ABSTRACT
It is widely recognized that soil carbon (C) sequestration is a win-win strategy. This is especially true in developing countries and emerging economies where soil resources are often degraded, land-use change and agricultural intensification are imminent, and the need to sequester carbon in soil is more important than ever before because of the necessity to restore degraded soils and ecosystems, improve water quality, enhance biodiversity, and increase agronomic productivity to achieve food security. Yet reliable information on the attainable and potential rate of soil carbon sequestration in relation to appropriate land use and recommended management practices (RMPs) is not known. The energy demand is also rapidly changing in many regions of Latin America (USDOE, 2004), leading to more total and per capita emissions in the future. Therefore, the objective of this chapter is to discuss the potential of terrestrial carbon sequestration in general and soil C sequestration in Latin America in particular. The chapter also outlines some economic, policy, and human dimension issues of soil C sequestration.
