Based on the relevance of improving pasture management systems for soil carbon sequestration and, consequently, climate change mitigation, some of the Brazilian government’s Nationally Determined Contribution (NDC) commitments are related to restoration over 15 million ha of degraded pastures.
However, the effects of pasture recovery on changes in soil carbon stocks and its relevance for Brazil to meet NDC commitments remain largely unknown. In this sense, this project aims to evaluate the contribution of improving pasture management systems as a nature-based solution to enhance soil carbon sequestration in Brazil.
Therefore, project activities are organized into four work packages. The first work package is dedicated to the synthesis of data available in the literature. The core part of the project (work package III) is related to measurements of soil carbon stocks, greenhouse gas emissions and assessment of soil microbiology.
In work package IV, we will do data integration using scenario modeling and analysis. Thus, in addition to considering the provision of ecosystem services other than agricultural production and carbon storage, it should also be considered that pasture systems are subject to climatic extremes and climate change and will need investments for adaptation, which can affect their implementation in a given place. Management practices are therefore crucial in determining the success of NDC in Brazil alongside rangeland management systems.
In addition to being fundamental for Brazil to fulfill its commitments with the NDC, we believe that such an effort will be a useful tool for evaluating the ABC Program (Federal Program of Brazil), which deals with the organization and planning of actions to be taken for the adoption of technologies sustainable productions, selected with the objective of meeting the country’s commitments to the reduction of greenhouse gas emissions in the agricultural sector.