Expanding forest carbon sinks to mitigate climate change in Africa

Forests significantly contribute to climate change mitigation by acting as carbon sinks, sequestering atmospheric carbon dioxide, and keeping it in soil and biomass. Covering 22 % of its land, African forests offer numerous benefits to millions of people. Nevertheless, they face threats from human activities like deforestation and degradation. A holistic approach encompassing social, economic, and environmental factors is necessary to sustain forests as carbon sinks for maximum carbon sequestration potential. This study used carbon dioxide emissions, forest loss and gain, and land use change to investigate the level of carbon dioxide emissions and their relationship to forest loss and climate change in Africa from 1992 to 2020. Using ArcGIS, land use change was reclassified, InVEST model calculated carbon storage and sequestration, and annual changes in forest cover were assessed using the K and S indices. In the last two decades, 77.36 % of African countries had greater forest losses than gains, leading to 32 × 103 kha net loss, resulting in 15.73 Pg C of carbon dioxide emissions. Annual forest loss rate is 1.6 × 103 kha, equivalent to 0.786 Pg C, and that of carbon storage and sequestration decreased to −0.69 and −1.37, respectively. Results indicate that deforestation, particularly in the Democratic Republic of the Congo, significantly contributes to carbon emissions, and persistent tropical deforestation will affect future greenhouse gas concentrations. This research provides a detailed spatiotemporal analysis, highlighting areas experiencing severe forest cover change and carbon loss, underscoring the importance of forest conservation in mitigating climate change, and promoting effective land management policies.