A Critical Conversation on Climate Change ... - Green Choices

228 development dialogue september 2006 – carbon tradingThe threat is not only to local hydrology, but also, ironically, to localcarbon storage capacity. Subject to less extreme variations in temperatureand humidity than the drier Southern Andean zone known bythe indigenous term puna, the paramo stores in its thick layers of soilvast amounts of carbon – perhaps 1,700 tonnes per hectare in the caseof Carchi province, more than a tropical forest – but only as long asthe soils are not exposed to the air and to increased erosion throughplanting operations and firebreaks.Under the PROFAFOR project,villagers are obliged to constructfirebreaks in which the pajonalgrasses protecting the soil of theparamo are uprooted in a stripbordering the plantation, leavingthe soil exposed.In addition, the carbon in the trees is at risk from fire. In the communityof SigSig in Azuay province, fires have already killed or stuntedthe growth of many pines. And fires are likely to recur continuously,given a fire-prone natural flora, traditional burning practicesused to encourage fodder regrowth, strong winds, firebreaks that aretoo few and too narrow, and the lack of permanent wardens or firefightingequipment. The yellowish needles appearing on numerouslocal stands of Pinus patula signal the species’ poor adaptation to theAndean environment, possibly indicating lack of a crucial micronutrientor of the mycorrhizal fungi that facilitate the tree’s nutrient absorptionin its native environment. Animals have meanwhile brokenoff many terminal shoots, giving rise to a bushy growth, which mayprevent the trees from developing trunks suitable for the sawmill.Growth is slow.Wait a minute. Are you telling me that a project which was designed to absorbcarbon may actually be emitting it?