Forests Recognized in Paris Agreement
Paris, France / November 30 - December 12, 2015
Representatives from 195 countries reached a historic climate change accord on December 12 at the twenty-first Conference of the Parties (COP21) to the United Nations Framework Convention on Climate Change (UNFCCC). Members of the US delegation included SilvaCarbon Steering Committee members Christine Dragisic, John Verdieck, Evan Notman, and Shira Yoffe. The Paris Agreement fully recognizes the role of land, including forests and agriculture, in addressing climate change, and contains explicit references to REDD+ (reducing emissions from deforestation and forest degradation). Forests are specifically addressed in Article 5, and other references to the land sector are found throughout the Agreement through terms like “removals,” “sinks,” and “reservoirs." Key parts of the Agreement relevant to the land sector are noted below:
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Article 5.1 (page 23) – "Parties should take action to conserve and enhance, as appropriate, sinks and reservoirs of greenhouse gases as referred to in Article 4, paragraph 1(d), of the Convention, including forests."
Article 5.2 (page 23) – “Parties are encouraged to take action to implement and support, including through results-based payments, the existing framework as set out in related guidance and decisions already agreed under the Convention for: policy approaches and positive incentives for activities relating to reducing emissions from deforestation and forest degradation, and the role of conservation, sustainable management of forests and enhancement of forest carbon stocks in developing countries; and alternative policy approaches, such as joint mitigation and adaptation approaches for the integral and sustainable management of forests, while reaffirming the importance of incentivizing, as appropriate, non-carbon benefits associated with such approaches.”
Decision paragraph 55 (page 8) – “Recognizes the importance of adequate and predictable financial resources, including for results-based payments, as appropriate, for the implementation of policy approaches and positive incentives for reducing emissions from deforestation and forest degradation, and the role of conservation, sustainable management of forests and enhancement of forest carbon stocks; as well as alternative policy approaches, such as joint mitigation and adaptation approaches for the integral and sustainable management of forests; while reaffirming the importance of non-carbon benefits associated with such approaches; encouraging the coordination of support from, inter alia, public and private, bilateral and multilateral sources, such as the Green Climate Fund, and alternative sources in accordance with relevant decisions by the Conference of the Parties;”
Other sections important for the land sector include:
- Decision paragraphs 23-24, 31-32, 38, and 92
- Article 4 (mitigation), particularly items 4.3, 4.7, 4.11, 4.13, and 4.14
- Article 6 (markets)
- Article 13 (transparency)
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Asia Regional Training in Remote Sensing for Forest Change Detection
Bangkok, Thailand / November 9-20, 2015
Countries across South and Southeast Asia are working to integrate cost-effective remote sensing tools and approaches into their national forest monitoring systems (NFMS) for a variety of purposes, including REDD+. To support those efforts, SilvaCarbon and its partners co-organized a ten-day regional training on the use of open-source software tools for processing earth observation imagery, mapping land cover, and detecting and mapping landscape changes. Participants included remote sensing and GIS specialists from forestry departments in the SilvaCarbon countries of Cambodia, Lao PDR, Nepal, and Thailand. The training focused on addressing challenges the countries currently face in preparing forestry data for their reporting to the UNFCCC and their national REDD+ Measurement, Reporting, and Verification (MRV) systems.
Results from a training evaluation survey indicate that the activity helped participants build practical skills that can be applied directly in their work. Participants particularly appreciated the training manual and materials, and the opportunity to practice using different tools in the context of their specific work areas. The training, which was the longest such event supported by SilvaCarbon in the region, also helped to identify priority needs and topics that may serve as the basis for future capacity-building efforts by SilvaCarbon and others.
The training was hosted by Thailand’s Department of National Parks and Wildlife Conservation (DNP) and made possible with support from SilvaCarbon and the European Commission Joint Research Center (EC-JRC) in collaboration with the Food and Agriculture Organization of the United Nations (FAO) and SERVIR Mekong project. The training was designed and delivered by the Remote Sensing Application Center (RSAC) of the US Forest Service (USFS), and incorporated materials developed by Boston University and open-source tools developed by FAO (Collect Earth tool) and EC-JRC (Impact tool). The materials and presentations used in the training are available in a Dropbox folder via the link below. Contact: Marija Kono, m.kono.silvacarbon@gmail.com.
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Participants and facilitators at the SilvaCarbon-supported regional training in remote sensing.
