Forests and climate change in the Asia-Pacific region

Abstract

There is now global consensus that climate change is a real and significant threat strongly related to anthropogenic causes. The implications are arguably even more relevant for the Asia-Pacific than other regions given its high population levels, large numbers of poor and otherwise vulnerable people and the richness of biodiversity and ecology among its highly diverse countries. It is also a region with some of the greatest potential – both in terms of carbon sequestration capacity and the human resources – to contribute to both mitigation and adaptation efforts. One of the key areas of focus on the current international climate change stage is the role of forests. The significance of this single factor in mitigating, or potentially hastening the process of climate change, is coming to be fully realized. In light of this, and the particularly close linkage between communities in the Asia-Pacific region and the forests upon which many depend, it is imperative that forests play a central role in efforts to manage or adapt to climate change.