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Asian Journal of Water, Environment and Pollution. Vol. 22, No. 1 (2025), pp. 52-66.
doi: 10.36922/AJWEP025050027

ORIGINAL RESEARCH ARTICLE

Decoding carbon sequestration: The impact of agriculture,
conservation policies, climate, and land use

Muhammad Asif Khan 1,2 , Muhammad Khalid Anser , Bushra Usman ,
4
3
Agha Amad Nabi , Ishfaq Ahmad , and Khalid Zaman *
5
7
6
1 Department of Forestry and Wildlife Management, Faculty of Physical and Applied Sciences, The University of Haripur,
Haripur, Khyber Pakhtunkhwa, Pakistan
2 Department of Research, The Sherwan Institute of Online Education (SIOE), Abbottabad, Khyber Pakhtunkhwa, Pakistan
3 Department of Economics, Faculty of Economics and Administrative Sciences, Recep Tayyip Erdoğan University, Rize,
Turkey
4 Department of Business, School of Management, Forman Christian College (A Chartered University), Lahore, Pakistan
5 Department of Business Administration, Faculty of Social Sciences, Government College University Hyderabad,
Hyderabad Sindh, Pakistan
6 Lahore Business School (LBS), Faculty of Management Sciences, The University of Lahore, Lahore, Pakistan
7 Department of Economics, Faculty of Social and Administrative Sciences, The University of Haripur, Haripur, Pakistan
*Corresponding author: Khalid Zaman (khalid.zaman@uoh.edu.pk)

Received: January 29, 2025; Revised: February 20, 2025; Accepted: February 25, 2025; Published Online: March 11, 2025

Abstract: Pakistan’s forests play avital role in mitigating climate change by absorbing and storing carbon
dioxide from the air, making them essential natural carbon sinks. Achieving a balance between logging and forest
preservation is necessary for the country to meet global climate goals. This study employs a robust least squares
regression approach to identify the components of carbon sequestration, using quarterly time series data from 1990
Quartile 1 to 2023 Quartile 4. The findings show that agricultural income, forest preservation legislation, rainfall
variability, high temperatures, and land-use changes significantly affect carbon sequestration in Pakistan. Positive
changes in forest cover highlight the need for continuous afforestation and replanting efforts. However, a decline in
forest carbon sink capacity due to agricultural output and land-use changes hampers climate change mitigation. The
results emphasize the delicate balance between economic growth and environmental conservation. These findings
suggest that addressing the challenges of climate change and land use requires specialized policies that prioritize
forest conservation while managing economic costs.
Keywords: Carbon storage potential; Sustainable forestry; Ecosystem resilience; Land management strategies;
Climate variability; Environmental policy; Pakistan

1. Introduction Pakistan, maize is cultivated extensively in both rainfed
and irrigated areas. Agriculture and forest management
Globally, forests cover 4.06 billion acres or 31% of the contribute to climate change mitigation by improving
Earth’s land area. They play a vital role in mitigating soil organic carbon through carbon sequestration.
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1
climate change by absorbing and storing carbon Circular economy approaches have further enhanced
dioxide, thereby slowing the pace of global warming. In forest management by promoting sustainable land use
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Volume 22 Issue 1 (2025) 52 doi: 10.36922/AJWEP025050027