Mapping Forest Carbon: CLR Research at the Forefront of Climate Solutions
Forests are powerful allies in the fight against climate change. They capture and store carbon, support biodiversity, and regulate water cycles. Understanding exactly how forests store carbon at a landscape scale is key to developing effective conservation and climate strategies.
At the Cambridge Centre for Landscape Regeneration (CLR), researchers Aland Chan and David Coomes are helping lead the way. Their work in Scottish forests uses LiDAR technology to map forest carbon storage, revealing the hidden ways forests absorb carbon and mitigate climate change. This research provides crucial insights for scientists, policymakers, and land managers seeking evidence-based solutions for forest and landscape regeneration.
The impact of their work has recently reached a wider audience: Aland and David feature in Episode 3: Forests of the four-part documentary series The Future of Nature, which explores how nature itself can help restore our planet. Narrated by Uma Thurman, the series highlights innovative approaches to climate solutions and has already aired in the United States, Germany, and France — so if you’re in those locations, it’s well worth a watch. A trailer is available here: YouTube. The series is distributed by BBC Studios and is available via BBC Earth and platforms including PBS, Apple TV, and NOW TV, but it is not currently available to watch in the UK.
For CLR, this research connects directly to our landscape-scale work in the Cairngorms National Park. Through our Enhancing Habitats in the Cairngorms programme, we develop sustainable landscape solutions in partnership with the Cairngorms Connect Partnership, supporting habitat restoration, biodiversity monitoring, and nature-based climate mitigation. Our work explores how conservation actions affect greenhouse gas emissions, applies innovative methods for tracking biodiversity recovery, and assesses social, cultural, and economic aspects of landscape regeneration.
Learn more about our Cairngorms work here: The Cairngorms landscape page – Centre for Landscape Regeneration
Thanks to the pioneering research of Aland, David, and the CLR team, we’re gaining the knowledge needed to unlock the full potential of forests—helping landscapes and communities thrive while tackling climate change.