[IYRPsupportgroup] Request for information on tree plantations in grasslands/rangelands

[Barry Irving]

Maryam;

I think there is a slightly different problem with trees in rangelands in
Canada, and perhaps in other countries with temperate grasslands.

In the parkland area of the prairies of western Canada, and indeed
throughout the grassland/forest ecotone there is a similar challenge for
maintaining grasslands and rangelands in general.  Tree encroachment is a
long standing challenge on temperate grasslands. Although tree
encroachment does not entail active tree planting the end result is
similar.  I'll use one example I am quite familiar with.  The Aspen
Parkland ecoregion of the Canadian prairies is a transition zone between
forest (primarily trembling aspen) and parkland fescue grassland.  That
ecotone used to be controlled by fire, grazing (historically bison) and
climate and the interaction between all 3.  Fire has been eliminated, as
have bison herds (which existed in a survival system characterized by
regular rounds of virtual starvation resulting in active consumption of
trees and shrubs) and the climate, which believe it or not, has actually
been wetter during the settlement period (last 140 years) than
historically.  The aspen parkland is also heavily cultivated, a recent
report indicates 20% is uncultivated.  But, that 20% is heavily invaded by
aspen, leaving less than 5% of the original parkland fescue grassland.
Recent research (snap shot in time) on carbon stores indicates that there
is a heavy carbon load stored in and under the aspen forest in the
parklands, a lot of the soil carbon is residual from the prior grassland
and transitional in the medium term.  That same research does not discuss
the danger of eventual loss of carbon that will occur when the forest
transforms the grassland soil it has invaded (high organic matter content,
ranges from 5-13% OM) to a forest soil that is low in carbon (release of
carbon from the soil).  From an economical sustainability standpoint, the
invading forest produces less forage than the grassland it invades.  Once
the forest invasion has progressed to a point where ranchers and farmers of
the parklands can no longer make a reasonable economic gain from the land,
the tendency is to convert it to other land uses, most commonly with
machine based forest clearing and conversion to annual crops, which they
have to do to pay for the costs of the forest removal.  The grassland loses
either way.  The grassland is either lost to forest invasion or the
eventual cultivation that is a response to complete forest invasion.  The
trend in public land in the parklands is loss to forest invasion; the trend
on private land is conversion to annual crops.  In the recent International
Rangeland/Grassland Congress forest and shrub invasion of grasslands and
rangelands was a major point of concern and a globally common topic.  My
point is afforestation is a problem, but it is within a larger problem of
land conversion, in this case to forest on one end of the spectrum and
eventually to annual agriculture on the other.  A lot of the literature on
aspen invasion for Canada is somewhat dated (20 or more years old) but
still as relevant as it always was.  Forest invasion of grasslands is
insidious, always present, and continual in nature.  The search for carbon
neutrality may actually lead to false conclusions, at least for the Aspen
Parkland of the Canadian prairies.  It is a large and complex challenge
that will require multi factor solutions applied across a variable
landscape.  So far, there seems to be limited success in stemming the tide.

Barry Irving

On Fri, Aug 19, 2022 at 7:35 AM Maryam Niamir-Fuller <mniafull2 at gmail.com>
wrote:

> Dear IYRP friends and Supporters
> As you may recall, we have a Working Group that is developing a strategy
> paper on the issue of trees in rangelands, and the possible impacts on
> rangelands of Trillian Tree Campaigns and other similar efforts to meet
> climate change targets. As part of this process, I would like to introduce
> you to the Journalist Jacob Kushner, who would like to write up an article,
> and has some specific questions below. Please respond directly to him, *with
> copy to Susi Vetter and myself*.
>
> *FROM Jacob Kushner*
> *Hello,*
>
> *My name is Jacob Kushner, I'm a Nairobi-based freelance journalist and
> a contributor
> <https://www.nationalgeographic.co.uk/author/jacob-kushner> to National
> Geographic. *
>
> *When I learned from Susanne Vetter's research
> <https://theconversation.com/the-long-shadow-of-colonial-forestry-is-a-threat-to-savannas-and-grasslands-151700> about
> how forestry is threatening grasslands, I spoke with an editor of mine at
> NatGeo who was interested in the idea. National Geographic recently
> published an issue devoted to forests.
> <https://www.nationalgeographic.com/magazine/issue/may-2022> And given all
> the recent coverage of CO2 capture in swamps such as in DRC, Iit got me
> thinking: What about grasslands and savannahs? Considering AFR100 and the
> trillion tree project and all the rest, what if the carbon capture or
> potential of grasslands and savannahs is being overlooked for the sake of
> planting trees--to the point of detriment? What if these grasslands are
> already storing a good deal of carbon, and what if the planned forests that
> replace them are liable to dry and die, or burn, or simply not be
> sustainable or not capture as much carbon as their implementors hope? *
>
> *Therefore, I'm looking to see whether there are any examples of sizeable,
> current or upcoming FLR initiatives on grasslands or savannas that are
> ill-advised or unlikely to succeed--tree planting projects in grasslands or
> similar places where in fact, we might be better off leaving these lands
> alone or else doing different sorts of restoration
> altogether. If grasslands or savannas are being replanted with trees in a
> major project anywhere in Africa (or even better, in East Africa), I'd love
> to look into it to figure out if 1) it's being done in a sustainable way
> and 2) whether the entity responsible has tried to account for all the
> carbon that's already being stored in those grasslands, and factoring that
> in. I'm especially interested in projects where it seems the
> implementers haven't or aren't given/giving due consideration to the carbon
> already in the ground there. *
>
> *Thank you very much in advance if you or your colleagues can think of any
> specific projects/examples worth looking into. I'm also on the hunt for any
> studies that estimate how much carbon particular grasslands or savannahs
> already hold. *
>
> *All the best,*
>
> *Jacob Kushner*
> *jacobkushner.com/about <http://jacobkushner.com/about/>*
>
>
>
>
> Thank you!
> *...*...*...*
> Dr. Maryam Niamir-Fuller
> Co-Chair of International Support Group for the IYRP
>
> *Support the International Year of Rangelands and Pastoralists
> 2026  https://www.iyrp.info <https://www.iyrp.info>*
>
>
>
>
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