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Bangladesh Forest Mapping Capacity Development
College Park, Maryland / October-November 2015
Bangladesh is making significant progress on the development of its national forest monitoring system (NFMS) with coordinated support from SilvaCarbon and the Food and Agriculture Organization of the United Nations (FAO). During the month of October, the Global Land Analysis and Discovery Laboratory (GLAD) at the University of Maryland (UMD), a SilvaCarbon partner, hosted a team from the Bangladesh Forest Department (BFD) to help strengthen the agency’s technical capacity in forest mapping. With guidance from UMD experts, the Bangladeshi foresters were able to develop a base map of tree canopy extent in Bangladesh for the year 2000, then use the base map to generate a map of forest change for the period of 2000 to 2014. These maps will be further refined and field-verified in coming months, and will form an essential component of Bangladesh’s NFMS. Participants later demonstrated the knowledge they gained through the training to colleagues in Dhaka, including BFD’s Chief Conservator of Forests, to help promote the sustainability of Bangladesh’s forest monitoring efforts.
While in the United States, the visiting BFD team also had the opportunity to meet with National Aeronautics and Space Administration ( NASA) officials to discuss the SilvaCarbon-supported research NASA is conducting in the Sundarbans mangrove forest, a Bangadeshi protected area and UNESCO World Heritage Site. The research focuses on the use of TanDEM-X sensors in conjunction with a new technique, Pol-InSAR, for determining mangrove heights, and possibly inland forest heights to estimate country-scale biomass stocks. With SilvaCarbon support, NASA is also helping to monitor the impact of the oil spill that occurred in the Sundarbans in December 2014. NASA has acquired earth observation data of the spill-affected area and will continue monitoring the site and analyzing the data in collaboration with partners. Contact: Sasha Gottlieb, sbgottlieb@fs.fed.us. |
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Bangladeshi foresters sharing a tree canopy map they developed with UMD and USFS colleagues.
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Central Africa
Republic of Congo – Map Development
Kinshasa, Republic of Congo / September 2015
SilvaCarbon provided technical support to the Republic of Congo’s National Forest Inventory Agency (CNIAF) and the Kinshasa-based Observatoire Satellital des Forets d’Afrique Centrale (OSFAC) to assist CNIAF to produce a national multi-strata forest/non-forest map for sustainable forest management. SilvaCarbon support included hands-on training of CNIAF technical staff by spatial data and satellite imagery experts from OSFAC and UMD. The output map was officially presented at COP21 in Paris. Contact: Richard Paton, richardpaton@fs.fed.us.
Cameroon – Carbon Accounting Training Curriculum
Dschang, Cameroon / September 21-25, 2015
CBREDD, a SilvaCarbon partner program focused on climate change and REDD+ capacity-building in Central Africa, supported the development of a teaching curriculum on terrestrial carbon accounting and the delivery of a master’s-level training-of-trainers in Cameroon. The certificate program, provided by The Carbon Institute, was delivered to 27 students at the University of Dschang’s forestry school, making it the first-ever terrestrial carbon accounting curriculum developed and implemented in Central Africa. Contact: Richard Paton, richardpaton@fs.fed.us.
Latin America
Costa Rica – National Land Use and Land Cover Monitoring System Development
San Jose, Costa Rica / October 15, 2015
Costa Rica initiated the design phase of a proposed National Land Use and Land Cover Monitoring System at a kick-off meeting hosted by the Center for Geo-environmental Information, which has been designated as the entity to oversee the design and implementation of the system. Randy Hamilton, the Climate Fellow who has been closely involved in the early development of the system, outlined planned USFS capacity-building support, which includes a study tour to RSAC for Costa Rican decision makers and senior technical staff. Contact: Randy Hamilton, rhamilton.usfs@gmail.com.
Colombia – Workshop on Quantifying Carbon Pools and Fluxes in Organic Soils
Bogota and Chingaza National Park, Colombia / October 19-23, 2015
SilvaCarbon, together with the Sustainable Wetlands Adaptation and Mitigation Program (SWAMP) and Colombia's Institute of Hydrology, Meteorology, and Environmental Studies (IDEAM), conducted a week-long workshop in which three international experts led learning activities for Colombian foresters focused on measuring carbon pools and fluxes in organic soil ecosystems (e.g. paramo and lowland Amazon). The workshop included two days of classroom activities and three days of fieldwork. Contact: Craig Wayson, cwayson.silvacarbon@gmail.com.
Colombia – NFI Support
Bogota, Colombia / November 7-25, 2015
SilvaCarbon provided technical assistance to IDEAM regarding its field manual for forest inventory and quality control/quality assurance issues related to NFI design. Contact: Craig Wayson, cwayson.silvacarbon@gmail.com.
Guatemala – Technical Support for Guatemala Forest Monitoring Group
Guatemala City, Guatemala / November 10-11, 2015
South America SilvaCarbon Coordinator, Craig Wayson, met with the Guatemalan Inter-institutional Group on Forest and Land Use Monitoring (GIMBUT) to review their forest and carbon mapping projects and proposals and identify potential areas of future SilvaCarbon capacity-building support. In December, Wayson and FAO-Mexico consultant Oswaldo Carrillo will work with GIMBUT on its methodology for calculating uncertainty levels for carbon mapping. Contact: Oscar Lai, oscaralai@fs.fed.us.
