The Observatory for. Central Africa Forests

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1 The Observatory for Ispra, 11 th November 2008 Institute Review 1 Central Africa Forests Philippe Mayaux EC Joint Research Centre

2 Monitoring of forest cover ESOF, Torino, 5 July

3 Deforestation and climate ESOF, Torino, 5 July REDD+ in Congo Basin Deforestation rate about 0.16 % / yr 1/3 of forests under management, 1/3 under conservation, 1/3 under slash-and-burn Congo Basin countries very active in REDD debate All donors want to help Central Africa Drivers in Congo Basin Agriculture Firewood Mining Logging

4 Observatoire des Forêts d Afrique Centrale ESOF, Torino, 5 July Information needs are driven by policies Climate (REDD, MDP), biodiversity (CBD), forest governance (FLEGT) Follow-up of the State of the Forests 2006 Under the political guidance of COMIFAC In close collaboration with all the partners of Congo Basin Forest Partnership COMIFAC, forest services, private sector, NGOs, funding agencies, research institutions, training institutions, UN.. Main funding agency = European Commission by the FORAF project 6.4 MEUR for the period Managed by JRC, with a consortium (CIRAD, CIFOR, UCL, FRM)

5 FORAF ESOF, Torino, 5 July European contribution to the installation and the facilitation of OFAC Managed by the Joint Research Centre and the EC delegation in Kinshasa Achieved by a consortium of scientific institutions Regional centre in Kinshasa (5 scientific staff) with contact points in the different Congo Basin countries

6 Technical Partners of the Observatory ESOF, Torino, 5 July Forest Cover and Carbon JRC, UCL, Un. Of Maryland, South Dakota State Univ., OSFAC, FAO Forest Management CIRAD, CIFOR, FRM, WRI, Ministries Forest Biodiversity CIRAD, CIFOR, JRC, RAPAC, WWF, AWF, CI, WCS, UNEP, UNESCO, UNEP Regional mechanism of Observatory All partners + COMIFAC, GTZ, AFD, EC, CARPE

7 Monitoring Systems ESOF, Torino, 5 July thematic monitoring systems Forest cover & change Forest management Forest biodiversity REDD+ FLEGT Biodiversity Poverty alleviation Data collection and analysis By country and by management unit (logging concession, protected area, transformation unit, game area, ecological, landscape ) Quantitative indicators in the formal sector specific studies in the informal market

8 Regional centre in Kinshasa ESOF, Torino, 5 July Human resources 2 senior experts, 4 highly qualified young experts, 3 support staff Strong link with other local organisations Production of reference material Geospatial data (concessions, PAs, rivers ) Databases of indicators Creation of a regional mechanism Link with national focal points Organisation of workshops for definition, collection and validation of indicators Establishment of a legal frame for exchanging the information (Creative Commons)

9 Deforestation vs degradation ESOF, Torino, 5 July Deforestation rate = 0.16% / yr (+/- 0.05%) degradation deforestation

10 Carbon content by land-cover class ESOF, Torino, 5 July Collection of the literature (published and gray) about carbon content by forest type in the region Estimates for the above-ground biomass and below ground biomass. Soil carbon is constant; other compartments unknown in Central Africa

11 Carbon estimates ESOF, Torino, 5 July First ever estimates of the Carbon stored by Congo Basin forests Used by Congo Basin countries during by the Copenhagen summit for estimating the Carbon emissions due to forest-cover changes (REDD+)

12 ESOF, Torino, 5 July

13 Forest management indicators ESOF, Torino, 5 July Data on logging, transformation and trade Economic, social and ecological dimensions Developed with World Resources Institute Link with forest companies and national administrations On-line forms for data input directly by local teams On-line full reports + paper short copy

14 Ispra, 11 th November 2008 Institute Review 14 Background image SPOT HRV 10 m March 2005 (image source JRC, data source CNES )

15 ESOF, Torino, 5 July January month before logging

16 ESOF, Torino, 5 July March month after logging

17 ESOF, Torino, 5 July January months after logging

18 Outputs ESOF, Torino, 5 July Reports, studies Web site with exhaustive information State of the Forests

19 Conclusions ESOF, Torino, 5 July Strong combination between Earth Observation and field inventories is a key element of OFAC A strong endorsement and involvement of political decision-makers is in place and is essential for the utility Capacities and infrastructures start to be ready. Let s build on that OFAC exists as a common platform for collecting, harmonising, sharing, providing information to all stakeholders Deeply involved in international activities (FAO FRA, UN-REDD ) Many new initiatives could be more useful to the Congo Basin if results were integrated and activities were coordinated in OFAC Open to all contributors