There's now even more reason to #SaveOurForests!
Experts have reportedly found the key to stopping climate change: forests in Sabah.The Sabah Forestry Department, together with several non-profit organisations such as the Carnegie Airborne Observatory (CAO), recently conducted a study and found that the rainforests in Sabah contain 40 per cent of carbon stock.
What is carbon stock, you ask? Well, it is actually the amount of carbon stored in a forest, mainly in soil and biomass. This is important to help reduce the buildup of greenhouse gases in the Earth's atmosphere and convert them into organic material.
So, in other words, the higher the carbon stock, the better the chance to control climate change.
Sabah Forestry Department director Datuk Sam Mannan told The Star Online that thanks to the work of the CAO, they were able to pinpoint the forests that have high carbon stock via super canggih sattelite mapping and remote sensing technology.
But here's the bad news: these forests, according to Sam, are not designated for maximum protection by the authorities.
The Department said the next step is to determine which part of the forests in Sabah that contain the most carbon, and they will then work out a plan to get these forests protected.
Also, according to the Department, Sabah could more than double its carbon stock if previously logged forests are given time to regenerate.
However, this process will take at least a century, the experts say.
We should really start taking care of our forests now, guys, if we want the crazy hot weather to go away permanently.