Short and long term mitigation effects of setting forests aside

Cessation of harvesting in forests is one of the measures that is proposed to increase the contribution of forests to climate change mitigation. While this is an easy to understand measure for policy makers and the general public with tangible short-term results, there are trade-offs with carbon storage and substitution effects in wood products, as well as concerns about its long-term efficiency. We coupled the EFISCEN Space forest model with the YASSO15 soil model and a simple wood products model to assess the long-term effects
of this measure. We applied this model system to a set of forest stands that were taken out of production in the late 1980s as part of the Dutch Forest Reserves Network. We validated the model outcomes with regular forest inventories done since, as well as to soil carbon measurements done in and outside the reserves.