In dense forests, carbon storage can represent 4 tons of CO2 per year.
Meanwhile, by using agroforestry and under-cover cultivation strategies, we can approach storage capacities of around one ton per year, which is much more than leaving the savannah.
Tree type Rotation length Tree density Storage potential (Tc/ha/yr)
Average storage over the duration of the rotation (Tc/ha)
Final storage (Tc/ha) Slow growth 50 years
50 trees/ha 1.5/ha 75 Slow growth 50 years
100 trees/ha 3/ha 150 Fast growing 15 years
50 trees/ha 2 /ha 30 Fast growing 15 years
100 trees/ha 4/ha 60 Fast growing
The storage potential of the main agroforestry systems will be associated with tree types and densities.
Once established, our agroforestry plots will leads to an annual storage of between 1.5 and 4 Tc/ha for densities, between 50 and 100 trees/ha, i.e. on average twice as much as an average forest hectare, which is estimated at 1 Tc/ha/year and between 5 and 10 times more than the Simplified Cultural Techniques (0.3 Tc/ha/year).