Direct Measurement of Forest Degradation Rates in Malawi: Toward a National Forest Monitoring System to Support REDD+

David L Skole,Daud Kachamba,Judith Kamoto,Cheikh Mbow,Tangu Tumeo,Alfred Chioza,Michael Chirwa,Francis Kamangadazi,Jay H Samek,Dan Ndalowa

doi:10.3390/f12040426

Abstract

Spatial time-series measurements of forest degradation rates are important for estimating national greenhouse gas emissions but have been challenging for open forests and woodlands. This lack of quantitative data on forest degradation rates, location and biomass is an important constraint to developing national REDD+ policy. In Malawi, and in most countries in Africa, most assessments of forest cover change for carbon emissions monitoring tend to report only deforestation in the public forest estate managed by the government, even when important forest degradation also occurs in agricultural areas, such as customary forests and other tree-based systems. This study has resulted in: (a) a new robust forest map for Malawi, (b) spatial and quantitative measurements of both forest degradation and deforestation, and (c) a demonstration of the approach through the introduction of a tool that maps across the broad landscape of forests and trees outside of forests. The results can be used to support REDD+ National Forest Monitoring Systems. This analysis produces new estimates of landscape-wide deforestation rates between 2000–2009 (22,410 ha yr−1) and 2009–2015 (38,937 ha yr−1). We further produce new estimates of the rate of forest degradation between 2000–2009 (42,961 ha yr−1) and 2009–2015 (71,878 ha yr−1). The contribution of these new tools and estimates to capacities for calculating carbon emissions are important, increasing prospects for full REDD+ readiness across semi-arid Africa.

Highlights

IntroductionThe lack of quantitative spatial information on forest degradation is an important gap in our understanding of anthropogenic forest disturbance throughout the tropics, but especially in tropical woodlands and other sparse tree ecosystems [1,2]
Included are forest reserves, other protected areas such as game parks and national parks, village forest areas, community woodlots, other tree covers in agricultural areas, and clusters of trees outside of forests in customary lands
In spite of recent claims that Malawi has the highest rate of deforestation in Southern Africa [57], we find almost no consistent and comprehensive data on the national deforestation rates and location

Summary

Introduction

The lack of quantitative spatial information on forest degradation is an important gap in our understanding of anthropogenic forest disturbance throughout the tropics, but especially in tropical woodlands and other sparse tree ecosystems [1,2]. Forest disturbances by human activities in tropical forests and woodlands occur as a gradient of severity, from complete forest conversion to various degrees of degradation within forests. While deforestation results in complete change from forest cover to another land cover, degradation occurs without removal of the forest canopy nor as a change in the land cover [4,5,6]. The Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change (IPCC) has established a definition of forest degradation [5,6,7], as the loss of ecosystem properties such as biomass or carbon stocks. Deforestation is the conversion of forest to non-forest land and can result in land degradation” [7]

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