Management of Natural Forests for Carbon Emission Reductions Through Improved Logging Practices and Wood Bioenergy Use

The management of tropical forests can achieve multiple purposes. Here, we assessed timber production, bioenergy generation, and emission reductions through the management of production forest for timber and bioenergy production in Southeast Asia between 2000 and 2060 through a comparative study between the conventional and reduced impact logging (RIL) systems. Whilst producing an average of 35.1 million cubic metres per year (m3 year−1) of wood products, the adoption of the RIL can result in emission reductions of 96.6 teragrams of carbon dioxide (TgCO2) over a 60-year period. Apart from deforestation, emissions from logging operations were the second-highest source of emissions, indicating that attention should be made to improve the efficiency of logging machinery whilst reducing deforestation and forest degradation. When combining all emissions together, total emission reductions were estimated at 229.9 TgCO2, 215.4 TgCO2, and 207.9 TgCO2 annually during the Paris Agreement between 2020 and 2030 if compared to coal, diesel, and natural gas, respectively. Southeast Asia could generate about US$2.1 billion–US$2.3 billion year−1 under the result-based payment of the REDD+ scheme at a carbon price of US$10. Introducing tax exemptions or financial incentives for carbon and environmental taxes and/or energy tax could materialise the RIL-based forest management.