Estimating Global ���Blue Carbon��� Emissions from Conversion and Degradation of Vegetated Coastal Ecosystems

Recent attention has focused on the high rates of annual carbon sequestration in vegetated coastal ecosystems���marshes, mangroves, and seagrasses���that may be lost with habitat destruction (���conversion���). Relatively unappreciated, however, is that conversion of these coastal ecosystems also impacts very large pools of previously-sequestered carbon. Residing mostly in sediments, this ���blue carbon��� can be released to the atmosphere when these ecosystems are converted or degraded. Here we provide the first global estimates of this impact and evaluate its economic implications. Combining the best available data on global area, land-use conversion rates, and near-surface carbon stocks in each of the three ecosystems, using an uncertainty-propagation approach, we estimate that 0.15���1.02 Pg (billion tons) of carbon dioxide are being released annually, several times higher than previous estimates that account only for lost sequestration. These emissions are equivalent to 3���19% of those from deforestation globally, and result in economic damages of $US 6���42 billion annually. The largest sources of uncertainty in these estimates stems from limited certitude in global area and rates of land-use conversion, but research is also needed on the fates of ecosystem carbon upon conversion. Currently, carbon emissions from the conversion of vegetated coastal ecosystems are not included in emissions accounting or carbon market protocols, but this analysis suggests they may be disproportionally important to both. Although the relevant science supporting these initial estimates will need to be refined in coming years, it is clear that policies encouraging the sustainable management of coastal ecosystems could significantly reduce carbon emissions from the land-use sector, in addition to sustaining the well-recognized ecosystem services of coastal habitats.

Protecting degraded rainforests: enhancement of forest carbon stocks under REDD+

The likely Reducing Emissions from Deforestation and Degradation (REDD+) mechanism includes strategies for the enhancement of forest carbon stocks. Recent concerns have been expressed that such enhancement, or restoration, of forest carbon could be counterproductive to biodiversity conservation, because forests are managed as ���carbon farms��� with the application of intensive silvicultural management that could homogenize diverse degraded rainforests. Restoration increases regeneration rates in degraded forest compared to naturally regenerating forest, and thus could yield significant financial returns for carbon sequestered. Here, we argue that such forest restoration projects are, in fact, likely to provide a number of benefits to biodiversity conservation including the retention of biodiversity, the prevention of forest conversion to agriculture, and employment opportunities for poor local communities. As with other forms of forest-based carbon offsets, there are possible moral hazard and leakage problems with restoration. However, due to the multiple benefits, we urge that enhancement of forest carbon stocks be detailed as a major component in the future negotiations of REDD+.

Mining in Ghana���s forests: cross-sectoral linkages and the prospects for REDD

Strategies to Reduce Emissions from Deforestation and Degradation (REDD) are being pursued in numerous developing countries. Proponents contest that REDD mechanisms could deliver sustainable development by contributing to both environmental protection and economic development, particularly in poor forest communities. However, among the challenges to REDD, and natural resource management more generally, is the need to develop a comprehensive understanding of cross-sectoral linkages and addressing how they impact the pursuit of sustainable development. Drawing on an exploratory case-study of Ghana, this paper aims to outline the linkages between the forestry and minerals sectors. It is argued that contemporary debates give incommensurate attention to the reclamation of large-scale mine sites located in forest reserves, and neglect to consider more nuanced links which characterise the forestry-mining nexus in Ghana. A review of key stakeholders further elucidates the complex networks which characterise these linkages and highlights the important role of traditional authorities in governing across sectors. If the multiple roles of local resource users and traditional authorities continue to be neglected in policy mechanisms, schemes such as REDD will continue to fall short of achieving sustainable development.

