Abstract
One hundred ninety-five countries reached agreement on a new climate treaty in Paris, France to reduce the carbon emissions. South Korea has been selected as a target country for reducing greenhouse gas (GHG) obligations since 2020. In this context, the Korean government developed several GHG emissions reduction programs using forests called the "Forest carbon offset scheme (FCOS)." The forest management method is one of the tools to implement FCOS. Most of the participants registered forest management as the preferred methodology to participate in the FCOS. For a successful implementation of the FCOS, it is necessary to explore the optimal methods by considering the cost-effective aspect of conducting the forest management as a tool to increase carbon absorption. In this context, this study investigated the value optimized FCOS projects based on the forest management methodology in South Korea. Three forest management scenarios, 1) extending the final age of maturity of Pinus densiflora stands (S1), 2) extending the final age of maturity of Quercus acutissima stands (S2), and 3) reforestation with new species (Pinus densiflora to Quercus acutissima) (S3), were examined and evaluated to identify the optimal carbon absorption and value optimized economic perspective. The results of the scenario-based modelling indicated that S3 showed value optimized from an economical perspective, and S2 was the most effective method to absorb carbon among the scenarios. It is anticipated that this paper will contribute to provide valuable information by presenting innovative approaches as a value optimized FCOS implementing tool in a GHG reduction program in South Korea.
