Tropical Forest Loss Research Articles

Early warning tropical forest loss alerts in Peru using Landsat

Since March 16, 2017, the National Forest Conservation Program for Climate Change Mitigation (PNCBMCC) of Peru’s Ministry of the Environment (MINAM) has been implementing a methodology to detect early warning alerts of humid tropical forest cover loss in Peru using data from the Landsat 7 and 8 satellites. The method uses Direct Spectral Unmixing (DSU) to detect forest loss as small as 25% of a pixel. Between March 16 and December 25 of 2017, 500 Landsat images have been used to detect 137,143 hectares of humid tropical forest cover loss, including deforestation for agricultural expansion and illegal or informal extractive activities, such as the opening of roads for selective logging. Natural forest loss was also detected, produced by windstorms and landslides in mountainous areas, among others. The results were verified with high-resolution satellite images and the accuracy was evaluated using a stratified random sample, showing a high level of both user’s and producer’s accuracy. The early warning alerts are distributed and available through the Geobosques platform (http://geobosques.minam.gob.pe).

Degradation and forgone removals increase the carbon impact of intact forest loss by 626.

Intact tropical forests, free from substantial anthropogenic influence, store and sequester large amounts of atmospheric carbon but are currently neglected in international climate policy. We show that between 2000 and 2013, direct clearance of intact tropical forest areas accounted for 3.2% of gross carbon emissions from all deforestation across the pantropics. However, full carbon accounting requires the consideration of forgone carbon sequestration, selective logging, edge effects, and defaunation. When these factors were considered, the net carbon impact resulting from intact tropical forest loss between 2000 and 2013 increased by a factor of 6 (626%), from 0.34 (0.37 to 0.21) to 2.12 (2.85 to 1.00) petagrams of carbon (equivalent to approximately 2 years of global land use change emissions). The climate mitigation value of conserving the 549 million ha of tropical forest that remains intact is therefore significant but will soon dwindle if their rate of loss continues to accelerate.

Forest dependence is more than forest income: Development of a new index of forest product collection and livelihood resources

Abstract Across the tropics, in both forested and agricultural landscapes, many households are highly dependent on forest resources. Small-holder farmers, many with few alternatives, collect fuelwood, building materials, wild foods, medicinal plants, and other forest products for subsistence or sale. Given continued tropical forest loss coupled with household forest dependence, quantifying levels of forest dependence is important for informing approaches to poverty alleviation and forest conservation. Forest dependence is largely measured using a relative forest income (RFI) approach, notably in the global analysis by the Poverty Environment Network of the Center for International Forestry Research. This approach ascribes monetary values to forest products, which may be unsuitable for contexts where households primarily consume rather than sell forest goods, and which does not address other burdens on households of relying on forest products (e.g., time use). In this paper, we introduce a new Forest Dependence Index (FDI), which measures (at the household level) forest products collected, effort involved in forest product collection, asset-based relative wealth, and non-forest livelihood strategies. Using a case study in Malawi, a country with high rates of poverty and forest ecosystem change, we: 1) demonstrate the FDI and its application; 2) compare the FDI to RFI; and 3) assess how the sub-indices contribute nuance to the FDI values. We calculate the FDI for agricultural communities in southern Malawi using household surveys that we conducted on income, assets and use of all forest products (e.g., amounts collected, walking time to collection sites). We show that the majority of households had intermediate FDI but low RFI values. We demonstrate how households can have the same RFI yet varying FDI values. Ultimately, we show that the FDI provides insight into multiple livelihood aspects of dependence and is a valuable addition to the RFI method for informing forest-based poverty alleviation strategies.

Cassava mealybug biological control delivers multi-faceted societal benefits

As core component of sustainable intensification, biological control constitutes a tailor-made solution for the long-term management of both endemic and invasive pests. Here, drawing upon the example of the cassava mealybug ( Phenacoccus manihoti ; Hemiptera), we illuminate the myriad benefits of insect biological control. In 2008, the above mealybug invaded Asia, where it inflicted a 27% drop in aggregate cassava production and triggered a 260% surge in starch prices. Mealybug-induced shocks in Thailand's cassava output were offset by a 300,000-ha expansion of the agricultural frontier–accompanied with major loss of intact tropical forest. Mealybug outbreaks were permanently resolved through the release of the neotropical wasp Anagyrus lopezi (Hymenoptera). This minute parasitoid effectively suppressed P. manihoti at a continent-wide scale, restored food security, and delivered pest control services worth US$ 200–700/ha. This same parasitic wasp had previously averted famine for ∼ 20 million people in Africa. Our work emphasizes how beneficial (pest-controlling) insects help meet food production needs while benefiting farmers’ pockets, global commodity trade, and the environment.

