To promote sustainable forest management and to mitigate climate change, the University of the Philippines Los Banos – College of Forestry and Natural Resources (UPLB-CFNR) implemented a project on Greenhouse Gas (GHG) inventory of the entire production chain of industrial tree plantation (ITP) in Mindanao.
This three-year project is funded by the Philippine Council for Agriculture, Aquatic and Natural Resources Research and Development of the Department of Science and Technology (DOST-PCAARRD) as part of the council’s support to the Industry Strategic S&T Program (ISP) on ITP and Climate Change.
According to Dr. Diomedes Racelis, project leader, the project aims to identify the various activities along the ITP production chain where GHG fluxes occur. This includes calculating the respective GHG emissions from various activities along the ITP production chain and computing the GHGs net fluxes.
During the phase 1 of the project, data related to GHG emissions within the process flow of the products like activity data and emission factors were recorded. Field interviews were conducted and respondents from Caraga region provided useful insights to determine the volume of harvested logs transported to sawmill and converted to veneer and lumber. However, since this was only a 1-year project, a limited number of respondents and areas covered were considered.
Other data were collected through surveys for the direct inputs and emissions in collaboration with falcata-based wood industry from harvesting operation, transport operation and primary wood processing (veneer and lumber). The fuel (liter) and electricity consumption values (kWh) in each operation were calculated by measuring the volume of fuel consumed along the process. Further data processing to calculate GHG emissions from primary wood processing and carbon stored in durable wood products were also conducted.
Eventually, with the results of phase 2, basic information to calculate the emission incurred during the activities will be provided and the project team can recommend measures to reduce GHG emissions from the ITP sector.