Contribution of forest degradation in Indonesia’s GHG emissions: Profile and opportunity to improve its estimation accuracy

Abstract

The degradation of tropical forests in Indonesia is perceived to be an essential contributor to land-based greenhouse gas (GHG) emissions, in addition to deforestation. However, the impacts of forest degradation are currently understudied and poorly understood, in comparison to deforestation, which is easier to be detected and thus more ready to be quantified and monitored. In order to understand better the contributing factors of Indonesia’s GHG emissions profiles from the forestry sector as well as taking the opportunity to tackle climate change, improving knowledge on GHG emissions from forest degradation is essential. Both literature review and simulation using a carbon accounting model were used in the analysis. National emissions profile of Indonesia has been reported to the UNFCCC, in which forest degradation has been one of the sources of emissions, although its emission value tended to be underestimated and may contain high uncertainty. It is because logging and fires in secondary forests have not been fully captured as sources of emissions, as well as post-disturbance growth that potentially enhance forest carbon stocks. This study clearly shows the importance of calculating GHG emissions from forest degradation caused by anthropogenic activities (logging, fires). It is suggested that accuracy can be improved by using a system approach that occurs in the ecosystem carbon cycle through modeling that can capture the flow of carbon following the disturbance events.