Think local when protecting forests

Conservation Tropical deforestation, which causes habitat loss, worsens climate change, and affects local communities, is an issue of global importance. In a Perspective, Seymour and Harris explore the drivers that contribute to tropical forest loss in South America, Southeast Asia, and Africa. For example, cattle ranching dominates in the Brazilian Amazon, whereas small-scale clearing is most important in the Congo Basin. The authors caution against a reliance on commitments to remove deforestation from commodity supply chains and argue that to be effective, policies must be adapted to local circumstances. Science , this issue p. [756][1] [1]: /lookup/doi/10.1126/science.aax8546

Intact Forests in the United States: Proforestation Mitigates Climate Change and Serves the Greatest Good

Climate change and loss of biodiversity are widely recognized as the foremost environmental challenges of our time. Forests annually sequester large quantities of atmospheric carbon dioxide (CO2), and store carbon above and below ground for long periods of time. Intact forests – largely free from human intervention except primarily for trails and hazard removals - are the most carbon-dense and biodiverse terrestrial ecosystems, with additional benefits to society and the economy. Internationally, focus has been on preventing loss of tropical forests, yet U.S. temperate and boreal forests remove sufficient atmospheric CO2 to reduce national annual net emissions by 11%. U.S. forests have the potential for much more rapid atmospheric CO2 removal rates and biological carbon sequestration by intact and/or older forests. The recent 1.5 Degree Warming Report by the Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change identifies reforestation and afforestation as important strategies to increase negative emissions, but they face significant challenges: afforestation requires an enormous amount of additional land, and neither strategy can remove sufficient carbon by growing young trees during the critical next decade(s). In contrast, growing existing forests intact to their ecological potential – termed proforestation – is a more effective, immediate and low-cost approach that could be mobilized across suitable forests of all types. Proforestation serves the greatest public good by maximizing co-benefits such as nature-based biological carbon sequestration and unparalleled ecosystem services such as biodiversity enhancement, water and air quality, flood and erosion control, public health benefits, low impact recreation and scenic beauty.

Combining Global Remote Sensing Products with Hydrological Modeling to Measure the Impact of Tropical Forest Loss on Water-Based Ecosystem Services

In the Lower Mekong River Basin (LMB), deforestation rates are some of the highest in the world as land is converted primarily into intensive agriculture and plantations. While this has been a key for the region’s economic development, rural populations dependent on the freshwater water resources that support their fishing and agriculture industries are increasingly vulnerable to the impacts of flood, drought and non-point source pollution. Impacts of deforestation on ecosystem services (ES) including hydrological ES that control the availability and quality of fresh water across the landscape, regulating floods and droughts, soil erosion and non-point source pollution are known. Despite this understanding at the hillslope level, few studies have been able to quantify the impact of wide-scale deforestation on larger tropical watersheds. This study introduces a new methodology to quantify the impact of deforestation on water-based ES in the LMB with a focus on Cambodia by combining spatial datasets on forest loss from remote sensing and spatially-explicit hydrological modeling. Numerous global and regional remote sensing products are synthesized to develop detailed land use change maps for 2001 to 2013 for the LMB, which are then used as inputs into a hydrological model to develop unique spatial datasets that map ES changes due to deforestation across the LMB. The results point to a clear correlation between forest loss and surface runoff, with a weaker but upward trending relationship between forest loss and sediment yield. This resulted in increased river discharge for 17 of the 22 watersheds, and increased sediment for all 22 watersheds. While there is considerable variability between watersheds, these results could be helpful for prioritizing interventions to decrease deforestation by highlighting which areas have experienced the greatest change in water-based ES provision. These results are also presented in a web-based platform called the Watershed Ecosystem Service Tool.

