Deforestation is one of the main contributors to increasing levels of greenhouse gases. Biomass absorbs carbon dioxide as it grows, acting as both a sink of carbon dioxide from the atmosphere and a store as part of the land system. The use of biomass as a fuel or for other purposes, such as furniture or paper, ultimately results in this carbon dioxide being released from this store back to the atmosphere. In addition, the effects of deforestation, such as desertification has additional negative impacts on the environment.
Sustainable land use ensures that the rate of use of a biomass resource from an area (such as wood from a specific forest) and the associated lifetime GHG emissions resulting from such use does not exceed the production of that resource and absorption of GHGs within that area as part of a managed system.
Schemes that promote sustainable land use are increasingly also recognising the need to do so in conjunction with the re-structuring of local economies, to promote economic and social development as part of, and integral to, any environmental protection programme. Sustainability in a land use will only be achieved if the use of that land is economically and socially viable for those people relying on those regions.
