Abstract
BackgroundDeveloping countries participating in the mitigation mechanism of reducing emissions from deforestation and forest degradation (REDD+), are required to establish a forest reference emission level (FREL), if they wish to seek financial support to reduce carbon emissions from deforestation and forest degradation. However, establishment of FREL relies heavily on the accurate estimates of carbon stock as one of the input variable for computation of the emission factors (EFs). The product of an EF and activity data, such as the area of deforestation, results in the total emissions needed for establishment of FREL. This study presents the carbon stock estimates for different land cover classes based on an analysis of Tanzania’s national forest inventory data generated through the National Forest Resources Monitoring and Assessment (NAFORMA).ResultsCarbon stocks were estimated in three carbon pools, namely aboveground, belowground, and deadwood for each of the three land cover classes (i.e. Forest, non-forest, and wetland). The weighted average carbon stock was 33.35 t C ha−1 for forest land, 4.28 t ha−1 for wetland and 5.81 t ha−1 for non-forest land. The uncertainty values were 0.9% for forest land, 11.3% for wetland and 1.8% for non-forest land. Average carbon stocks for land cover sub-classes, which make up the above mentioned major land cover classes, are also presented in our study.ConclusionsThe values presented in this paper correspond to IPCC tier 3 and can be used for carbon estimation at the national scale for the respective major primary vegetation type for various purposes including REDD+. However, if local based estimates values are needed, the use of auxiliary data to enhance the precision of the area of interest is recommended.
Highlights
Developing countries participating in the mitigation mechanism of reducing emissions from deforestation and forest degradation (REDD+), are required to establish a forest reference emission level (FREL), if they wish to seek financial support to reduce carbon emissions from deforestation and forest degradation
Forest reference emission level (FREL) being among the four key elements of the REDD+ is defined as the benchmark for carbon emissions against which a country’s performance in implementing REDD+ activities can be assessed and credited [1]
Estimation of carbon emission as key variables for setting up FREL, requires information on activity data (AD) which refers to the area of forest change, e.g., forest converted to grassland or forest converted to cropland and Emission Factors (EF) which relates to the carbon stock change estimations per unit of activity [6, 7]
Summary
Developing countries participating in the mitigation mechanism of reducing emissions from deforestation and forest degradation (REDD+), are required to establish a forest reference emission level (FREL), if they wish to seek financial support to reduce carbon emissions from deforestation and forest degradation. In order to effectively implement REDD+ at the national level, countries are required to develop four key components if they aim to undertake REDD+ activities and to be eligible for financial compensation [5]: (1) a national strategy or action plan; (2) a national forest reference emission level (FREL) and/or forest reference level (FRL); (3) a robust and transparent national forest monitoring system for Measurement, Reporting and Verification (MRV) of the REDD+ activities; and (4) a system for providing information on how the safeguards are addressed or respected. Higher Tier methods require more data and are more expensive, because they involve monitoring of local variables [8] This causes a challenge to many of the REDD+ countries due to the lack of the data from continuous National Forest Inventories (NFI) which can support estimation of EF using higher Tier approaches
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