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If we cannot define it, we cannot save it: defining Forests for REDD success

The definition of “forest” could become a major bottleneck in the implementation of a climate agreement. The progression of concepts — from RED to REDD to REDD+ to REDD++ — reflects a tendency to include a larger share of total land-use change. The logical end point is to account for all land use: Reducing Emissions from Any Land Use (or across all land uses) or REALU. This is equivalent to taking account of emisisons from Agriculture, Forestry and Other Land Uses (AFOLU). A comprehensive whole-landscape approach can likely incorporate trees outside forests, agroforestry systems and community-based forest management.

Source: van Noordwijk M and Minang PA. 2009. “If we cannot define it, we cannot save it”. European Tropical Forest Research Network (ETFRN) NEWS 50: Forests and Climate Change. November 2009. Tropenbos International, Wageningen, The Netherlands. Available at: http://www.etfrn.org/etfrn/newsletter/news50/index.html

Uganda Registers First African Forestry Project under CDM

The first African reforestation project to be registered under the Clean Development Mechanism (CDM) is being undertaken by Uganda’s National Forestry Authority, in association with local community organizations.

The Nile Basin Reforestation Project will receive revenues from the World Bank BioCarbon Fund for carbon dioxide absorbed by a growing plantation of pine and mixed native tree species in the Rwoho Central Forest Reserve, grasslands that were degraded due to deforestation and erosion.

via Uganda Registers First African Forestry Project under CDM – Climate-L.org.

First steps for taking stock of Africa’s biocarbon

How can African countries turn their agricultural and forest lands into a carbon asset? On September 10 and 11, the World Agroforestry Centre convened 30 scientists from the Common Market for East and Southern Africa (COMESA) region, and the rest of Africa, to discuss the scientific evidence for Africa’s biocarbon. The workshop was organized in partnership with the COMESA Africa Biocarbon Initiative, and aimed to assess current evidence and research gaps for climate change mitigation and adaptation in agriculture and forests. The scientists also proposed next steps for Africa to benefit from its biocarbon resources, via global carbon markets.

Studies were done in Kenya, Tanzania, Uganda and Rwanda, to assess on the status of climate change mitigation and adaptation in agriculture and forests. The workshop provided a forum for African experts to provide feedback on those studies. Overall, the studies found that there is evidence of climate change in all of the countries, and that all the countries are experiencing an impact on the agricultural sector and rural economies. However, quantitative data on standing forests and carbon stocks in these countries is in short supply, as is data on  land use change over time.  The scientists suggested that these countries are facing challenges in attracting more carbon mitigation projects due to the lack of reliable data to present to the government, inadequate technology and skills, and insufficient access to finances.

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The logging industry’s vested REDD interests

Claims that industrial logging can play a role in “sustainable forest management” in tropical forests appear to be based on faith and vested interests rather than on facts or scientific evidence, says the NGO Global Witness in a new report.

provide a tool for adaptation to climate change, ending logging in natural tropical forests, including under the guise of sustainable forest management, must be part of the solution.These vested interests are driving attempts to include “sustainable logging” within the scope of activities eligible for REDD benefits, while at the same time arguing for recognition of “harvested wood products” (HWP) as carbon stores. A simple life cycle analysis exposes the HWP argument as a myth, showing that the amount of carbon stored in wood products derived from natural tropical forests is negligible compared with the total emissions they entail. Most importantly though, the facts demonstrate that industrial logging in natural tropical forests is fundamentally incompatible with the goals of REDD. If REDD is to deliver meaningful and lasting reductions in emissions and

Read more: Vested Interests – Industrial logging and carbon in tropical forests (PDF)

Forest Day 3, 13 December 2009, Copenhagen, Denmark.

13 December 2009

2009 is possibly the most important year for forests in living memory. We are in the final stretch of the road to Copenhagen, and COP 15, where negotiators expect to finalise a post-Kyoto global climate agreement in December. To coincide with the conference, CIFOR, the Collaborative Partnership on Forests (CPF) and the Government of Denmark will host Forest Day 3. Forest Day 3 will build on the success of Forest Day 1 and 2 in helping to ensure forests are high on the agenda for future climate outcomes, and will pave the way forward in making these outcomes work beyond Copenhagen.

More: Forest Day 3