PNHR Mixed Ombrophilous Forest Prof. W. L. Roque

The anthropic actions, especially after the industrial revolution, are leading the man and the planet to an ecological imbalance that can become irreversible, which may conduct the humanity to its own extinction. The green house effect, today one of the major responsible for the global warming, together with other factors such as the rapid growth of the population and the demand for more food, energy and consumer goods, are going far beyond the sustainable capacity of the Earth planet.

Representing 80-90% of global plants biomass and the biodiversity majority of the terrestrial part of the Earth, the forests perform a crucial role for the mitigation and adaptation of the climate changes. Up to now, the anthropic actions are responsible to remove almost half of the planet natural forests and we are continuously loosing the removal of carbon between 0,9 and 2,3 Gt each year, something around 15% of the annual carbon emissions each year just due to the deforestation (www.nature.com).

The flora and fauna are threatened, with many species of trees and animals in a process of extinction worldwide. The PNHR MOF Prof. W. L. Roque seeks to preserve and recover the native flora and fauna, keeping the same characteristics according to the ecological environment where it is inserted in. Native species are replanted and the tree individual growth is followed up to keep them always healthy and safe.

The trees have a high capacity to capture and store atmospheric carbon dioxide (CO2) by photosynthesis, a process that synthesizes organic compounds using light, water and carbon dioxide, releasing oxygen to the atmosphere and fixing carbon in its biomass. Studies show that trees are capable to absorb between 10 to 40 kg of CO2 per year, in average. Supposing that a tree absorbs 25 kg of CO2 per year, in a hectare with 400 trees the absorption will be 10 tC/year (tons of carbon per year).

Through the photosynthesis, the trees produce oxygen, that is essencial for life. The amount of oxygen produced depends on several factors, but the net gain in 24 hours cycle is positive for any tree. On average, one tree produces nearly 100kg of oxygen each year. A human breathes about 9.5 tons of air in a year, but oxygen only makes up about 23% of that air, by mass, and we only extract a little over a third of the oxygen from each breath. That results in a total of about 740kg of oxygen per year. Roughly, that means seven or eight trees are worth for a human air supply yearly.

The araucárias (a coniferous tree, specie Araucaria Angustifolia) are native trees in the south region of Brazil and due to the high quality of their wood they were intensively and extensively explored for more than a century. The felling of them led to a remarkable decrease in the araucária native forests, becoming today a specie threatened of extinction. Studies show that remain only 2% of the original coverage of araucárias. Although since 2001 a legal regulation has been issued prohibiting the cut down (felling or deforestation) of araucárias in Brazil, the actions to preserve and recover are still far from reaching the original state of the native araucárias forests in Brazil.

According to the Brazilian National Forest Inventory of 2018, the total area covered by natural forests in the state of Rio Grande do Sul (RS) is around 4,000,000.00 hectares (40,000 km2 non-continuous), but only 9% of this coverage correspond to Mixed Ombrophilous Forest (MOF araucárias) typology. Therefore, there is today a MOF coverage of 160,000.00 hectares (1,600 km2 non-continuous). Previous studies indicate that the original coverage (several typologies) by araucárias in the RS used to be of 46,843 km2. This value is superior to the total current natural forest coverage in the RS (40,000 km2).

Recent studies show that araucárias present an enormous potential for carbon neutralization, being able to capture, in average for 1,000 trees/ha, around 293 to 367 tCO2 in 20 years, a very significant value, even when compared to other commercial species of trees that present slightly superior values. Furthermore, research have shown that senescent araucária trees are so important as young ones because both, young and old trees, are capable to capture and absorve carbon in very similar volumes. Therefore, in this regard, an old standing MOF is as efficient as a young one and should be very much protected, maintained and defrayed.

The Intergovernmental Panel for Climate Change (IPCC - an United Nations body for assessing the science related to climate changes) recent report estimates that approximately 730 billion tons of CO2 must be actively removed from the atmosphere during the 21st century in order to limit global warming to 1.5°C. This goal has to be reach sooner.

