The Potential for Carbon Dioxide Equivalent Sequestration in Agro-Manitoba

The report estimates that Agro-Manitoba has the potential to sequester between 1.3 and 3 megatonnes of CO2e per year. It evaluates six practices: wetlands, forestry, riparian buffers, minimum tillage, perennials, and cover crops, using both a maximum one-year snapshot and a 30-year cumulative approach. The analysis highlights that while cover crops and wetlands offer the highest sequestration potential, forestry and riparian buffers provide significant rates despite smaller land areas. The findings are aligned with the province's Growing Outcomes in Watersheds (GROW) program, suggesting a strong policy basis for incentivizing these practices to offset emissions from Manitoba's agricultural sector.

• The total annual CO2e sequestration potential for Agro-Manitoba is estimated to range from 1,334,636 tCO2e (low scenario) to 1,707,978 tCO2e (high scenario) when averaged over 30 years.
• Under a maximum one-year approach, the total sequestration potential ranges from 2,441,825 to 3,072,825 tCO2e, with cover crops and wetlands identified as having the highest potential.
• Wetlands offer a maximum one-year sequestration rate of 975,000 tCO2e based on an assumed addition of 300,000 hectares, though they risk becoming a carbon source if loss rates exceed restoration rates.
• Forestry and riparian buffers combined provide a significant sequestration potential of 493,140 tCO2e under the maximum one-year approach, despite covering a relatively small additional area of 75,000 hectares.
• Perennial crops have a higher sequestration rate than minimum tillage and cover crops, providing a maximum one-year sequestration rate of 203,685 tCO2e.
• Minimum tillage, while having a large adoption area of 1 million hectares, has a lower practice sequestration rate of 0.30 tCO2e/ha/year, resulting in a maximum one-year rate of 300,000 tCO2e.
• The analyzed land use practices strongly align with the priority beneficial management practices (BMPs) of Manitoba's Growing Outcomes in Watersheds (GROW) program, which aims for enhanced carbon storage and improved climate resiliency.

APA

International Institute for Sustainable Development (2017). The Potential for Carbon Dioxide Equivalent Sequestration in Agro-Manitoba. https://www.iisd.org/system/files/publications/carbon-dioxide-equivalent-sequestration-agro-manitoba.pdf

Chicago

International Institute for Sustainable Development. The Potential for Carbon Dioxide Equivalent Sequestration in Agro-Manitoba. 2017. https://www.iisd.org/system/files/publications/carbon-dioxide-equivalent-sequestration-agro-manitoba.pdf.

Wikipedia

{{cite report |author=International Institute for Sustainable Development |title=The Potential for Carbon Dioxide Equivalent Sequestration in Agro-Manitoba |date=December 2017 |url=https://www.iisd.org/system/files/publications/carbon-dioxide-equivalent-sequestration-agro-manitoba.pdf |access-date=23 October 2026 |via=Climate Insights Directory}}

BibTeX

@techreport{internationalinstituteforsustainabledevelopment2017potential, author = {{International Institute for Sustainable Development}}, title = {{The Potential for Carbon Dioxide Equivalent Sequestration in Agro-Manitoba}}, institution = {International Institute for Sustainable Development}, year = {2017}, month = dec, url = {https://www.iisd.org/system/files/publications/carbon-dioxide-equivalent-sequestration-agro-manitoba.pdf}, urldate = {2026-10-23}, note = {Indexed by Climate Insights Directory} }