A study on energy issues in the Caribbean: potential for mitigating climate change

The United Nations Economic Commission for Latin America and the Caribbean (ECLAC) is seeking to provide support to the Governments of Guyana, Jamaica and Barbados in researching the potential for employing renewable energy technologies to mitigate climate change. This exercise involves the study of different types of renewable technologies and mitigative strategies, with the aim of making recommendations to the governments on the development of their renewable energy sector. The recommendations may also assist in achieving their long-term objectives of reducing poverty and promoting healthy economies and sustainable livelihoods in keeping with the Millennium Development Goals. Guyana, Jamaica and Barbados each face common and specific challenges in their efforts to adequately define and implement their energy and climate policies, in a way that allows them to contribute to the mitigation effort against climate change, while promoting sustainable development within their countries. Each country has demonstrated an understanding of the global and national challenges pertaining to climate change. They have attempted to address these challenges through policies and various programmes implemented by local and international agencies. Documented and undocumented policies have sought to outline the directions to be taken by each territory as they seek to deploy new technologies to address issues related to energy and the environment. While all territories have sought to deploy multiple alternate and renewable technologies simultaneously, it is clear that, given their sizes and resource limitations, no one territory can achieve excellence in all these areas. Guyana has demonstrated the greatest potential for hydro energy and should pursue it as their main area of expertise. The country also has an additional major strategy that includes forest credits and the Reduced Emissions from Deforestation and Degradation (REDD) programme. This approach will be brought to the negotiation table in the upcoming climate change meeting in Copenhagen in December 2009. Of the three countries, Jamaica has the only active significant wind farm deployment, while Barbados has a long tradition in solar energy. Each country might then supplement their energy and fuel mix with other energy and fuel sources and draw from the experience of other countries. Given the synergies that might accrue from adopting a regional approach, the Caribbean Community Climate Change Centre (CCCCC) might be well positioned to play a coordinating role. This focus on renewable energy and biofuels should yield good, long-term results as it relates to mitigation against climate change, and good, short- and medium-term results as it relates to the development of sustainable economies. Each country might also achieve energy security, reduced oil dependence, significant reduction in harmful emissions and better foreign exchange management if they pursue good policies and implementation practices. Human and financial resources are critical to the success of planned interventions, and it will be necessary to successfully mobilize these resources in order to be effective in executing key plans.

Historical carbon emissions and uptake from the agricultural frontier of the Brazilian Amazon

Tropical ecosystems play a large and complex role in the global carbon cycle. Clearing of natural ecosystems for agriculture leads to large pulses of CO(2) to the atmosphere from terrestrial biomass. Concurrently, the remaining intact ecosystems, especially tropical forests, may be sequestering a large amount of carbon from the atmosphere in response to global environmental changes including climate changes and an increase in atmospheric CO(2). Here we use an approach that integrates census-based historical land use reconstructions, remote-sensing-based contemporary land use change analyses, and simulation modeling of terrestrial biogeochemistry to estimate the net carbon balance over the period 1901-2006 for the state of Mato Grosso, Brazil, which is one of the most rapidly changing agricultural frontiers in the world. By the end of this period, we estimate that of the state`s 925 225 km(2), 221 092 km(2) have been converted to pastures and 89 533 km(2) have been converted to croplands, with forest-to-pasture conversions being the dominant land use trajectory but with recent transitions to croplands increasing rapidly in the last decade. These conversions have led to a cumulative release of 4.8 Pg C to the atmosphere, with similar to 80% from forest clearing and 20% from the clearing of cerrado. Over the same period, we estimate that the residual undisturbed ecosystems accumulated 0.3 Pg C in response to CO2 fertilization. Therefore, the net emissions of carbon from Mato Grosso over this period were 4.5 Pg C. Net carbon emissions from Mato Grosso since 2000 averaged 146 Tg C/yr, on the order of Brazil`s fossil fuel emissions during this period. These emissions were associated with the expansion of croplands to grow soybeans. While alternative management regimes in croplands, including tillage, fertilization, and cropping patterns promote carbon storage in ecosystems, they remain a small portion of the net carbon balance for the region. This detailed accounting of a region`s carbon balance is the type of foundation analysis needed by the new United Nations Collaborative Programmme for Reducing Emissions from Deforestation and Forest Degradation (REDD).

