A review of forest management practices potentially suitable for carbon farming in European forests

Abstract

To meet the European Union's climate neutrality targets by 2050, carbon farming (CF) has emerged as a key strategy to enhance carbon (C) sequestration in managed ecosystems. This review assesses a broad set of forest management practices with potential to sequester carbon in aboveground biomass (AGB) and soil organic carbon (SOC) in European forests, while considering co-benefits and trade-offs. The analysis, based on a literature review covering boreal, temperate, and Mediterranean regions, evaluates practices such as afforestation, species selection, changes in rotation periods, reduced harvest intensity, continuous cover forestry, and peatland management. Results show that afforestation on croplands offers the highest short-term carbon sequestration potential, while agroforestry and peatland rewetting provide significant long-term benefits, particularly for SOC. Reduced or no harvest also offers short term sequestration potential, but the risk of leakage is potentially very high. However, the success of CF practices is highly context-dependent, influenced by forest type, disturbance risk, and future climatic conditions. This review highlights the urgent need for future studies considering both above and belowground carbon sequestration as well as co benefits. Furthermore, the importance of integrating sustainability, permanence, leakage prevention and additionality into CF initiatives and underscores the need for long-term, site-specific studies to inform policy and carbon certification frameworks.