International research identifies vast area for natural forest regeneration

Sydney, Oct 31 (IANS) Australian-led international research has identified a vast area with the potential for natural forest regeneration.

The research, which was published on Thursday by the Queensland University of Technology (QUT) and Brazilian carbon removal startup Mombak, identified a combined 215 million hectares of land around the world where current biophysical conditions could support the natural regeneration of tropical forest.

According to the study, the identified area could sequester 23.4 gigatons of carbon over 30 years, Xinhua news agency reported.

"We need broad scale forest restoration to mitigate the biodiversity and climate crises," Brooke Williams, co-lead author of the research from the QUT School of Biology and Environmental Science, said.

"As we are increasingly faced with the impacts of climate change, the team urges governments to recognize the importance of leveraging natural regeneration potential as a powerful nature-based solution. We must restore vast areas of these important ecosystems that deliver multiple benefits to nature and people," Williams said.

The research was based on a dataset created by international experts who used satellite images to identify areas where tree cover naturally increased over time.

The dataset was made publicly available to support and advance tropical forest restoration.

--IANS

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