Can REDD+ reconcile local priorities and needs with global mitigation benefits? lessons from Angai Forest, Tanzania

The scope of the reducing emissions from deforestation and forest degradation (REDD) mechanism has broadened REDD+ to accommodate different country interests such as natural forests, protected areas, as well as forests under community-based management. In Tanzania the REDD+ mechanism is still under development and pilot projects are at an early stage. In this paper, we seek to understand how local priorities and needs could be met in REDD+ implementation and how these expectations match with global mitigation benefits. We examine the local priorities and needs in the use of land and forest resources in the Angai Villages Land Forest Reserve (AVLFR) in the Liwale District of Lindi Region in Tanzania. Primary data was collected in two villages, Mihumo and Lilombe, using semistructured key informant interviews and participatory rural appraisal methods. In addition, the key informant interviews were conducted with other village, district, and national level actors, as well as international donors. Findings show that in the two communities REDD+ is seen as something new and is generating new expectations among communities. However, the Angai villagers highlight three key priorities that have yet to be integrated into the design of REDD+: water scarcity, rural development, and food security. At the local level improved forest governance and sustainable management of forest resources have been identified as one way to achieve livelihood diversification. Although the national goals of REDD+ include poverty reduction, these goals are not necessarily conducive to the goals of these communities. There exist both structural and cultural limits to the ability of the Angai villages to implement these goals and to improve forestry governance. Given the vulnerability to current and future climate variability and change it will be important to consider how the AVLFR will be managed and for whose benefit?

Locking-in carbon, locking-out livelihoods? ASM and REDD in Sub-Saharan Africa

This paper examines the potential mutual conflict between interventions aimed at formalising artisanal and small-scale mining (ASM) on the one hand, and policies implemented in response to the Reducing Emissions from Deforestation and Forest Degradation (REDD) initiative on the other. Deforestation caused by ASM undermines sound forest management, and potentially threatens the implementation of REDD. Conversely, the adoption of REDD could further marginalise and criminalise the ASM sector, reducing its contribution to poverty alleviation. Reviewing a series of commonalities between ASM and forest management highlights many difficulties facing policy-makers. Potentially, contradictory outcomes of evolving governance arrangements means novel cross-sectoral institutions will be required in order to realise the full potential of REDD and ASM to address poverty reduction in a complementary fashion. The analysis reiterates the centrality of livelihoods to REDD and the need for policies to take into account local contexts.

Engaging Local Communities in Low Emissions Land-Use Planning: a Case Study from Laos

Reducing Emissions from Deforestation and Forest Degradation and enhancing forest carbon stocks (REDD+) is a performance-based payment mechanism currently being debated in international and national environmental policy and planning forums. As the mechanism is based on conditionality, payments must reflect land stewards��� level of compliance with carbon-efficient management practices. However, lack of clarity in land governance and carbon rights could undermine REDD+ implementation. Strategies are needed to avoid perverse incentives resulting from the commoditization of forest carbon stocks and, importantly, to identify and secure the rights of legitimate recipients of future REDD+ payments. We propose a landscape-level approach to address potential conflicts related to carbon tenure and REDD+ benefit sharing. We explore various land-tenure scenarios and their implications for carbon ownership in the context of a research site in northern Laos. Our case study shows that a combination of relevant scientific tools, knowledge, and participatory approaches can help avoid the marginalization of rural communities during the REDD+ process. The findings demonstrate that participatory land-use planning is an important step in ensuring that local communities are engaged in negotiating REDD+ schemes and that such negotiations are transparent. Local participation and agreements on land-use plans could provide a sound basis for developing efficient measurement, reporting, and verification systems for REDD+.

Comparison of model-based above ground biomass predictions from LiDAR

In order to reduce greenhouse emissions from forest degradation and deforestation the international programme REDD (Reducing Emissions from Deforestation and forest Degradation) was established in 2005 by the United Nations Framework Convention on Climate Change (UNFCCC). This programme is aimed to financially reward to developing countries for any emissions reductions. Under this programm the project of setting up the payment system in Nepal was established. This project is aimed to engage local communities in forest monitoring. The major objective of this thesis is to compare and verify data obtained from di erect sources - remotely sensed data, namely LiDAR and field sample measurements made by two groups of researchers using two regression models - Sparse Bayesian Regression and Bayesian Regression with Orthogonal Variables.

