Young forests the better option to combat climate change? The vast amount of carbon that has already been stored in older forests is worth protecting!
Although younger forests have a substantial potential ahead to sequester additional carbon, older and old-growth forests have been sequestering carbon over centuries. Disturbances can lead to high losses of this stored carbon to the atmosphere.
“European Forests for biodiversity, climate change mitigation and adaptation”, a recent forest publication of the European Commission, summarizes the latest studies on the importance of Europe’s forest for biodiversity and ecosystem services. Find out more about the potential of our European forests here: