REDD - Will it Save the Forest?

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April 5, 2009 by timbercommunity

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REDD—the United Nations initiative on Reduced Emissions from Deforestation and Degradation helping preserve rainforests and delivering economic benefits to impoverished rural communities.

Up to 20 percent of global greenhouse gas emissions come from deforestation and degradation of tropical forests. Natural tropical forests have been destroyed at the rate of 14,200,000 ha per year according Japan Aerospace Exploration Agency. The REDD-programme will spur a massive flow of funds to developing countries, in the size of astronomical 20 000 000 000-30 000 000 000 $/year.

A working group of Redd has estimated that the financial commitment of 15-20 billion euro could reduce deforestation by 25 percent by 2015. According to the Eliasch Review, the cost of halving net global CO2 emissions from forests by 2030 is estimated at US$ 17–33 billion annually. It would be by far the largest global effort to reduce greenhouse gas emissions.

Payment models
The structure of funding mechanisms is one key question. One idea is that developing countries could sell carbon credits gained by reducing their deforestation rates. A present, most REDD projects are conducted by the voluntary carbon market and the credits are bought, for example, by corporates seeking to offset their emissions. Offsets are usually priced between $4 and $10 a tonne of CO2 saved.
A 2007 study from the Woods Hole Research Center concluded that 94 percent of Amazon deforestation could be avoided at a cost of less than US$ 5 per tonne of carbon.

The United Nations wants to include REDD in the next phase of the Kyoto climate pact from 2013, meaning REDD credits could greatly expand the U.N.'s existing carbon credit scheme and drive large-scale forest protection in developing nations

Unresolved REDD issues:
The problem with these approach is that carbon market does not exist today and how will the politicians decide the baselines. Will the baseline be set on historical baseline or future development.
Credits on voluntary markets like the Chicago Climate Exchange (CCX) currently trade at an 80-90 percent discount to EU allowances (European Climate Exchange).

Monitoring
Additionality and carbon leakage
Payment models

"Particularly problematic in this context is the EU’s position of including “sustainable forest management” (SFM) within the scope of REDD, an intentional change from the agreed language of the Bali Action Plan that brings undesirable baggage with it. Over the past two decades this term has been co-opted by the forest industry to lend a green image to some of the most destructive logging practices "
The Ecosystems Climate Alliance 2009

The establishment of an International Emission Investment Reserve (IEIR) is proposed to serve as a special form of investment fund for REDD.

Key elements for REDD to remain credible
In order to remain credible, a REDD mechanism must include the following key elements according to the Ecosystems Climate Alliance

Protection:
There is currently no wording on the table that would necessarily achieve protecting forests, or make this an activity eligible for funding. Protecting does not imply a ban on traditional forest use; on the contrary it must support inclusion and recognition of the rights and interests of indigenous peoples and local communities.

Intact, natural forests:
REDD must prioritize protecting the few remaining natural, intact forests (including their below ground carbon stocks) as the greatest stores of terrestrial carbon, and distinguish them from secondary natural forests, which are less resilient to climate change and natural disturbances such as fire, though they must like intact forests be ineligible for conversion to monoculture plantations. The introduction of logging roads or drainage canals causes fragmentation and is a known precursor to the conversion of forests to other land uses.

Restoration:
REDD should support the restoration of degraded natural forests and their degraded organic soils (peat) to fully functioning ecosystems, decreasing their vulnerability and prohibiting their conversion while increasing their carbon storage and sequestration capacity. Restoration also delivers biodiversity benefits and ecosystem services such as soil conservation and water regulation. This contrasts with plantation-style tree planting schemes, which do not offer the same multiple benefits and often exclude local peoples.

Monitoring and radar remote sensing

Monitoring is possible through different satelite programs and organizations for instance:

Nasa Land Cover and Land-use program

Examples of current sensors to monitor deforestation

Very high cost with high sensor resolution (<1m) Ikonos satelite sensor, Quickbird satelite sensor
Low medium cost with high sensor resolution (10-60m) Landsat, Spot, HRV, AWiFS LISS III, CBERS
Low or free cost with medium sensor resolution (250-1000 m) Modis, Spot vegetation

View gallery of photos from different type of sensor systems
The accuracy of the data was often called into question. Now a new remote sensing satellite, known as ALOS (Advanced Land Observing Satellite) from Japan Aerospace Exploration Agency, promises to improve remote assessment of forests, cutting through clouds and possibly even determining measuring the amount of carbon sequestered in a particular tract of forest. Satellite captures data that can be used to construct maps of global tropical forest cover on an annual basis and for monitoring forest fires. These maps can be used to establish a credible baseline for REDD initiatives.
Homepage: Alos
Position and viability of a forest may be determined using a combination of remote sensing and geographic information systems (GIS).

Research project CLASLite
CLASLite (The Carnegie Landsat Analysis System Lite), a new, user-friendly method that enables even the smallest governments and non-governmental organizations (NGOs) to map tropical forests from their desktops. The technology will rapidly advance deforestation and degradation mapping in Latin America, and will help rain forest nations better monitor their changing carbon budgets.CLAS’s advanced computational methods and pattern-recognition algorithms. Their techniques allow the penetration of the canopy at a scale of about 9,3 square meters. The intricate computations detect small differences in vegetation patterns, producing detailed and stunningly beautiful forest maps. CLASLite works with the old and new Landsat satellites, as well as several other NASA sensors in Earth orbit.
Read more about CLASLite from Carnegie

Caption- This output from CLASLite shows deforestation (bare soil) in pink and forest disturbance from logging in blue in the Brazilian Amazon. The map depicts changes through time with each successive overlay. Image provided by the Asner lab.
Additionality and carbon leakage
Additionality means that they have to show that the carbon gains would not have happened without a carbon payment. Thus the main ‘winners’ could turn out to be would-be developers or degraders, e.g. wealthier companies planting eucaluptus, rather than forest conserving communities.