Reforestation Boosts Biodiversity Where Other Carbon Capture Methods Fall Short, Study Finds [Video]

As CO2 emissions continue to rise year after year, capturing and storing carbon is essential to keeping global warming below 1.5°C. However, not all carbon capture methods are created equal, with some perhaps doing more harm than good for biodiversity.

A new study published Thursday which modeled three prominent land-based carbon capture and storage (CCS) strategies found that reforestation is the only option that, along with effectively sequestering carbon, actively boosts biodiversity rather than potentially harms it.

The three CCS strategies analyzed were reforestation, the practice of restoring native trees on previously deforested or damaged land to sequester carbon; afforestation, adding trees where there were previously none; and bioenergy cropping, raising fast-growing crops — which sequester carbon as they grow — to burn for energy while collecting any emissions released in the process.

“Of the strategies we modeled… we found that all three strategies have the potential to benefit biodiversity by helping to mitigate climate change,” Jeffrey Smith, lead author …