Posted on 10 September
2010
Lima, Peru: A revolutionary approach for
mapping and monitoring
the carbon held in tropical forests is a
major step forward in protecting the climate
and biodiversity, WWF said today.
Among new insights developed
from mapping the carbon in the forests of
the Madre de Dios, an area the size of Austria
in Peru’s south-western Amazon region, is
the significance of emissions from forest
degradation.
The new procedures to
develop, for the first time, high resolution
maps of stored carbon were the result of
a collaboration between scientists from
WWF’s Conservation Science Programme, WWF
Peru, the Carnegie Institution’s Department
of Global Ecology, the Peruvian Ministry
of the Environment (MINAM) and the Asociación
para la Conservación de la Cuenca
Amazónica (ACCA).
“This is ground-breaking
because we can now calculate, with unprecedented
certainty, how much carbon is in forests
and monitor the climate change-causing carbon
emissions released as forests are damaged
or destroyed” said Dr. George Powell of
WWF’s Conservation Science Programme and
a co-author of the study.
Accurately mapping the
carbon in tropical forests is a key to successfully
tackling climate change by halting forest
loss. A mechanism known as REDD+ (Reduced
Emissions from Deforestation and forest
Degradation) could compensate developing
countries for emissions reductions from
forest loss as well as conservation, sustainable
management and enhancement of forest carbon
stocks.
“This innovative approach
to mapping carbon has provided a needed
breakthrough in accurately assessing whether
real progress is being made by countries
in efforts to reduce forest damage and loss,”
said co-author Michael Valqui from WWF-Peru,
“The Government of Peru’s involvement in
this effort demonstrates their interest
in building capacity to monitor, report
and verify emissions to ensure that climate
benefits result from forest conservation
efforts.”
The forest mapping procedure,
developed by Carnegie, combines satellite
imagery, airborne, laser-based technology
(LiDAR) and traditional, ground plot data
to quantify the carbon stored in forests
with an efficiency and accuracy that is
unmatched by previous approaches. With this
approach, it is also now possible to reduce
the costs associated with evaluating carbon
stocks at a large scale. Key progress has
also been made on quantifying forest degradation,
which is usually the result of fires and
logging.
“Our analysis demonstrated
that forest degradation, which has previously
been unaccounted for in assessments of emissions,
can actually contribute a large part to
total emissions caused by people mismanaging
forests. In the case of our study, it accounted
for up to third of the total carbon emitted,”
said Dr. Powell.
WWF and Carnegie are
collaborating on further applications of
this technology to help countries throughout
the tropics develop their capacity to map
the carbon content of their forests and
monitor their carbon emissions in the coming
years. This effort will contribute to the
important role of forests in combating climate
change being properly recognized and valued.
This research was made
possible with support from the Government
of Norway and the Gordon and Betty Moore
Foundation.
For further information:
• Melissa Tupper, WWF-US, mobile: +1 202
569 0842, email: Melissa.Tupper@wwfus.org
• Kjeld Nielsen, WWF-Peru, mobile: + 511
989 230157, email Kjeld.Nielsen@wwfperu.org