Regional Workshop on Methodologies for Monitoring Forest Change
San Salvador, El Salvador / November 18-20, 2015
SilvaCarbon expert Andy Lister from USFS participated in a Latin America regional workshop on early warning systems for monitoring forest change. The workshop convened participants from thirteen Central and South American countries to examine available methodologies, share experiences, and identify future needs and opportunities for collaboration. Contact: Oscar Lai, oscaralai@fs.fed.us.
South and Southeast Asia
Regional Training on Landsat Data Handling and Land Cover Classification
Bangkok, Thailand / October 26-30, 2015
In a training workshop conducted by SilvaCarbon partners from the Land Cover for Climate Change (LC4Climate) program and SERVIR-Mekong project, 28 participants from the Lower Mekong region learned about Landsat data products and how they can be used for land cover and water mapping. The training included sessions on Collect Earth. Contact: Marija Kono, m.kono.silvacarbon@gmail.com.
Vietnam – NFI Data Collection and Analysis Tools
Hanoi and Ba Vi National Park, Vietnam / November 16-22, 2015
Sixteen technicians from Vietnam’s Forest Inventory and Planning Institute (FIPI) participated in a workshop with field exercises to examine the use of two key technologies for collecting and analyzing forest inventory field data. Participants explored the advantages and disadvantages of using mobile personal data recorders (PDRs) in conjunction with SIBP2, a forest inventory data processing and estimation software tool. The activity was facilitated by Asdrúbal Calderón, a forestry expert and lead developer of SIBP2. Contact: Vo Viet Cuong, cuong.silvacarbon@gmail.com.
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Central Africa
Democratic Republic of Congo – Remote Sensing Study Tour
Kinshasa, DRC / January 2016
Several members of OSFAC, a leading geospatial data processing institution in Central Africa, will travel to the RSAC in Utah for a two-week study tour to help strengthen OSFAC’s institutional and management structure. OSFAC senior technical and management officials will be exposed to technical and management approaches used by RSAC to provide similar fee-based services in the United States. Contact: Alex Neidermeier, anneidermeier@fs.fed.us.
Latin America
Support for Intensive Carbon Monitoring Sites
Ecuador and Mexico / December 2015
SilvaCarbon continues to support the development of intensive carbon monitoring sites in Ecuador, Colombia, and Mexico to help advance progress toward Tier 3 greenhouse gas (GHG) reporting. In December, USFS experts will install instrumentation for an eddy covariance tower at the Tiputini Scientific Station in Ecuador, and lead a workshop on flux tower security procedures in Tapachula, Mexico. Contact: Craig Wayson, cwayson.silvacarbon@gmail.com.
South and Southeast Asia
Bangladesh – NFI Field Manual Development
Dhaka, Bangladesh / January 2016
USFS expert Heather Hayden will work with counterparts at BFD to produce a forest inventory field manual tailored to the country’s needs. Contact: Sasha Gottlieb, sbgottlieb@fs.fed.us.
Bangladesh – Workshop on Global Land Cover / OpenForis Database System
Dhaka, Bangladesh / February 2016
UMD and FAO will co-lead a workshop on the use of the OpenForis database for forest inventory, integrating remote sensing data. Contact: Sasha Gottlieb, sbgottlieb@fs.fed.us.
5th GFOI Regional Technical Workshop on Accuracy Assessment
The Philippines / January 25-29
GFOI and SilvaCarbon are planning a regional workshop for South and Southeast Asia to increase understanding of good practice guidance for uncertainty analysis, improve accuracy assessment and area estimates, and help countries apply this knowledge to existing forest/non-forest maps used for GHG reporting. With support from FAO and SilvaCarbon, the workshop will review current efforts to assess the accuracy of existing maps in the region. Contact: Sylvia Wilson, snwilson@usgs.gov.
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About SilvaCarbon
SilvaCarbon is a US-led multi-agency technical cooperation program to build capacity worldwide in measuring, monitoring, and managing forest and terrestrial carbon. SilvaCarbon helps advance REDD+ and other climate change mitigation and development initiatives by working with technical teams at government agencies in partner countries to design and implement credible landscape monitoring systems and GHG inventories that feed into international reporting frameworks such as the UNFCCC. Drawing on the strengths of eight US Government agencies, the Global Forest Observations Initiative ( GFOI), and diverse partners, SilvaCarbon engages 25 tropical countries through a combination of bilateral, regional, and global-level capacity-building activities. Funding for SilvaCarbon is provided primarily by the US Agency for International Development (USAID) and US Department of State, with additional contributions from other agencies and USAID Missions in partner countries. |
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