped hold 1,877.4 tonnes of carbon which is stored in the trees over their lifetime. The 8.5 hectares of trees BioPak has helped plant on cleared damaged land has sequestrated 350.5 tonnes of carbon so far – this amount will grow as the trees mature.
To put these tonnes into perspective, 2,228 tonnes of carbon is equivalent to removing 2,917 cars from the road!
Dr. Alexander Cheesman’s Report on BioPak’s Contribution
In estimating the carbon held in mature forests secured by BioPak’s contributions to Rainforest Rescue, and in trees they helped plant on degraded lands across the Australian Wet Tropics we utilized the Australian Emission Reduction Fund (ERF) FullCAM-2020 model (Brack and Richards 2002).
In Australia, many of the ERF methods based upon carbon sequestration in vegetation growth make use of the Full Carbon Accounting Model (FullCAM). This includes the primary scheme used for crediting active restoration for environmental purposes, ERF’s Reforestation by Environmental or Mallee Plantings method. A recent independent review of the ERF and ACCU scheme by Chubb et al., (2022) concluded the “current model-based estimation of carbon sequestration using FullCAM is a suitable basis for estimating aggregate carbon storage in native vegetation, when applied appropriately at the project level”. However, it is important to note that as with all modelling efforts certain implicit assumptions may lead to errors, especially in poorly parametrized systems such as the humid, wet tropics.
While the validity of the model is currently being tested with the application of terrestrial laser scanning, in both mature and revegetated plots, the model does at least provide a tractable methodology.
Carbon Held in Mature Forests Secured by BioPak Contributions to Rainforest Rescue
Land secured by contributions to Rainforest Rescue hold carbon in components of its trees (i.e stems, branches, and roots), forest debris (i.e. leaf litter and dead wood) and even the very soils itself (Figure 1). The size of these carbon pools as predicted by FullCAM2020 varies across the landscape due to differences in climate, landscape position and the type of soils. Most notably, by impacting the predicted maximum above ground biomass (M) - It should also be noted that the accuracy of this data is currently being tested against manual observation of Above Ground Biomass (Figure 2) and with the application of Terrestrial Laser Scanning. It is believed this estimate is probably conservative for the Wet Tropics Bioregion, however, for now this is the best available estimate we have across this landscape.
Figure 2 (A) Variation seen in modelled maximum potential AGB (tonnes dry biomass ha-1) across the Australian Wet Tropics Bioregion of north Queensland Australian, and (B) comparison of modelled and observed AGB from across the Australian Wet Tropics Bioregion. Data (Maximum Above Ground Biomass. Version 2.0, (Department of Industry Science Energy and Resources, 2020) downloaded from www.data.gov.au see Roxburgh et al (2019) for details. Observed data sourced from 0.5ha CSIRO long-term inventory plots established in the 1970’s (Bradford, Murphy et al. 2014), in particular data of AGB from first and last census available as per(Bradford and Murphy 2019). Trend lines show 1:1 relationship ± 20%..
Given BioPak’s contributions (Table 1) which have helped preserve 7.22 ha of mature lowland rainforest, and only considering the carbon held in trees and debris then around 1877.4 tonnes of carbon have been held, while at the same time helping to protect the unique flora and fauna of this biodiverse and fragile ecosystem. It should be noted that soil carbon can be an important pool of carbon however, it is not considered here as it takes a long time to re-equilibrate to any management changes.
Carbon Held in Tropical Forest Regrowth Supported by BioPak Contributions to Rainforest Rescue
Carbon sequestered by new environmental block plantings supported by BioPak’s contributions have been modelled using FullCAM2020, and standard parameters for environmental plantings (Figure 3). Across all plantings (i.e 2012 to current) totalling 8.5 ha estimated carbon sequestration has totalled 350.5 tonnes of Carbon (312.9 tonnes into live tree biomass, and a further 37.7 tonnes into forest debris, Figure 4). In using FullCAM2020 we can also predict how these existing plantings will continue to grow and if protected – continue to sequester more carbon into the future.
Figure 3: Modelled estimate of total carbon (tree biomass and debris) sequestered in revegetation plantings supported by BioPak in the Australian Wet Tropics. Individual year cohorts of tree (blue) and property totals (red) account for the area of each years’ planting supported. Note FullCAM2020 modelling assumed; i) mid-year planting and ii) standard site treatments (i.e. initial fertilization and weed control for the first three years). Current date (2023/06/01) indicated by black dashed line
Figure 4 Modelled estimate of total carbon (tree biomass and debris) sequestered in revegetation plantings supported by BioPak and carried out by Rainforest Rescue across the Daintree lowlands. Note FullCAM2020 modelling assumed; i) mid-year planting and ii) standard site treatments (i.e. initial fertilization and weed control for the first three years). Current date (2023/06/01) indicated by black dashed line
Beyond Carbon – Ecosystems Provide Life
It’s also important to recognise that, while carbon sequestration and measurement is essential for our efforts to mitigate and ultimately manage global warming and the attendant challenges, rainforests are complex systems that provide so much more than a successful carbon store.
What are often now referred to as ‘co-benefits’, ecosystems like rainforests provide myriad services that are beneficial for all life – from the transpiration of carbon dioxide to oxygen, the thriving microbial communities in the soil and mycorrhizal networks that connect the plants in a forest, to the filtration of water back into the creeks, rivers and sea/reefs. Ecosystems like the Daintree enhance the planet’s ability to harbour and support life. Every single microorganism plays a role in these rich communities that, ultimately, we all benefit from.
BioPak’s support of the work of Rainforest Rescue contributes not only to reducing carbon in the atmosphere but also to protecting the Daintree habitat that is rich and ever-growing.
Rainforest Rescue’s commitment to the environment is comprehensive.
References:
- Brack, C. L. and G. P. Richards (2002). "Carbon accounting model for forests in Australia." Environmental Pollution 116: S187-S194.
- Bradford, M. and H. T. Murphy (2019). "The importance of large-diameter trees in the wet tropical rainforests of Australia." Plos One 14(5): 16.
- Bradford, M. G., H. T. Murphy, A. J. Ford, D. L. Hogan and D. J. Metcalfe (2014). "Long-term stem inventory data from tropical rain forest plots in Australia." Ecology 95(8): 2362.
- Chubb, I., A. Bennett, A. Gorring and S. Hatfield-Dodds (2022). Independent Review of ACCUs. Canberra, Department of Climate Change, Energy, the Environment and Water.
- Roxburgh, S. H., S. B. Karunaratne, K. I. Paul, R. M. Lucas, J. D. Armston and J. Y. Sun (2019). "A revised above-ground maximum biomass layer for the Australian continent." Forest Ecology and Management 432: 264-275.