The carbon footprint of a person varies widely according to his/her life style and, of course, depends very much on the country's wealth. For instance, in the United States the average carbon footprint of a person is around 21 tCO2e (tons of carbon equivalent) per year, in Brasil it is around 2.25 tCO2e while in Malawi it is only 0.2 tCO2e per year. This is a climate injustice and irony as those that contribute less will normally be the ones that will be most affected by the global warming consequences. The global carbon footprint average is around 7.0 tCO2e per year, but to sharply reduce greenhouse gas emissions, looking for a net zero goal, experts state that the aim is to reach a maximum of 5-tons lifestyle. To accomplish this 5-tons lifestyle, approximately 330 araucárias can help in this regard as this amount of araucárias is able to sequester around 5.5 tCO2e per year. In other words, in a third of a hectare a small grove of araucárias will do the job of net zero compensation for a single person.

Although some exotic species, like eucalyptus, with a superior capacity to carbon sequestration, it is quite important to point out that, native forests or planted araucária forests are better adapted to the natural ecosystems, producing a larger amount of benefits related to biodiversity and, still, several environmental services when compared to the commercial forests with exotics trees. A dissertation has shown that araucárias of all ages are better in carbon storage in their stems when compared to commercial Pinus Taeda trees. In another study, it has been shown that araucárias' forest play also an important role for the soil organic carbon sequestration.

Natural climate solutions (NCS), according to the definition adopted by the United Nations Environment Assembly in March 2022, are actions to protect, restore natural or modified ecosystems and sustainable management, which deals with societal challenges effectively and adaptively, simultaneously providing human well-being, ecosystem resilience and biodiversity benefits.

Generally, NCS are then specific interventions designed to lower greenhouse gas emissions and increase carbon storage in forests, grasslands and wetlands, through conservation measures, such as halting deforestation, the adoption of sustainable land use practices and restoration practices. It has been show, scientifically based, that NCS can provide above 30% of the emissions reductions needed to limit global warming to 1.5° or 2° C, according to climate commitments made at COP26. Nevertheless, despite the tremendous potential of NCS, needed by 2030, they currently receive less than 3% of climate investment and financing. It is worthwhile mentioning that, roughly 50% of the technologies needed to reach net-zero emissions by 2050 are still under development, in the prototype or demonstration phases; they are not yet fully available on the market.

It is important to call attention to the fact that forests are loosing their ability to sequester and hold carbon due to the global warming, as a new study by the USDA (United States Department of Agriculture) has shown. The predictions are worrying with the plummeting of their capacity to absorb carbon from 2025 and reaching a point by 2070 when they may emit more carbon than absorbs, turning them a substantial carbon source.

The PNHR MOF Prof. W. L. Roque, directly and/or indirectly is a NCS action as it is a socio-educacional-environmental program, as it seeks to mitigate the presence of carbon dioxide in the atmosphere, providing other socio-educational functions of the forest, such as protecting the native flora and fauna, protecting the fresh water spring, reducing problems related to the regional climate, it gives opportunity to the formation of human resource multipliers by means of promoting scientific research, environmental education and developing an eco-conscious tourism, contributes to the improvement of landscape ecology, besides that it promotes social benefits with eventual creation of jobs and income.

A newly published paper has shown that conservation actions have improved biodiversity or at least slow down its decline, when compared to no conservation actions, and that protect areas are very important tools for achieving conservation outcomes.

The philosophy of the PNHR MOF Prof. W. L. Roque is to be an open place to the participation of everyone that share the same ideals and interest in improving the preservation and recovery of the native flora and fauna of the region where it is inserted in, seeking a sustainable future for the generations to come.

The PNHR MOF Prof. W. L. Roque is non-profitable, but that does not mean it has no costs, both financial and human capital, associated to the management of the trees, of their own daily demands and for setting a minimal supporting structure. To facilitate, enable and integrate your participation as a partner in this project, araucárias can be planted and/or adopted by individuals, institutions or companies, or even spontaneous donation may be realized. The PNHR MOF Prof. W. L. Roque is opened to the participation of anyone, from anywhere in the world, to contribute for a better planet, as long as they share the same principles.

There are other forms to become a partner, contact us. Come, take part, reconnect yourself with nature, you are very important and co-responsible for the planet sustainability and to provide a legacy for the future generations!

The Project

Araucária Timeline and Birds