Category: degradation
Addressing Deforestation and Degradation through Sustainable Forest Management in Malaysia
This presentation provides an introduction to sustainable forest management in Malaysia. It includes details regarding Malyasia's National Forest Policy, National Forest Act and definition of Forest Lands. In 2003, there was a total of 19.52 million hectares of forest in Malaysia, equivalent to 60% of land cover. Yet while the total rate of deforestation has been declining since the 1990s, there has been a significant increase in the extent of palm oil plantations. In order to ensure...
Benefit distribution across scales to reduce emissions from deforestation and forest degradation (REDD+) in Vietnam
At very high policy levels, efforts to reduce emissions from deforestation and forest degradation (REDD+) are considered to be innovative and cost-effective ways to make forest more valuable standing than cut. In response to climate change, international funding to support reductions in emissions needs to balance conservation and development. The Government of Vietnam is currently coordinating the design of a comprehensive benefit-distribution system, with the ambition to convert certified net...
Drivers and consequences of tropical forest transitions: options to bypass land degradation?
The early studies of the ASB Partnership for the Tropical Forest Margins stratified the domain for study into stages of a generic transition pathway that suggested a strongly non-linear trajectory of change. In this scheme, a phase of degradation of aboveground vegetation, based on over-logging or shortening fallow cycles in intensified swiddens can lead to a grass-fire cycle that needs special conditions to allow successful rehabilitation. Many places with current agroforestry and tree mosaics...
Options for monitoring and estimating historical carbon emissions from forest degradation in the context of REDD+
Measuring forest degradation and related forest carbon stock changes is more challenging than measuring deforestation since degradation implies changes in the structure of the forest and does not entail a change in land use, making it less easily detectable through remote sensing. Although we anticipate the use of the IPCC guidance under the United Framework Convention on Climate Change (UNFCCC), there is no one single method for monitoring forest degradation for the case of REDD+ policy. In...
Dealing with locally-driven degradation: a quick start option under REDD+
The paper reviews a number of challenges associated with reducing degradation and its related emissions though national plans for REDD+ under UNFCCC policy. It proposes that in many countries, it may in the short run be easier to deal with the kinds of degradation that result from low-level community over-exploitation of forest for livelihoods, than from selective logging or fire control. Such degradation is low-level, but chronic, and is experienced over very large forest areas. Community...
What is a REDD+ pilot?: a preliminary typology based on early actions in Indonesia
This infobrief provides an early snapshot of 17 REDD+ pilots under development in Indonesia in mid 2009. There is great variety in and experimentation by the proponents of REDD+ pilots. Three key dimensions useful for categorising early pilots are: 1) degree of spatial planning and heterogeneity of forest classification, 2) strategy for establishing long-term claims to carbon, and 3) predominant driver and agent of deforestation and degradation. The prevalence of the concession model in this...
Moving ahead with REDD: Issues, options and implications
This book highlights the fact that countries differ widely in terms of their MRV infrastructure, institutional capacity to implement REDD policies and measures, drivers of deforestation and forest degradation, and so on. This heterogeneity needs to be reflected in the global REDD architecture. The mechanisms must be flexible enough to ensure broad country participation from the beginning. At the same time, they should also include incentives ‘to move on’, for...
