Usual crop plantations, be it for food or wood, invariably brings few carbon to the soil but, most importantly, they _elongate_ and _simplify_ the water cycle (water evaporates over the ocean/winds bring clouds inland/rain falls/water goes to rivers/repeat).
Rainwater does need to pass just a single type of foliage when it falls on a single-crop land. After it hits the land, in most cases, creates water runoff that depletes soil and clog rivers. Ah, and nitrogenated salts goes with the runoff, feeding algae blooms downriver.
In a healthy forest, wether pristine or generated via agroforestry, rainwater must percolate multiple layers of trees and their soils are more permeable, sucking water and replenishing aquifers. In most agroforestry setups, they usually needs less irrigation due to this, reducing water usage and obviating use of large irrigation setups. By the way, good agroforestry setups (see Syntropic Agriculture) uses local resources, mostly biological in nature, using less nitrogenated fertilizer and/or mined potassium. Both uses Oil for processing and transportation, sometimes in large quantities.
More forest area means more resilient aquifers and, due to plants evapotranspiration, it humidifies the air and attracts/seeds more rainclouds and the water cycle is kept locally, depending less on global air and sea current chains. This water cycle is more _complex_ and have both local and global components, bringing more local water resiliency.
Just some problems to be addressed: most agro mechanical solutions must be adapted to better use, and large croplands must be interspaced with tree walls or mini-forests to act as windbrakes (winds depletes soil water!). Some agroforestry setups require intensive human labor, but that may not be a problem in the world very populated and poor countries.
Yes, I kept talking about water in this comment, but to bring the question home, the most important question is: to keep carbon in check, we must _reduce_ carbon mining (oil, coal, even peat) and _reduce_ deforestation.
Just a tangential point.
Usual crop plantations, be it for food or wood, invariably brings few carbon to the soil but, most importantly, they _elongate_ and _simplify_ the water cycle (water evaporates over the ocean/winds bring clouds inland/rain falls/water goes to rivers/repeat).
Rainwater does need to pass just a single type of foliage when it falls on a single-crop land. After it hits the land, in most cases, creates water runoff that depletes soil and clog rivers. Ah, and nitrogenated salts goes with the runoff, feeding algae blooms downriver.
In a healthy forest, wether pristine or generated via agroforestry, rainwater must percolate multiple layers of trees and their soils are more permeable, sucking water and replenishing aquifers. In most agroforestry setups, they usually needs less irrigation due to this, reducing water usage and obviating use of large irrigation setups. By the way, good agroforestry setups (see Syntropic Agriculture) uses local resources, mostly biological in nature, using less nitrogenated fertilizer and/or mined potassium. Both uses Oil for processing and transportation, sometimes in large quantities.
More forest area means more resilient aquifers and, due to plants evapotranspiration, it humidifies the air and attracts/seeds more rainclouds and the water cycle is kept locally, depending less on global air and sea current chains. This water cycle is more _complex_ and have both local and global components, bringing more local water resiliency.
Just some problems to be addressed: most agro mechanical solutions must be adapted to better use, and large croplands must be interspaced with tree walls or mini-forests to act as windbrakes (winds depletes soil water!). Some agroforestry setups require intensive human labor, but that may not be a problem in the world very populated and poor countries.
Yes, I kept talking about water in this comment, but to bring the question home, the most important question is: to keep carbon in check, we must _reduce_ carbon mining (oil, coal, even peat) and _reduce_ deforestation.