Ecological restoration as a strategy for mitigating and adapting to climate change: lessons and challenges from Brazil

Climate change is a global phenomenon that affects biophysical systems and human well-being. The Paris Agreement of the United Nations Framework Convention on Climate Change entered into force in 2016 with the objective of strengthening the global response to climate change by keeping global temperature rise this century well below 2 °C above pre-industrial levels and to pursue efforts to limit the temperature increase even further to 1.5 °C. The agreement requires all Parties to submit their “nationally determined contributions” (NDCs) and to strengthen these efforts in the years ahead. Reducing carbon emissions from deforestation and forest degradation is an important strategy for mitigating climate change, particularly in developing countries with large forests. Extensive tropical forest loss and degradation have increased awareness at the international level of the need to undertake large-scale ecological restoration, highlighting the need to identify cases in which restoration strategies can contribute to mitigation and adaptation. Here we consider Brazil as a case study to evaluate the benefits and challenges of implementing large-scale restoration programs in developing countries. The Brazilian NDC included the target of restoring and reforesting 12 million hectares of forests for multiple uses by 2030. Restoration of native vegetation is one of the foundations of sustainable rural development in Brazil and should consider multiple purposes, from biodiversity and ecosystem services conservation to social and economic development. However, ecological restoration still presents substantial challenges for tropical and mega-diverse countries, including the need to develop plans that are technically and financially feasible, as well as public policies and monitoring instruments that can assess effectiveness. The planning, execution, and monitoring of restoration efforts strongly depend on the context and the diagnosis of the area with respect to reference ecosystems (e.g., forests, savannas, grasslands, wetlands). In addition, poor integration of climate change policies at the national and subnational levels and with other sectorial policies constrains the large-scale implementation of restoration programs. The case of Brazil shows that slowing deforestation is possible; however, this analysis highlights the need for increased national commitment and international support for actions that require large-scale transformations of the forest sector regarding ecosystem restoration efforts. Scaling up the ambitions and actions of the Paris Agreement implies the need for a global framework that recognizes landscape restoration as a cost-effective nature-based solution and that supports countries in addressing their remaining needs, challenges, and barriers.

Assessing the potential of community-based forestry programs in Panama

Community-based forestry (CBF) policies have been widely adopted as potentially-effective sustainable natural resource management strategies. Since communities can have local knowledge and a stake in the long-term sustainability of the resource base, CBF is thought to produce better social and environmental outcomes. In practice, though, successful implementation has been inconsistent. Panama, a country experiencing widespread degradation and loss of tropical forests and high rates of rural poverty, has been identified as potentially benefiting from CBF programs. As a result, prominent forest policy actors have been piloting CBF projects to assess the potential for upscaling. This paper reports on these initiatives and reflects on Panama's readiness to support widespread CBF program adoption. Using empirical data collected through key informant interviews, document analysis and observation, we apply an analytical framework originally developed for the Food and Agriculture Organization of the United Nations (FAO) that identifies six “keys” that a country must possess to remove the major impediments to robust CBF. Based on our case study analysis, none of the keys to effective CBF could be assessed as fully present in Panama, and a seventh potential key labelled ‘Economic Viability’ was identified to assess market competitiveness and economic sustainability. Our results suggest that CBF's ability to drive sustainable rural development and forest conservation in Panama is likely limited. However, a dynamic policy environment and supportive government also suggest that the keys to effective CBF can be attained with time and effort.

Effective moratoria on land acquisitions reduce tropical deforestation: evidence from Indonesia

The tropics have suffered substantial forest loss, and elevated deforestation rates have been closely linked to large-scale land acquisitions (LSLA). Having a timely and accurate understanding of global LSLA pattern will be critically important for concluding related policies and actions. Here, we investigate global LSLA networks and find that land acquisitions are characterized by dominant acquisition flows from the developing to the developed world (75.4%), and less of these flows are retained within the developing world (22.8%) or the developed world (1.8%). Policy-driven moratoria on existing LSLA are a key mechanism used to minimize global forest loss and recently employed in Indonesia, however their effectiveness remains unclear given a lack of quantitative synthesis. Based on a spatially-explicit temporal analysis of forest loss from 2001–2017, we find that, as a whole of Indonesia, the increased forest loss rate of 0.091 Mha yr−1 (2001–2011) slowed down to 0.001 Mha yr−1 (2012–2017) after moratoria established in 2011. Meanwhile, based on a comparison of annual forest loss in logging, timber, and oil palm concessions, we find that land concessions outside the moratorium experienced 35%–396% higher rates of forest loss than in comparable land concessions within the moratorium. Decreased forest loss from full implementation of moratoria on all land concessions could mitigate a maximum aboveground biomass carbon emission of 112 888 ± 24 766 Mg C yr−1, which is a nearly 41.89% reduction relative to the counterfactual scenario of no moratorium. These findings lend support for international cooperation and collective action to put into practice effective land moratoria to reverse decade-long trajectories of tropical forest loss.

