Climate Change Archives - Silvica: Blog for Sustainable Development

Importance and Direct Methods of measuring Soil Organic Carbon

Davidokul — Thu, 15 Apr 2021 17:11:52 +0000

By David Okul

The implementation of international carbon trading has made the measurement of carbon important to the global economy. In pastoral rangelands, no meaningful way of measuring carbon has been identified. Common carbon sinks include oceans, soils, and vegetation.

Soil organic carbon is an indicator of healthy and fertile soils. Carbon is the 15^th most abundant element on the earth’s crust, and fourth in the universe (after hydrogen, helium, and oxygen). On the human body, it is only second to oxygen.

Massive amounts of carbon are stored in the soil in two general forms: inorganic and organic. Inorganic carbon arises from the parent weathered rock, while organic carbon results from living or decomposing carbon compounds. However, the measure of productive soils can be captured from the soil organic carbon content.

Changes in Soil Organic Carbon take a few years and it is difficult to keep track of the trend. Regardless, frequent monitoring using a consistent methodology may help detect changes.

Why should we measure soil organic carbon?

Carbon is perhaps the most important parameter for healthy soil. Keep in mind that plants don’t absorb carbon from the soil but the atmosphere. Instead, the carbon in soil contributes to soil nutrients by adsorbing and desorbing nutrients and providing habitats for microorganisms. In short, measuring SOC helps in assessing the soil’s health. Other reasons for measuring soil organic carbon are:

It is an indicator of the water holding capacity of soils: More SOC means higher water holding capacity
Fight against climate change: As the second most important sink for carbon (after oceans), measuring SOC would help in monitoring the absorption capacity of soils.

Analytical tests for determining total soil organic carbon in soils

In general, methods of measuring soil organic carbon can be classified into two; wet digestion and dry combustion. In wet digestion methods, carbon is oxidized using chemicals while dry combustion methods involve the thermal decomposition of carbonate materials to generate carbon dioxide. Examples of wet methods include Walkley and Black and Photometric methods; while dry combustion includes ignition test and dry combustion.

1. Walkley and Black Method

The method relies on the oxidation of potassium dichromate (K₂Cr₂O₇) that is acid catalyzed. The heat from the dilution raises the temperature to induce substantial oxidation of carbon to carbon dioxide.

A modified Walkey and Black Method called Meibus uses the same procedure but includes sulphuric acid with K₂Cr₂O₇.

2. Photometric Method

Potassium dichromate (K₂Cr₂O₇) and sulphuric acid are added to the soil. After cooling for 1 hour, distilled water is added. The solution is measured using a spectrophotometer with varying concentrations of sucrose solution

3. Gravimetric method – loss on ignition (Ignition Test)

Soil samples are subjected to calcinations for 5 hours at 400℃. Then, samples are weighed and the difference in mass corresponds to soil organic matter.

4. Dry combustion

Soils are pre-treated with hydrochloric acid to remove inorganic carbon. The soil sample (often 30mg) is placed in a capsule and combusted at 975℃. It uses an automatic analyzer with a thermo conductivity sensor detector (TCD).

Key discussion points

Some of the takeaway points of the different methods of measuring SOC are:

Walkley and Black Method is relatively easy and cheap, but inaccurate
Generally, wet digestion methods tend to underestimate carbon stocks while gravimetric methods tend to overestimate.
Additionally, wet digestion methods use potentially dangerous chemicals such as chromium which could be toxic.
The most common measurement of SOC is the ignition test of soil organic matter. However, it is not an accurate measure as carbon makes between 50 and 58% of the soil organic matter.
Most organizations (including IPCC) favor dry combustion over the other methods of measuring soil organic carbon
Indirect methods of measuring soil organic carbon take less time but are less accurate.

Additional reading

Quantification of Soil Organic Carbon – Comparison of Wet Oxidation and Dry Combustion Methods

A protocol for measurement, monitoring, reporting, and verification of soil organic carbon in agricultural landscapes

Bird migration to East Africa from other parts of the world

May 9, 2020

Feeding, Breeding and Killing Habits of Lions (African Lion)

May 3, 2020

Feeding, breeding and Killing habits of Leopards (African Leopard)

May 3, 2020

David Okul is an environmental management professional with over 10 years experience on donor projects, conservation, forestry, ecotourism, and community-based natural resources management. When not working on environmental projects, I spend my time writing for Silvica on a variety of topics.

