An assessment of data sources, data quality and changes in national forest monitoring capacities in the Global Forest Resources Assessment 2005-2020

Globally, countries report forest information to the Food and Agriculture Organization of the United Nations (FAO) Global Forest Resources Assessments (FRA) at regular intervals. While the status and trends of national forest monitoring capacities have been previously assessed for the tropics, this has not been systematically done worldwide. In this paper, we assess the use and quality of forest monitoring data sources for national reporting to the FRA in 236 countries and territories. More specifically, we (1) analyze the use of Remote Sensing (RS) for forest area monitoring and the use of National Forest Inventory (NFI) for monitoring forest area, growing stock, biomass, carbon stock, and other attributes in FRA 2005-2020, (2) assess data quality in FRA 2020 using FAO Tier-based indicators, and (3) zoom in to investigate changes in tropical forest monitoring capacities in FRA 2010 - 2020. Globally, the number of countries monitoring forest area using RS at good to very good capacities increased from 55 in FRA 2005 to 99 in FRA 2020. Likewise, the number of countries with good to very good NFI capacities increased from 48 in FRA 2005 to 102 in FRA 2020. This corresponds to ~85% of the global forest area monitored with one or more nationally-produced up-to-date RS products or NFI in FRA 2020. For large proportions of global forests, the highest quality data was used in FRA 2020 for reporting on forest area (93%), growing stock (85% ), biomass (76%), and carbon pools (61%). Overall, capacity improvements are more widespread in the tropics, which can be linked to continued international investments for forest monitoring especially in the context of Reducing Emissions from Deforestation and Forest Degradation in tropical countries (REDD+). More than 50% of the tropical countries with targeted international support improved both RS and NFI capacities in the period 2010-2020 on top of those that already had persistent good to very good capabilities. There is also a link between improvements in national capacities and improved governance measured against Worldwide Governance Indicators (WGI). Our findings – the first global study – suggest an ever-improving data basis for national reporting on forest resources in the context of climate and development commitments, e.g. the Paris Agreement and Sustainable Development Goals

FTA Highlight No.11 – REDD+: Combating Climate Change with Forest Science

The climate change battle has many fronts; protecting the world’s remaining forests is a major one. Land-use change, including deforestation, contributes 10–12% of global emissions (IPCC 2019), and the REDD+ framework (reducing emissions from deforestation and forest degradation) has been seen as a way to promote both climate and sustainable development benefits. Now enshrined in the Paris Agreement, the central offer of REDD+ consists of results-based payments to forest-rich countries for protecting forests and avoiding carbon emissions. The challenges associated with this approach are large, and a diversity of actors is needed to make it a success, including researchers. Could science contribute to make REDD+ more efficient, more effective and more equitable? Scientists with CIFOR’s Global Comparative Study on REDD+ (GCS REDD+) have been analyzing REDD+ for the past 12 years. GCS REDD+ is the largest global research program of its kind and a major component of the CGIAR Research Program on Forests, Trees and Agroforestry (FTA). With dozens of national and subnational REDD+ initiatives and several hundred local projects underway, GCS REDD+ has looked at the range of approaches, analyzed conditions — from policy to land rights to forest monitoring capacity — and produced a bedrock of evidence and analysis across 22 countries. This ensures that policymakers and practitioner communities have the evidence they need to design and implement REDD+ with effective, cost-efficient and equitable outcomes

REDD+ Challenges and Lessons Learnt

Experience to date stemming from the different phases of REDD+ in over 65 countries provides useful insights into both challenges and lessons for the future of REDD+. The questions we seek to answer in this chapter are: 1. Which current technical, institutional, management and financial challenges at the local, sub-national, national and international scales, as well as across these scales, are likely to affect future implementation of REDD+ and related forest-based mitigation activities? 2. For each of these spatial scales, what relevant lessons can be identified for different stakeholder groups? In light of the United Nations Decade on Ecosystem Restoration (2021 – 2030), we also chose to place an emphasis on exploring some of the parallels between REDD+ and forest landscape restoration (FLR) given that forest restoration is one of the dimensions of REDD+ and an important component of the UN Decade