Unravelling the link between global rubber price and tropical deforestation in Cambodia.

Tropical forests continue to undergo a rapid transformation. The expansion of rubber tree (Hevea brasiliensis) plantations has been reported as a major driver of forest loss, linked to a boom in market demand. Distant commodity markets have spurred a surge of large-scale economic land concessions granted throughout tropical Southeast Asia. Using satellite imagery, we show the impact of rubber tree plantations on Cambodian forest cover and analyse how annual forest-to-rubber conversion rates relate to global rubber prices from 2001 to 2015. We found that 23.5 ± 1.8% of national forest cover was cleared in this period, with 23.2 ± 3.6% of cleared forest converted to rubber plantations. Annual forest-to-rubber conversion rates closely correlated with global rubber prices, with a time lag of 8-9 months (Pearson's r = 0.93). Our results reveal a strong link between global commodity markets and tropical forest loss, particularly in countries with land policies geared towards rapid development.

“Embodied Deforestation” as a New EU Policy Debate to Tackle Tropical Forest Loss: Assessing Implications for REDD+ Performance

The need to tackle international drivers of deforestation has long been acknowledged; but remains little addressed via policy measures. In the European Union (EU), a new policy debate is emerging around the concept of “embodied deforestation”, which targets EU agricultural commodity imports as drivers of deforestation. The notion views deforestation as an externality generated by EU imports associated with tropical deforestation. Our article examines whether this concept represents a shift in tackling international-level drivers of tropical deforestation within EU policy. We also examine, from a networked governance perspective, whether this new debate fuels further fragmentation or rather a move towards a more integrated approach to combating tropical forest loss within EU policy, and what the implications are for other initiatives, such as the climate change related “reducing emissions from deforestation and forest degradation” (REDD+). Our analysis draws on an extensive analysis of EU policy documents and semi-structured interviews with stakeholders and EU decision-makers. We find that, despite growing debate around the concept of embodied deforestation, policy measures necessary to reduce the impact of EU consumption of agricultural commodities associated with tropical deforestation have not yet been developed. We conclude that “embodied deforestation” remains more an idea than reality within EU policy to date, with the burden of responsibility for addressing international deforestation drivers still largely remaining on developing countries. There is still potential, however, for this debate to lead to a more integrated approach to tackling tropical deforestation within EU policy, if it comes to be seen, together with REDD+, as one of a number of linked approaches to EU efforts to combat deforestation.

Monitoring tropical forest degradation using spectral unmixing and Landsat time series analysis

Tropical forest loss currently contributes 5 to 15% of anthropogenic carbon emissions to the atmosphere. The large uncertainty in emissions estimates is a consequence of many factors, including differences in definitions of forests and degradation, as well as estimation methodologies. However, a primary factor driving uncertainty is an inability to properly account for forest degradation. While remote sensing offers the only practical way of monitoring forest disturbances over large areas, and despite recent improvements in data quality and quantity and processing techniques, remote sensing approaches are still limited in their ability to detect forest degradation. In this paper, a system is presented that uses time series of Landsat data and spectral mixture analysis to detect both degradation and deforestation in forested landscapes. The Landsat data are transformed into spectral endmember fractions and are used to calculate the Normalized Degradation Fraction Index (NDFI; Souza et al., 2005). The spectrally unmixed data are used for disturbance monitoring and land cover classification via time series analysis. To assess the performance of the system, maps of deforestation and degradation were used to stratify the study area for collection of sample data to which unbiased estimators were applied to produce accuracy and area estimates of degradation and deforestation from 1990 to 2013. The approach extends previous research in spectral mixture analysis for identifying forest degradation to the temporal domain. The method was applied using the Google Earth Engine and tested in the Brazilian State of Rondônia. Degradation and deforestation were mapped with 88.0% and 93.3% User's Accuracy, and 68.1% and 85.3% Producer's Accuracy. Area estimates of degradation and deforestation were produced with margins of error of 13.9% and 5.3%, respectively, over the 24 year time period. These results indicate that for Rondônia a decreasing trend in deforestation after 2004 corresponds to an increase in degradation during the same time period.