The post Importance and Direct Methods of measuring Soil Organic Carbon appeared first on Silvica: Blog for Sustainable Development .

What’s in a name? Can you tell the difference between eco, sustainable, and responsible tourism?

Davidokul — Sun, 14 Jul 2019 09:17:04 +0000

By David Okul
July 14, 2019

A brief discussion of the forms of alternative tourism

Any ardent conservationist/traveler has come across the names of sustainable tourism, responsible tourism, and ecotourism. Differentiating the concepts of sustainable tourism, responsible tourism and ecotourism can be confusing. To make it worse, there are even more related concepts in alternative tourism that appear similar. We have outlined the definition of the three key terms and other related concepts of alternative tourism. Also, this article discusses the concept of the three terms.

Tourism has impacts on the people, the planet, and profits. Alternative forms of tourism seek to address some of the adverse impacts o tourism

Sustainable Tourism

The UNWTO (United Nation’s World Tourism Organization) is the authority on sustainable tourism. It defines the term as:

“Tourism that takes full account of its current and future economic, social and environmental impacts, addressing the needs of visitors, the industry, the environment, and host communities”

Ecotourism

Many people believe that ecotourism is a subset of sustainable tourism as its niche is natural areas. The International Ecotourism Society (TIES) defines the term as, “responsible travel to natural areas that conserves the environment, sustains the well-being of the local people, and involves interpretation and education” (TIES, 2015).

According to UAE Ministry of Economics, ecotourism includes various types such as blue tourism (travel to beaches and seas), yellow tourism (travel to deserts), white tourism (travel to ice areas) and green tourism (travel to areas rich in fauna, and especially flora).

Responsible tourism

Some people claim that responsible tourism is synonymous with sustainable tourism. However, the Cape Town Declaration (2002) and the Center for Responsible Tourism defined responsible tourism as. “tourism that maximizes the benefits to local communities, minimizes negative social or environmental impacts, and helps local people conserve fragile cultures and habitats or species.”

Other terms in Alternative Tourism Concept

Apart from the three terms, there are other terms that are concerned with the sustainable development of tourism. Let start with alternative tourism itself:

Alternative tourism: the opposite of mass tourism. Although mass tourism promoted economic development in terms of jobs, it also resulted in negative effects such as economic leakages, environmental, and social impacts. Alternative tourism aims at addressing the shortcomings of mass tourism.

Overtourism: concerned with the excessive number of visitors leading to negative effects on the host and the environment

Voluntourism: The central principle is that the visitors would give back (do charity events) for the communities in the destination.

Community-based tourism: CBT occurs where visitors are hosted by locals. Communities are the key stakeholders in this model where they exercise greater control and get more benefits that they would receive.

Conscious travel/tourism: it has its basis on the corporate social responsibility that favors values-based triple bottom line approach.

Ethical travel: It basically advocates for people to be mindful of travel choices based on moral values and judgments

Slow tourism: advocates for living as opposed to staying in a destination. That is, visitors need to connect to cultures.

Geo-Tourism: while ecotourism focuses on the flora and fauna, geo-tourism adds the dimensions of the abiotic environment.

Pro-poor tourism: Although controversial, pro-poor tourism seeks to put poverty of host communities at the center of the sustainability debate.

Farm tourism: Also called agrotourism and involves green tourism of farms.

Our Take: A discussion of ecotourism, sustainable and responsible tourism concepts

At Silvica, we deduce that the differences between ecotourism, sustainable and responsible tourism are academic. It is evident that all the definition seek to improve (or at least maintain) the hosts’ life, the natural environment, and the visitor experiences. As such the three terms oppose the principles of mass tourism and are a form of alternative tourism.

