Building National Forest and Land-Use Information Systems: Lessons from Cameroon, Indonesia, and Peru

This working paper examines the institutional, human resources, and financial capacities of three countries that have developed a forest and land-use information system, and highlights common enabling factors and challenges

Voices From the Congo Basin: Incorporating the Perspectives of Local Stakeholders for Improved REDD Design

Presents the concerns of the Congo Basin's local and indigenous communities, community NGOs, and parliament members over the design and implementation of Reduced Emissions from Deforestation and Forest Degradation such as inequitable revenue distribution

Indonesia's Forest Moratorium: Impacts and Next Steps

The authors identify opportunities for progress with the recently extended Indonesian forest moratorium, a policy aiming to protect an area the size of Japan from development

Tree canopy extent and height change in Europe, 2001-2021, quantified using Landsat data archive

European forests are among the most extensively studied ecosystems in the world, yet there are still debates about their recent dynamics. We modeled the changes in tree canopy height across Europe from 2001 to 2021 using the multidecadal spectral data from the Landsat archive and calibration data from Airborne Laser Scanning (ALS) and spaceborne Global Ecosystem Dynamics Investigation (GEDI) lidars. Annual tree canopy height was modeled using regression tree ensembles and integrated with annual tree canopy removal maps to produce harmonized tree height map time series. From these time series, we derived annual tree canopy extent maps using a >= 5 m tree height threshold. The root-mean-square error (RMSE) for both ALS-calibrated and GEDI-calibrated tree canopy height maps was = 94% for the tree canopy extent maps and >= 80% for the annual tree canopy removal maps. Analyzing the map time series, we found that the European tree canopy extent area increased by nearly 1% overall during the past two decades, with the largest increase observed in Eastern Europe, Southern Europe, and the British Isles. However, after the year 2016, the tree canopy extent in Europe declined. Some regions reduced their tree canopy extent between 2001 and 2021, with the highest reduction observed in Fennoscandia (3.5% net decrease). The continental extent of tall tree canopy forests (>= 15 m height) decreased by 3% from 2001 to 2021. The recent decline in tree canopy extent agrees with the FAO statistics on timber harvesting intensification and with the increasing extent and severity of natural disturbances. The observed decreasing tree canopy height indicates a reduction in forest carbon storage capacity in Europe

The Global 2000-2020 Land Cover and Land Use Change Dataset Derived From the Landsat Archive: First Results

Recent advances in Landsat archive data processing and characterization enhanced our capacity to map land cover and land use globally with higher precision, temporal frequency, and thematic detail. Here, we present the first results from a project aimed at annual multidecadal land monitoring providing critical information for tracking global progress towards sustainable development. The global 30-m spatial resolution dataset quantifies changes in forest extent and height, cropland, built-up lands, surface water, and perennial snow and ice extent from the year 2000 to 2020. Landsat Analysis Ready Data served as an input for land cover and use mapping. Each thematic product was independently derived using locally and regionally calibrated machine learning tools. Thematic maps validation using a statistical sample of reference data confirmed their high accuracy (user’s and producer’s accuracies above 85% for all land cover and land use themes, except for built-up lands). Our results revealed dramatic changes in global land cover and land use over the past 20 years. The bitemporal dataset is publicly available and serves as a first input for the global land monitoring system

Priority science can accelerate agroforestry as a natural climate solution

The expansion of agroforestry could provide substantial climate change mitigation (up to 0.31 Pg C yr−1), comparable to other prominent natural climate solutions such as reforestation. Yet, climate-focused agroforestry efforts grapple with ambiguity about which agroforestry actions provide mitigation, uncertainty about the magnitude of that mitigation and inability to reliably track progress. In this Perspective, we define agroforestry as a natural climate solution, discuss current understanding of the controls on farm-scale mitigation potential and highlight recent innovation on emergent, high-resolution remote sensing methods to enable detection, measurement and monitoring. We also assess the status of agroforestry in the context of global climate ambitions, highlighting regions of underappreciated expansion opportunity and identifying priorities for policy and praxis

Forest Cover Change in Southeast Asia - Regional Change Pattern

The document provides an overview on the present pattern of forest change in Southeast Asia at a regional scale. Areas of forest change were identified and approximately delineated by a team of national and regional experts. This was done in the context of sub-regional workshops, held in Vientiane (Laos) and Jakarta (Indonesia) in the beginning of 2007. The main processes of forest change are described, providing indications on the time scale, intensity and the main causes for the change. The regional change pattern established from this information shows that most of the accessible forests in Southeast Asia, and specifically the lowland forests, are experiencing change. The most evident cause of forest loss is the conversion of forest to cash crop plantations. The establishment of timber plantations and timber exploitation, including illegal logging, are responsible for considerable change of forest canopies and structure. The geographical layer established from this information will serve for stratification of the region’s forest cover, to be used for a remote sensing based sampling in the context of regional forest monitoring. It can also provide useful background information for regional forest and conservation strategies.JRC.H.3-Global environement monitorin

Reconciling Oil Palm Expansion and Climate Change Mitigation in Kalimantan, Indonesia

<div><p>Our society faces the pressing challenge of increasing agricultural production while minimizing negative consequences on ecosystems and the global climate. Indonesia, which has pledged to reduce greenhouse gas (GHG) emissions from deforestation while doubling production of several major agricultural commodities, exemplifies this challenge. Here we focus on palm oil, the world’s most abundant vegetable oil and a commodity that has contributed significantly to Indonesia’s economy. Most oil palm expansion in the country has occurred at the expense of forests, resulting in significant GHG emissions. We examine the extent to which land management policies can resolve the apparently conflicting goals of oil palm expansion and GHG mitigation in Kalimantan, a major oil palm growing region of Indonesia. Using a logistic regression model to predict the locations of new oil palm between 2010 and 2020 we evaluate the impacts of six alternative policy scenarios on future emissions. We estimate net emissions of 128.4–211.4 MtCO₂ yr^-1 under <i>business as usual</i> expansion of oil palm plantations. The impact of diverting new plantations to low carbon stock land depends on the design of the policy. We estimate that emissions can be reduced by 9-10% by extending the current moratorium on new concessions in primary forests and peat lands, 35% by limiting expansion on all peat and forestlands, 46% by limiting expansion to areas with moderate carbon stocks, and 55–60% by limiting expansion to areas with low carbon stocks. Our results suggest that these policies would reduce oil palm profits only moderately but would vary greatly in terms of cost-effectiveness of emissions reductions. We conclude that a carefully designed and implemented oil palm expansion plan can contribute significantly towards Indonesia’s national emissions mitigation goal, while allowing oil palm area to double.</p></div