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Estimation of Biomass and Carbon stock for Miombo Woodland in Dzalanyama Forest reserve, Malawi

Author Affiliations

  • 1Malawi College of Forestry and Wildlife, Private Bag 6, Dedza, MALAWI
  • 2Malawi College of Forestry and Wildlife, Private Bag 6, Dedza, MALAWI

Res. J. Agriculture & Forestry Sci., Volume 3, Issue (3), Pages 7-12, March,8 (2015)

Abstract

Successful design and implementation strategies designed to reduce emissions through the forestry sector requires an understanding of carbon dynamics. A study was conducted to estimate the living biomass and carbon stock for miombo woodland in Dzalanyama forest reserve with the purpose of providing data for sustainable forest management and baseline data for carbon monitoring, and also to predict the existence of miombo woodland in Dzalanyama forest reserve if the current trend of charcoal and fuelwood production is unchecked. The results shows that there is substantial amount of living biomass (61.6 tonnes ha-) and carbon stock (30.8 tonnes ha-) for miombo woodland in the reserve. There were significant (P<.001) differences between dbh classes on number of stems per hectare with the dbh class of 5-14.9cm having the highest number of stems per hectare. Site observation showed that there are more regenerants. This imply that if trees and the regenerants are sustainably managed then the amount of living biomass and carbon stock would increase in the subsequent years as the trees and the regenerants grow. The uncertainty for the estimated living biomass and carbon stock were low (<7%). The results also shows that if the current trend of illegal harvesting of trees for charcoal and fuelwood production is unchecked, the miombo woodland forest in the reserve will be completely exhausted in the next 10 years. Therefore, it can be concluded that there is potential for REDD+ activities to be carried out in Malawi with Dzalanyama forest reserve as one of the site. However, a decisive action is required in order to address deforestation and forest degradation of the reserve.

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