Nevertheless, distinctions between the terms are also apparent. The focus of ecotourism is sustainability in natural areas. From the definition, tourism in ‘unnatural’ places such as cities and historical monuments may not fit the definition of ecotourism. The distinction between sustainable and responsible tourism is less apparent in terms of scope. However, we perceive that the major actors in sustainable tourism are the business people while the tourist bears more responsibility in responsible tourism. In other words, destination managers need to make their destination sustainable while tourists need to ensure that their travel is responsible.

Further, Harold Goldwin, an authority in sustainable and responsible tourism makes a distinction between the concepts. He claims that sustainability is a goal which can be achieved when people take responsibility. In other words, responsible tourism includes all actions (mostly little) that individuals can take to make tourism more sustainable. In contrast, sustainable tourism is concerned with long-term changes in tourism that target at reducing the negative impacts of tourism while promoting the positive ones. Sustainable tourism targets global issues such as climate change.

In a nutshell, sustainable tourism, ecotourism, and responsible tourism share a similar goal. They are all types of alternative tourism based on the principles of the three-pillared approach to sustainability (environmental, social, and economic), although ecotourism has an intense focus on environmental aspects. Both travelers and operators need to ensure that they incorporate principles of ecotourism, sustainable, and responsible tourism to ensure that the travel and tourism industry is improved (or at least maintained) for the benefits of the future generations.

References and Resources

TIES. https://ecotourism.org/what-is-ecotourism/

UNWTO https://sdt.unwto.org/content/about-us-5

https://www.earth-changers.com/blog/2017/1/17/sustainable-tourism-ecotourism-responsible-travel-conscious-tourism-whats-the-difference

https://www.economy.gov.ae/Publications/A%20Guide%20to%20Green%20Tourism.pdf

https://www.travelresponsibly.net/responsible-travel-vs-sustainable-tourism/

David Okul is a freelance writer, and a PhD student at a Kenyan university

The post What’s in a name? Can you tell the difference between eco, sustainable, and responsible tourism? appeared first on Silvica: Blog for Sustainable Development .

How Tree Growing Assists in dealing with Climate change

Davidokul — Sat, 06 Jul 2019 13:07:38 +0000

By David Okul
May 26, 2019

Did you know?

• There are about 3 trillion trees in the world • 10 billion trees are lost each year • There were about 6 trillion trees before the rise of human civilization

Tree growing is one of the most pragmatic approaches to dealing with the challenges in climate change. The fact that plants absorb carbon dioxide in their growth means that they could assist in containing some of the carbon produced from human activities.

Tree planting is not only the easiest way of dealing with the climate crisis, but it is also among the cheapest. Suitable tree species could be strategically planted in areas without encroaching on cropland or urban areas. It is vital that tree growing activities avoid competition with food crops. Moreover, reforestation projects are more successful if they respect the local culture’s practices and avoid monoculture plantation forests.

Like most parts of the tropics, their is a huge potential of tree growing in most parts of the African continent

The potential for tree growing is real

Research shows that widespread tree planting on a global scale could remove close to 67% of the emissions in the atmosphere by human activities. It is estimated that 1.7 billion hectares of treeless land on which 1.2 trillion indigenous trees have the potential of growing. In terms of percentages, the area is 11% of the global landmass equivalent to the combined sizes of China and the United States.

As such, policymakers the world over should consider forest restoration as a fundamental climate change solution. Still, approaches of reducing emissions from fossil fuel burning and the destruction of forests are pertinent.

The good thing about tree growing (Silvica deliberately uses the term tree growing instead of tree planting) is that it requires very little for individuals to take action. It neither requires Donald Trump to start believing in climate change nor scientists to come up with solutions. It only requires individuals to start planting/growing trees in their lands or support organizations that undertake tree growing projects. Carbon capture would be most effective in the tropics where the canopy cover is 100%.

There is a challenge though. Many of the 1.7 hectares of treeless lands are already used for grazing livestock. Growing trees would present competing land uses between forestry and livestock husbandry. Nevertheless, restoring trees at low densities is not mutually exclusive with grazing. Some studies insinuate that sheep and cattle do better in the field.

Silvica promotes tree growing activities around East Africa. We provide technical consultancy services to projects that are interested in what they call tree planting. You can support Silvica by making a donation to enable us to raise awareness on climate change and other contemporary environmental issues.

