Three tree species have high CO2 absorbency

“In a series of studies on the subject, it was found that the Taiwan acacia has the highest CO2 absorbency of all tree varieties, “ said Huang Yu-hsing, head of the Forestry Research Institute under the Council of Agriculture (COA).

The Formosan ash was second, followed by the Taiwan zelkova, Huang said.

Huang said his institute has cultivated seedlings of the three endemic tree species for forestation programs around the island to help reduce greenhouse gas emissions and contribute to the fight against global warming.

Generally speaking, he added, broadleaf trees have higher carbon absorption capacity than needleleaf trees.

Compared with fossil fuel restrictions, tree planting is a far more effective and cost efficient way to cut greenhousegas emissions, Huang said.

As Taiwan is not a signatory to the Kyodo Protocol on greenhouse gas emission reduction, it cannot secure international certification for the carbon absorption of local tree-planting programs at present, Huang said.

In the future, he said, the government should formulate a comprehensive set of rules to regulate forest carbon sequestration operations. This should include the establishment of a certification mechanism to pave the way for local companies to take part in global carbon trading and offsetting, he suggested.

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