Opportunit��s du REDD+ pour l'am��nagement durable des for��ts tropicales et obstacles �� son implantation en R��publique d��mocratique du Congo : perspective juridique

La situation de la for��t tropicale dans les pays en d��veloppement en g��n��ral, et en R��publique D��mocratique du Congo (RDC) en particulier, est inqui��tante. Les ��missions de dioxyde de carbone dues au d��boisement sont de l���ordre de 1,6 GtCO2e/an, soit 17% des ��missions mondiales de �� gaz �� effet de serre ��. Sous l�����gide de la Convention-cadre des Nations Unies sur les changements climatiques, le REDD+ a ��t�� institu�� pour lutter contre cette d��forestation et la d��gradation des for��ts. Cette ��tude examine les diff��rentes opportunit��s qu���offre ce programme pour l���am��nagement ��cosyst��mique du couvert forestier de la RDC et les obstacles contextuels �� sa mise en oeuvre. Pour la RDC, le REDD+ pr��sente un certain nombre d���opportunit��s : r��duction des ��missions li��es au d��boisement et �� la d��gradation des for��ts; amorce des travaux d���afforestation et de reforestation par une gestion durable des ressources conduisant �� la cr��ation des emplois et favorisant la croissance des PIB et des exports; accroissement du rendement et maintien d���une plus grande couverture des besoins alimentaires. Le REDD+ peut favoriser la croissance du Produit int��rieur brut agricole. Il peut contribuer �� l�����lectrification des m��nages et r��duire de moiti�� les d��penses des m��nages d��pendant de l���exploitation mini��re et des hydrocarbures et, ainsi, g��n��rer des milliers d���emplois en infrastructures. Pour les populations locales et autochtones, il peut contribuer aussi �� prot��ger et �� valoriser les cultures li��es �� la for��t. Mais, face aux pesanteurs d���ordre juridique, politique, social, ��conomique, technologique et culturel caract��ristiques de ce pays, ces opportunit��s risquent d�����tre amenuis��es, sinon annihil��es. ��tant donn�� que l���essentiel du d��ploiement du dispositif du REDD+ se r��alisera dans les zones rurales congolaises, l���obstacle majeur reste le droit coutumier. La solution serait d���harmoniser les exigences et finalit��s du REDD+ non seulement avec le Code forestier de 2002 et ses mesures d���ex��cution mais aussi avec le droit coutumier auquel les communaut��s locales et autochtones s���identifient.

Implementing REDD through community-based forest management: lessons from Tanzania

REDD (reduced emissions from deforestation and degradation) aims to slow carbon releases caused by forest disturbance by making payments conditional on forest quality over time. Like earlier policies to slow deforestation, REDD must change the behaviour of forest degrading actors. Broadly, it can be implemented with payments to forest users in exchange for improved forest management, thus creating incentives; through payments for enforcement, thus creating disincentives; or through addressing external drivers such as urban charcoal demand. In Tanzania, community-based forest management (CBFM), a form of participatory forest management, was chosen by the Tanzania Forest Conservation Group, a local NGO, as a model for implementing REDD pilot programmes. Payments are made to villages that have the rights to forest carbon. In exchange, the villages must demonstrably reduce deforestation at the village level. In this paper, using this pilot programme as a case study, combined with a review of the literature, we provide insights for REDD implementation in sub-Saharan Africa. We pay particular attention to leakage, monitoring and enforcement. We suggest that implementing REDD through CBFM-type structures can create appropriate incentives and behaviour change when the recipients of the REDD funds are also the key drivers of forest change. When external forces drive forest change, however, REDD through CBFM-type structures becomes an enforcement programme with local communities rather than government agencies being responsible for the enforcement. That structure imposes costs on local communities, whose local authority limits the ability to address leakage outside the particular REDD village.

