Readings on REDD and Measurement & Monitoring

If REDD aims to fund reductions in carbon emissions from deforestation and forest degradation, we need to know how large those reductions are. We need methods for measuring and monitoring carbon stocks associated with forests in participating countries. Finding cost-effective and accurate methods to do this is a key challenge for REDD and official guidelines for REDD monitoring, reporting and verification (MRV) are yet to be established. However, new technologies and modelling are making this increasingly feasible, and a combination of remote sensing and ground measurement will probably be most effective.

Carbon emissions from deforestation and forest degradation are estimated from changes in two variables: (i) the area of deforestation and degradation, and (ii) carbon stock densities per unit area. Deforestation is the easier of the two to measure, using remote sensing for national-level monitoring. Forest degradation is much trickier to monitor, especially when it is caused by selective logging that removes a few trees per hectare, or collection of branches and small trees for fuelwood. While these activities only minimally affect the canopy cover, they can affect forest stock—and therefore carbon stock—significantly.

The Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change recommends two options for measuring degradation in carbon stocks. The stock-difference method builds on traditional forest inventories to estimate sequestration or emissions. The gain-loss method is built on an ecological understanding of how forests grow and on knowledge of the losses incurred through activities such as timber harvesting, logging damage, fuelwood collection, overgrazing and fire. The choice of method used by different countries will depend largely on data availability and capacity.

The readings in this section provide an introduction to monitoring, reporting and verification of carbon emissions, and to measurement and monitoring of deforestation and forest degradation.