Nursery Operations: Pricking Out, Shading, Watering, Weeding, Root Pruning, and Hardening Off

By David OkulJuly 30, 2019 Some common nursery operations that any nursery manager should do Now that you have planted your seeds in the nursery,

Nursery Operations: Starting a Tree Nursery

By David OkulJuly 29, 2019 A plan increases the chances of success of your tree nursery You may be wondering what it takes before starting

We focus on Tree Growing, not just planting!

By David OkulJune 7, 2019 While tree planting is an event, tree growing is a process. It may seem petty, but Silvica believes that a

Some Key Points of the Paris Agreement

Davidokul — Sun, 23 Jun 2019 09:00:53 +0000

By David Okul
May 19, 2019

It is widely known that the world is facing a climate crisis. Climate change and global warming have already made the earth's temperature increase by one-degree centigrade. The increase might appear small, but it has significant (mostly negative) effects on biodiversity, food supply, oceans, and extreme climatic events. The governments of the world need to act, and they did, via the Paris Agreement.

On 12 December 2015, 196 parties to the UN Framework Convention on Climate Change (UNFCCC) adopted the Paris Agreement at COP 21 in Paris. The Agreement included a new legal framework that aimed at tackling climate change. The agreement involved 6 years of intense lobbying and was achieved under pressure to avoid the failures of the Copenhagen conference in 2009.

The agreement recognizes the economic levels of each country. Based on the principle of the common, each country has differentiated responsibilities as per its capability. Ergo, developed countries continue to take the lead on mitigating climate change while supporting the actions of developing countries.

The agreement could not come into force until 55 nations representing at 55% of global emissions had officially joined. The threshold was reached on October 2016, and the agreement came into force 30 days later, on 4^th November 2016. As of January 2019, it had been ratified by 185 of the 197 countries that signed it. As of December 2018, the major emitting countries that were yet to join include Iran, Turkey, and Russia.

Unlike the Kyoto Protocol, the Paris Agreement does not focus on country-specific targets. Instead, the agreement favors voluntary mitigation contributions.

Form of the Paris Agreement

The agreement is a treaty under international law and would replace and improve the Kyoto Protocol, which also aimed at reducing anthropogenic greenhouse gases. The Conference of parties (COP) to the UNFCC adopted the agreement. As a treaty under the international law, the parties would be bound to one another by the terms in the agreement.

Goals

At the center of the Paris Agreement is the goal of holding the global warming levels to below 2 degrees above the preindustrial levels. In fact, it aspires to limit the temperature increase to below 1.5 degrees centigrade. The choice of two degrees is in line with the recommendations of the Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change (IPCC).

All parties to the agreement need to make profound changes to their economies if the goals are to be achieved.

Four items are pertinent in the goal of the agreement:

Lower temperature goal
Legally binding agreement
Review emission commitments for countries every five years
The mechanism for tracking the progress of countries in meeting targets

Although parties could not agree on the specific date the global emissions were to pick, there was a consensus that such an agreement was to pick ‘as soon as possible’

Two types of action are vital to ensure that the agreement’s targets are met:

The rates of greenhouse gases emitted have to reduce to a point where there is a balance between emission and sequestration
Countries have to increase the options to sequester carbon. Higher rates of sequestration permit more residual GHG emissions.

National Actions

All parties to the agreement need to develop plans on how to contribute to climate change mitigation and would communicate the ‘nationally determined contributions’ (NDC) to the Secretariat of the convection. It is important to note that the initial NDCs fell short of the target. Nevertheless, the agreement presented an effective first step. The NDCs need to be communicated at a 5 year period interval with each report presenting an improvement. A technical expert review would validate the reports as parties are required to provide the information necessary for clarity, transparency, and understanding.

Developed countries should adopt economy-wide absolute emission reduction targets immediately while developing countries should aim at the reduction over time.

The agreement allows for parties to cooperate in achieving their NDCs via:

Formulating joint NDC’s within a regional economic integration such as the European Union
Implementing formal emission trading where the transfer of mitigation outcomes could be used by another country to fulfill its NDC
Private and public entities could be allowed to undertake mitigation projects that generate transferable GHG emissions

Although the agreement fails to make a direct reference to market-based approaches, it allows for the transfer of emissions reductions and removals.

