Forestation at the right time with the right species can generate persistent carbon benefits in China

Previous evaluations on the biophysical potential of forest carbon sink have focused on forestation area distribution and the associated carbon stock for equilibrium-state forests after centuries-long growth. These approaches, however, have limited relevance for climate policies because they ignore the near-term and mid-term decadal carbon uptake dynamics and suitable forest species for forestation. This study developed a forestation roadmap to support China's "carbon neutrality" objective in 2060 by addressing three key questions of forestation: where, with what forest species, and when to afforest. The results yielded a high-confidence potential forestation map for China at a resolution of 1 km with the identified optimal native forest type or species. Our analysis revealed an additional 78 Mha suitable for forestation up to the 2060s, a 43% increase on the current forest area. Selecting forest species for maximal carbon stock in addition to maximizing local environmental suitability enabled almost a doubling in forest carbon sink potential. Progressive forestation of this area can fix a considerable amount of CO₂ and compensate for the carbon sink decline in existing forests. Altogether, the entire forest ecosystem can support a persistent biophysical carbon sink potential of 0.4 Pg C y⁻¹ by 2060 and 0.2 Pg C y⁻¹ by 2100, offsetting 7 to 14% of the current national fossil CO₂ emissions. Our research provides an example of building a forestation roadmap toward a sustained forest carbon sink, which creates a critical time window for the emission cuts required by the goal of carbon neutrality.