STUDI PENYIMPANAN ENERGI PADA BATERAI PLTS

The use of fossil fuels such as petroleum, coal and others as a fuel for conventional plants has an impact on the environment. Environmental impacts that occur such as environmental pollution from the greenhouse effect (greenhouse effect) that causes global warming, acid rain, the destruction of the ozone layer to the loss of tropical forests. With the condition of the need for renewable energy in the fossil energy era is running thinning at this time making the use of solar energy to meet human needs for energy to be the right choice. The use of solar energy becomes an option because of the nature of the source of solar energy that will not run out, and its easy use and application compared to other renewable energy sources. PLTS maintenance support becomes very important when PLTS has been installed. In Solar Power Generation, energy storage systems need special attention because they involve continuous energy availability especially during cloudy or late night when there is no sunlight. In this research will be discussed about the study of energy storage on PLTS battery. This characteristic is influenced by several things such as weather conditions and duration of irradiation on an area that affect the value of light intensity, voltage (V), current (I) and power that can be caused. From the research found that installed solar panels can generate power 1553,82 watts for 9 hours of solar radiation for one day.

Analyses of Land Cover Change Trajectories Leading to Tropical Forest Loss: Illustrated for the West Kutai and Mahakam Ulu Districts, East Kalimantan, Indonesia

In Indonesia, land cover change for agriculture and mining is threatening tropical forests, biodiversity and ecosystem services. However, land cover change is highly dynamic and complex and varies over time and space. In this study, we combined Landsat-based land cover (change) mapping, pixel-to-pixel cross tabulations and expert knowledge to analyze land cover change and forest loss in the West Kutai and Mahakam Ulu districts in East Kalimantan from 1990–2009. We found that about one-third of the study area changed in 1990–2009 and that the different types of land cover changes in the study area increased and involved more diverse and characteristic trajectories in 2000–2009, compared to 1990–2000. Degradation to more open forest types was dominant, and forest was mostly lost due to trajectories that involved deforestation to grasslands and shrubs (~17%), and to a lesser extent due to trajectories from forest to mining and agriculture (11%). Trajectories from forest to small-scale mixed cropland and smallholder rubber occurred more frequently than trajectories to large-scale oil palm or pulpwood plantations; however, the latter increased over time. About 11% of total land cover change involved multiple-step trajectories and thus “intermediate” land cover types. The combined trajectory analysis in this paper thus contributes to a more comprehensive analysis of land cover change and the drivers of forest loss, which is essential to improve future land cover projections and to support spatial planning.

Lower land-use emissions responsible for increased net land carbon sink during the slow warming period

The terrestrial carbon sink accelerated during 1998-2012, concurrently with the slow warming period, but the mechanisms behind this acceleration are unclear. Here we analyse recent changes in the net land carbon sink (NLS) and its driving factors, using atmospheric inversions and terrestrial carbon models. We show that the linear trend of NLS during 1998-2012 is about 0.17 +/- 0.05 Pg C yr(-2), which is three times larger than during 1980-1998 (0.05 +/- 0.05 Pg C yr(-2)). According to terrestrial carbon model simulations, the intensification of the NLS cannot be explained by CO2 fertilization or climate change alone. We therefore use a bookkeeping model to explore the contribution of changes in land-use emissions and find that decreasing land-use emissions are the dominant cause of the intensification of the NLS during the slow warming period. This reduction of land-use emissions is due to both decreased tropical forest area loss and increased afforestation in northern temperate regions. The estimate based on atmospheric inversions shows consistently reduced land-use emissions, whereas another bookkeeping model did not reproduce such changes, probably owing to missing the signal of reduced tropical deforestation. These results highlight the importance of better constraining emissions from land-use change to understand recent trends in land carbon sinks.

The effect of habitat fragmentation on the bee visitor assemblages of three Australian tropical rainforest tree species.

Tropical forest loss and fragmentation can change bee community dynamics and potentially interrupt plant–pollinator relationships. While bee community responses to forest fragmentation have been investigated in a number of tropical regions, no studies have focused on this topic in Australia. In this study, we examine taxonomic and functional diversity of bees visiting flowers of three tree species across small and large rainforest fragments in Australian tropical landscapes. We found lower taxonomic diversity of bees visiting flowers of trees in small rainforest fragments compared with large forest fragments and show that bee species in small fragments were subsets of species in larger fragments. Bees visiting trees in small fragments also had higher mean body sizes than those in larger fragments, suggesting that small‐sized bees may be less likely to persist in small fragments. Lastly, we found reductions in the abundance of eusocial stingless bees visiting flowers in small fragments compared to large fragments. These results suggest that pollinator visits to native trees living in small tropical forest remnants may be reduced, which may in turn impact on a range of processes, potentially including forest regeneration and diversity maintenance in small forest remnants in Australian tropical countryside landscapes.

