Presentation by Meine van Noodwijk at a side event hosted by the World Agroforestry Centre at the UNFCCC Paris COP21

1. Cool trees as basis for farmers’
mi/gadapta/on
Ecosystem-based adapta/on, Rio Pavillion COP
PARIS 02-12-2015
Meine van Noordwijk
Chief Scien/st, World Agroforestry
Centre (ICRAF); Professor of Agro-
forestry, Wageningen University
Long cycle:
oceans
to land
Short cycle:
Land to land

2. Three things got separated that belong
together
• Trees and farmers
• Climate and rainfall
• Climate change mi/-
ga/on and adapta/on
Agroforestry
Biological rainfall
generation
Mitigadaptation

3. Decarbonizing the debate on forests,
trees and climate: cool trees
Trees make it cooler ,
help with rainfall and
keep the soil moist
UNFCCC: global climate
change depends on
greenhouse gas emissions
This carbon thing is
hard to understand,
we can’t see it…

6. van der Ent RJ, Savenije
HHG, Schaefli B, Steele-
Dunne SC, 2010. Origin
and fate of atmospheric
moisture over
con/nents. Water
Resources Research 46,
W09525,
E/P
Pfrom Et/P

7. Blue water
streamflow
Rainfall triggering
conditions
Precipi-
tation
Rainbow water Atmospheric transport
Soil & ground-water
buffering
GreenwaterET
evapotranspiration
Precipi-
tation
GreenwaterET
evapotranspiration
Blue water
streamflow
Soil & ground-water
buffering

8. Stem-flow
Through
-fall
Rainfall Cloud
interception
Lateral
outflows
(interflow) Recharge
Soil surface
evaporation
Transpiration
Canopy water
evaporation
Uptake
Quick-
flow
Base flow
{
Surface
run-on
Surface
Run-off
Streams
& river
Litter layer
Sub-
surface
lateral
inflows
Infil-
tra-
tion
Percolation
Canopy
inter-
ception

9. • Trees consume water
• Trees recycle water
• Trees help store water by
changing soil to be
a more effec/ve buffer
• Streamflow from healthy
catchments with forests
and trees is more gradual
Higher evapotranspi-
ra/on means more
cooling effect
Higher evapotranspi-
ra/on means more
atmospheric water
vapour
Prevailing
winds
Bio/c-pump-induced
air flows?
Oceanic input
Biological precipita/on
triggers? Rainfall
Downstream water
use, livelihoods risks
and benefits
Scien1-
fic
debate
Downstream and
downwind benefits of
watershed restora/on

12. Three things got separated that belong
together
• Trees and farmers
• Climate and rainfall
• Climate change mi/-
ga/on and adapta/on
Agroforestry
Biological rainfall
generation
Mitigadaptation