F��runs virtuais de REDD: an��lise da fun����o comunicativa na constru����o de pol��ticas orientadas por organiza����es da sociedade civil

Frente a evid��ncias cient��ficas que apontam o desflorestamento da Amaz��nia como fator preponderante na libera����o de gases do efeito estufa �� atmosfera e na consequente intensifica����o das mudan��as clim��ticas globais, organiza����es n��o-governamentais e ambientalistas criaram f��runs tem��ticos sobre a Redu����o de Emiss��es por Desmatamento e Degrada����o florestal (REDD). Sob a premissa de intercambiar informa����es e promover a articula����o e o debate p��blico, essas iniciativas re��nem diferentes atores sociais, sob a coordena����o de organiza����es da pr��pria sociedade civil, tendo a internet como principal lugar de refer��ncia. Considerando a perspectiva democr��tica aberta pela no����o habermasiana de esfera p��blica e com base em crit��rios fundamentais �� publicidade social, relacionados ��s fun����es de dar visibilidade e promover o debate p��blico, a an��lise de quatro espa��os virtuais permitiu uma reflex��o sobre a forma contempor��nea de atua����o das organiza����es n��o-governamentais ambientalistas e as potencialidades de atua����o pol��tica trazidas por novas Tecnologias de Informa����o e Comunica����o (TIC), ainda n��o apropriadas de forma plena ou efetiva por esse e outros setores da sociedade. Os resultados da pesquisa apontam que, na pr��tica, tais f��runs atendem satisfatoriamente a nenhuma das fun����es: n��o esclarecem os usu��rios quanto ao assunto e t��o pouco s��o capazes de fomentar discuss��es que resultem em desdobramentos em prol da coletividade. Isso resulta na perda da qualidade democr��tica a que se prop��em e ainda refor��a o efeito do ���silenciamento��� sobre as popula����es locais, que veem os seus anseios e necessidades representados por essas ONGs sem que essas entidades sejam real e necessariamente representativas de seus interesses.

REDD+ no Estado do Par��: a pol��tica ambiental clim��tica paraense no contexto nacional e internacional

A inser����o do mecanismo de Redu����o de Emiss��es por Desmatamento e Degrada����o Florestal (REDD) no contexto do ordenamento jur��dico-normativo e institucional do Estado do Par��, �� a tem��tica abordada pelo presente trabalho. A metodologia aplicada na presente pesquisa se baseou em duas t��cnicas de coletade dados, quais sejam o levantamento documental e a aplica����o de question��rio estruturado junto aos ��rg��os estaduais respons��veis pela articula����o e implementa����o desse mecanismo no territ��rio paraense. De recente surgimento no cen��rio das discuss��es internacionais sobre meio ambiente e mudan��as clim��ticas globais, levadas a efeito no ��mbito da Conven����o-Quadro das Na����es Unidas sobre Mudan��a do Clima, o REDD se apresenta como proposta de desmatamento evitado para os pa��ses em desenvolvimento, cuja preserva����o do patrim��nio florestal, em vista dos potenciais benef��cios para a mitiga����o do aquecimento global, deveria ser compensado por meio da remunera����o de indiv��duos, comunidades, projetos e pa��ses, conforme a proposta originalmente lan��ada no ano de 2005, durante a COP 11, realizada em Montreal, no Canad��. Nesse contexto, o Estado do Par��, que encerrou o ano de 2012 como l��der nos n��meros de desmatamento entre os Estados da Amaz��nia Legal, ainda em 2009 previu a inser����o do mecanismo de REDD no quadro jur��dico regulat��rio e institucional paraense como parte das a����es do (Decreto Estadual n�� 1.697/2009). Decorrida a primeira fase de execu����o do Plano, qual seja o interst��cio de agosto de 2009 a agosto de 2012, verificou-se que osprocessos decis��rios para implementa����o do mecanismo n��o avan��aram, em que pese a exist��ncia de projetos dessa natureza em curso no territ��rio paraense, e o avan��o dos demais Estados amaz��nicos quanto �� tem��tica, cujos arcabou��os normativos j�� disp��em de pol��ticas p��blicas atinentes ao REDD e REDD+ e importantes medidas adicionais correlatas, a exemplo da regula����o sobre pagamento de servi��os ambientais e pol��ticas estaduais sobre mudan��as clim��ticas.