Me a suring De fo re sta tio n, De g ra d a tio n a nd Fo re st C a rb o n

1. Tro p ic a l De fo re sta tio n a nd C lim a te C ha ng e

Be tw e e n 8 m illio n a nd 16 m illio n he c ta re s o f tro p ic a l fo re st w a s d e stro ye d ye a rly in the 1980s a nd 1990s, se nd ing fro m

0.8 b illio n to 2.4 b illio n to ns o f c a rb o n

1 into the a tm o sp he re . De fo re sta tio n c a use s a b o ut 20 o f g lo b a l w a rm ing , a b o ut a s m uc h a s the Unite d Sta te s, the w o rld ’ s le a d ing e m itte r. The re a re m a ny d rive rs o f d e fo re sta tio n, a nd the y va ry a g re a t d e a l b y re g io n. Ma jo r c a use s o f d e fo re sta tio n inc lud e c a ttle p a sture , ind ustria l a g ric ulture so y, o il p a lm , a nd lo g g ing o f tro p ic a l tim b e rs fo r e xp o rt, la rg e ly in So uth Am e ric a , SE Asia a nd C e ntra l Afric a . G lo b a l g re e nho use g a s e m issio ns fro m d e ve lo p e d a nd d e ve lo p ing c o untry fo ssil fue ls a nd tro p ic a l d e fo re sta tio n m ust sta rt to c o m e d o w n in the ne xt d e c a d e if w a rming is to re m a in b e lo w 2 ° C b y 2050. G lo b a l w a rm ing will ha ve m a jo r e ffe c ts o n the w o rld ’ s fo re sts, a nd w ill ve ry like ly a c c e le ra te the d e struc tio n o f tro p ic a l fo re sts. Fo re st fire s a nd d ying tre e s c a n d o ub le c a rb o n e m issio ns in El Niño a nd o the r d ry ye a rs. In the 1998 El Niño e ve nt, p e a t a nd fo re st fire s in Ind o ne sia re le a se d

0.8 – 2.6 b illio n e xtra to ns o f c a rb o n

into the a tm o sp he re 2 . Ma ny c lim a te m o d e ls p re d ic t a wa rm e r, d rye r c lima te in tro p ic a l re g io ns und e r b usine ss-a s-usua l sc e na rio s, a nd so m e p ro je c t tha t la rg e p a rt o f the Am a zo n fo re st c o uld b e c o m e sa va nna . Unc he c ke d , c lima te c ha ng e w ill d e va sta te the fo re sts’ im m e nse sp e c ie s d ive rsity a nd the re so urc e b a se o n w hic h ind ig e no us a nd fo re st p e o p le s d e p e nd . This d o c um e nt fo c use s o n fo re sts in the tro p ic s, the re g io n fro m whic h ne a rly a ll e m issio ns fro m d e fo re sta tio n c urre ntly c o m e .

2. Me a suring De fo re sta tio n, De g ra d a tio n a nd Fo re st C a rb o n

Ra te s o f d e fo re sta tio n c a n b e m e a sure d using a va rie ty o f re m o te se nsing instrum e nts c o m b ine d w ith fie ld surve ys 3 . Fo re st b io m a ss m ust b e m e a sure d to c a lc ula te e m issio ns. The a c c ura c y o f b o th d e fo re sta tio n ra te a nd fo re st b io m a ss m e a sure m e nts d e p e nd o n te c hno lo g ic a l a nd fo re st m o nito ring c a p a c ity, whic h va rie s g re a tly a m o ng tro p ic a l c o untrie s. While the re a re va rio us p e e r-re vie w e d m e tho d o lo g ie s , sc ie ntists ha ve o nly d o ne e xte nsive fo re st c a rb o n inve nto rie s in a fe w c o untrie s, a nd o nly Bra zil a nd Ind ia no w m e a sure the ir d e fo re sta tio n re g ula rly using hig h re so lutio n sa te llite d a ta . The se m e tho d s m ust b e a p p lie d to o the r tro p ic a l re g io ns to re d uc e unc e rta inty 1 Houghton, R. 2005. Tropical deforestation as a source of greenhouse gases. In Tropical Deforestation and Climate Change, Edited by P. Moutinho and S. Schwartzman, Instituto de Pesquisa Ambiental da Amazônia IPAM and Environmental Defense. www.ipam.org.br 2 Page, S E, Sigert F, Riley J O, Boehm H-DV, Jaya, A, Limin S 2002. The amount of carbon released during peat and forest fires in Indonesia during 1997. Nature 420:61-65. 3 GOFCGOLD 2006; INPE 2006; a b o ut d e fo re sta tio n e m issio ns. 4 It is the re fo re ve ry im p o rta nt tha t sig nific a nt inve stm e nt is ma d e in sc ie ntific a nd te c hnic a l wo rk o n inve nto rie s. Figure 1. Forest burning for soy plantation, Mato Grosso, Brazil. The c urre nt sta te o f m o nito ring te c hno lo g y w a s sum m a rize d b y the C lim a te Ac tio n Ne tw o rk in Fe b rua ry, 2007 a s fo llo w s: - Suffic ie nt te c hnic a l a nd d a ta a c q uisitio n m e tho d o lo g ie s e xist a t p re se nt to und e rta ke a na tio na l-le ve l inve nto ry o f la nd use c ha ng e , inc lud ing p e rio d ic m o nito ring a nd d e te c tio n o f inte ra nnua l va ria b ility; - C o nsid e ra b le sc ie ntific a nd te c hno lo g ic a l c ha lle ng e s re m a in in the d e ve lo p m e nt o f re m o te se nsing te c hno lo g ie s to m e a sure a nd m o nito r b io m a ss c ha ng e s with a hig h d e g re e o f a c c ura c y. The Inte rg o ve rnm e nta l Pa ne l o n C lim a te C ha ng e IPC C ha s a p p ro ve d sta nd a rd m e tho d s fo r m e a suring e missio ns fro m d e fo re sta tio n in se ve ra l re p o rts 1996, 2003, 2006. The hig he r the sa te llite im a g e ’ s re so lutio n, the m o re it c o sts. De g ra d a tio n , w hic h c a use s c a rb o n e m issio ns b ut d o e s no t c o m p le te ly d e stro y fo re st, c a n a lso b e m e a sure d , b ut re q uire s m o re so p histic a te d a nd e xp e nsive m e tho d s 5 . Inc lud ing d e g ra d a tio n in a d e fo re sta tio n re g im e is like ly to sig nific a ntly inc re a se the b urd e n o f m o nito ring , a nd c o nse q ue ntly c a p a c ity 4 DeFries 2004; Achard et al 2006; Houghton 2005. 5 Asner, 2005; 2007 b uild ing e ffo rts to o . While re m o te se nsing c o uld b e use d to m o nito r fo re st c o ve r a nd he nc e d e fo re sta tio n fa irly re lia b ly, the sa m e is no t g e ne ra lly true o f d e g ra d a tio n, w he re m o re g ro und -b a se d m e a sure m e nt a re re q uire d . Sa te llite a nd a irp la ne -b a se d se nso rs und e r d e ve lo p m e nt, suc h a s ra d a r a nd LIDAR, a re like ly to imp ro ve o ur c a p a b ilitie s.

3. Fo re sts a nd the UNFC C C