Breeding Biology of Great HornbillBuceros bicornisin Tropical Rainforest and Human-Modified Plantation Landscape in Western Ghats, India

Loss of mature tropical forests to agricultural expansion often creates landscapes with forest fragments embedded within a matrix of human-modified habitats and land uses. Such habitat fragmentation may be detrimental to species with specialized habitat and foraging requirements and their ability to persist in such landscapes may depend on their adaptability to habitat modification. Great Hornbills Buceros bicornis, among the largest birds in Asian tropical rainforests, depend on large trees for nesting and a diverse array of patchily distributed fruiting trees. In the human-modified landscape of the Anamalai Hills, India, we compared the breeding biology and nesting behaviour of Great Hornbills in contiguous rainforest (N=3 nests) and in modified habitat consisting of coffee plantations and rainforest fragments (N=5 nests). The nesting cycle of seven of the eight nests monitored varied between 114 and 130 days. Nest provisioning behaviour was similar in contiguous forest and modified habitat in terms of visitation and food delivery rates, but visitation tended to be higher and food delivery rate lower during the nestling phase than during incubation. As expected, tree density and native food plant diversity were lower in modified habitat than in continuous forest. The diversity of food provisioned was lower in modified habitat with a 57.5% dietary overlap with contiguous forest. Hornbills in the modified habitat of coffee plantations used non-native tree species for nesting and foraging, indicating their adaptability to modified landscapes.

Secondary forest regeneration benefits old-growth specialist bats in a fragmented tropical landscape

Tropical forest loss and fragmentation are due to increase in coming decades. Understanding how matrix dynamics, especially secondary forest regrowth, can lessen fragmentation impacts is key to understanding species persistence in modified landscapes. Here, we use a whole-ecosystem fragmentation experiment to investigate how bat assemblages are influenced by the regeneration of the secondary forest matrix. We surveyed bats in continuous forest, forest fragments and secondary forest matrix habitats, ~15 and ~30 years after forest clearance, to investigate temporal changes in the occupancy and abundance of old-growth specialist and habitat generalist species. The regeneration of the second growth matrix had overall positive effects on the occupancy and abundance of specialists across all sampled habitats. Conversely, effects on generalist species were negligible for forest fragments and negative for secondary forest. Our results show that the conservation potential of secondary forests for reverting faunal declines in fragmented tropical landscapes increases with secondary forest age and that old-growth specialists, which are often of most conservation concern, are the greatest beneficiaries of secondary forest maturation. Our findings emphasize that the transposition of patterns of biodiversity persistence in island ecosystems to fragmented terrestrial settings can be hampered by the dynamic nature of human-dominated landscapes.

Burned Area Mapping of an Escaped Fire into Tropical Dry Forest in Western Madagascar Using Multi-Season Landsat OLI Data

A human-induced fire cleared a large area of tropical dry forest near the Ankoatsifaka Research Station at Kirindy Mitea National Park in western Madagascar over several weeks in 2013. Fire is a major factor in the disturbance and loss of global tropical dry forests, yet remotely sensed mapping studies of fire-impacted tropical dry forests lag behind fire research of other forest types. Methods used to map burns in temperature forests may not perform as well in tropical dry forests where it can be difficult to distinguish between multiple-age burn scars and between bare soil and burns. In this study, the extent of forest lost to stand-replacing fire in Kirindy Mitea National Park was quantified using both spectral and textural information derived from multi-date satellite imagery. The total area of the burn was 18,034 ha. It is estimated that 6% (4761 ha) of the Park’s primary tropical dry forest burned over the period 23 June to 27 September. Half of the forest burned (2333 ha) was lost in the large conflagration adjacent to the Research Station. The best model for burn scar mapping in this highly-seasonal tropical forest and pastoral landscape included the differenced Normalized Burn Ratio (dNBR) and both uni- and multi-temporal measures of greenness. Lessons for burn mapping of tropical dry forest are much the same as for tropical dry forest mapping—highly seasonal vegetation combined with a mixture of background spectral information make for a complicated analysis and may require multi-temporal imagery and site specific techniques.