Carbon Sequestration by Hedgerows in the Irish Landscape

Abstract

The removal of carbon dioxide (CO2) from the atmosphere due to land-use management and forestry could potentially be used as a mitigation option under Article 3.4 of the Kyoto Protocol. In particular, the increase in the area of hedgerows and expansion of non-forest woodland patches across the Irish landscape, together with the sink activity of existing hedgerows, could be significant with respect to accountable removal units (RMUs) under the Protocol. There is, however, no national inventory system to facilitate the reporting of hedgerow sink activities to the United Nations Framework Convention on Climate Change (UNFCCC). This desk study was initiated to demonstrate the use of Light Detection And Ranging (LiDAR) remote sensing technology and terrestrial laser scanning (TLS) for assessing hedgerow biomass, with the aim of developing a cost-effective and efficient national hedgerow carbon inventory.