Other Points in the Agreement

Article five of the agreement is dedicated to forests in an effort to anchor existing forest provisions in the agreement. Parties are encouraged to support existing frameworks such as REDD+. The non-carbon benefits of forests are also acknowledged.
The agreement does not make a direct reference to agriculture. Nevertheless, a reference to food production in article 2 insinuates that the agricultural sector is expected to take a lead in reducing GHG emissions
Article 13 of the agreement provides a mechanism that ensures that countries have a framework for reporting their NDC
The first stocktaking of the agreement is scheduled for 2023
Article 7 provides mechanisms for adapting to climate change. The goal of adaptation have been generally absent from previous UNFCCC agreements
Developed countries were requested to take the lead in acquiring the financial resources for implementing the agreement (article 9). Developed countries are also required to submit biennial reports of the assistance they give.
Article 10 promotes the transfer of technology while article 11 encourage parties to cooperate to enhance capacities
In addressing loss and damage, the agreement extends the Warsaw International Mechanism for Loss and Damage
The agreement has a global goal of adaptation that was lacking in previous frameworks. African countries had been pushing for adaptation in climate change since its introduction in Copenhagen 2009. However, the goals were qualitative whereas African countries favored quantitative goals.

The Paris Agreement provides a framework for which countries are expected to define their NDC targets. It is anchored on a collaborative approach that seeks each country commitment to dealing with climate change.

References and Resources

Get the Paris Agreement in Full here: https://unfccc.int/resource/docs/2015/cop21/eng/l09r01.pdf

Get the summarized version of the agreement here: https://www.climatefocus.com/sites/default/files/20151228%20COP%2021%20briefing%20FIN.pdf

Read more on the Paris Agreement here: https://www.nrdc.org/stories/paris-climate-agreement-everything-you-need-know

David Okul is a freelance writer, and a PhD student at a Kenyan university

The post Some Key Points of the Paris Agreement appeared first on Silvica: Blog for Sustainable Development .

Climate Change Archives - Silvica: Blog for Sustainable Development

Importance and Direct Methods of measuring Soil Organic Carbon

By David Okul

Why should we measure soil organic carbon?

Analytical tests for determining total soil organic carbon in soils

1. Walkley and Black Method

2. Photometric Method

3. Gravimetric method – loss on ignition (Ignition Test)

4. Dry combustion

Key discussion points

Additional reading

Bird migration to East Africa from other parts of the world

Feeding, Breeding and Killing Habits of Lions (African Lion)

Feeding, breeding and Killing habits of Leopards (African Leopard)

What’s in a name? Can you tell the difference between eco, sustainable, and responsible tourism?

By David OkulJuly 14, 2019

A brief discussion of the forms of alternative tourism

Tourism has impacts on the people, the planet, and profits. Alternative forms of tourism seek to address some of the adverse impacts o tourism

Sustainable Tourism

Ecotourism

Responsible tourism

Other terms in Alternative Tourism Concept

Our Take: A discussion of ecotourism, sustainable and responsible tourism concepts

References and Resources

How Tree Growing Assists in dealing with Climate change

By David OkulMay 26, 2019

Did you know?

• There are about 3 trillion trees in the world • 10 billion trees are lost each year • There were about 6 trillion trees before the rise of human civilization

Like most parts of the tropics, their is a huge potential of tree growing in most parts of the African continent

The potential for tree growing is real

Nursery Operations: Pricking Out, Shading, Watering, Weeding, Root Pruning, and Hardening Off

Nursery Operations: Starting a Tree Nursery

We focus on Tree Growing, not just planting!

Some Key Points of the Paris Agreement

By David OkulMay 19, 2019

Unlike the Kyoto Protocol, the Paris Agreement does not focus on country-specific targets. Instead, the agreement favors voluntary mitigation contributions.

Form of the Paris Agreement

Goals

National Actions

Other Points in the Agreement

References and Resources

By David Okul
July 14, 2019

By David Okul
May 26, 2019

By David Okul
May 19, 2019