Tulsea

RAPID CARBON STOCK APPRAISAL (RaCSA): a rapid but integrated way to assess landscape carbon stocks

Carbon storage in trees and soil as ecosystem service under threat

“Warming of the climate system is unequivocal, as is now evident from observations of increases in global average air and ocean temperatures, widespread melting of snow and ice, and rising global average sea level” (IPCC Fourth Assessment Report, 2007).

About 20 per cent of the emissions of carbon dioxide (CO₂) and other greenhouse gasses that cause this global climate change are due to land use change in the tropics. While most policies have so far focused on the fossil fuel use that causes the bulk of the CO₂ emissions, the land use change component can no longer be ignored. Global mechanisms for providing economic incentives for maintaining and restoring C-stocks are taking shape. The UN Framework Convention on Climate Change (UNFCCC) regulates the Clean Development Mechanism (CDM) that includes, under specific rules, afforestation and reforestation activities. Currently under discussion is a similar approach to reducing emissions from deforestation and degradation in developing countries (REDD). Voluntary market mechanisms that are not part of the commitments to emission reduction that UNFCCC countries have pledged, target various combinations of landscape level restoration and protection of tree cover and carbon stocks.

Objectives of Rapid Carbon Stocks Assessment (RaCSA)

The RACSA appraisal tool is designed to provide a basic level of locally relevant knowledge to assist in such discussions between relevant stakeholders. It introduces a scientifically sound methodological framework of accounting carbon sinks, while focusing on activities that can improve local livelihoods and alleviate rural poverty.

The purpose of RaCSA is to provide a cost-effective and time-bound (within six months) appraisal that:

provides reliable data on C stocks in a defined landscape, its historical changes and the impact of ongoing land use change on projected emissions, with or without specific interventions to increase or retain C stocks;
identifies the primary issues in the local trade-off between C stocks and livelihoods and the opportunities to achieve more sustainable development pathways; and,
enhances shared understanding between stakeholders as a step towards FPIC in contracts to increase or retain C stocks.

Steps in RaCSA

Table 1. Activities conducted under RaCSA approach and their relevant outputs

The results need to be communicated in a simplified format that focuses on the main tradeoffs and decisions that can be made within the landscape. The primary data on C stocks can contribute to national databases and be subsequently used for national scale reporting. The ground-truthing and spatial analysis can similarly contribute to future analysis of the dynamics in larger areas, while the trade-off data and scenario models can be used for direct comparisons with other landscapes.

Example of application in Nunukan District, East Kalimantan, Indonesia

The RaCSA approach was applied in Kabupaten Nunukan, East Kalimantan, to monitor carbon stocks in the area, where forest conversion, illegal logging and fire are causing substantial carbon emissions. In the area, community-based forest management, such as agroforestry and low external input sustainable agriculture, are seen as options that could provide sustainable livelihoods for local farmers as well as increase/maintain carbon sequestration. This agriculture activity competes with logging as the most profitable activity.

Based on a household survey, there are three main tree-based systems in the area: smallholder plantation of oil palm and pepper, Jakaw (an upland rice fallow rotation system) and a fruit-based system where farmers plant fruit trees in logged-over-forest between remnant trees of low-commercial values. These systems are estimated to store the carbon stocks shown in Table 2.

Landscape carbon stocks assessment estimated that the carbon density in 1996 was 210 Mg ha^-1, while in 2003 was 166 Mg ha^-1. Within the period, primary forest was converted to other land cover at the rate of 3.9 per cent a year-1. The estimated rate of carbon sequestration for jakaw systems is 3.7 Mg ha^-1 year^-1 and agroforestry systems is two Mg ha^-1 year^-1.

The modelling exercise suggests that both income and landscape level carbon stocks in Nunukan are decreasing, as non-sustainable logging remains the most profitable land use option (Figure above). Efforts to improve agroforestry profitability by increasing its yield and improving its market (increasing the price) did not substantively change its adoptability in the landscape, producing similar trade-off patterns as current settings (Figure below). Thus the current recommendation for policy in Nunukan is agroforestry and community-based natural resource management (CBNRM), which should work hand-in-hand to simultaneously achieve global and local benefits. A substantial increase in profitability of agroforestry options is needed before this practice can be an 'alternative to illegal logging' and compete with the attractiveness of logging.

Simulation result. Efforts to improve agroforestry profitability through better market development did not correspond with adoption of agroforestry, when natural capital for logging activities provided better payoffs. Thus both income per capita and carbon stocks remained similar to current trend (A1 and A2). Reducing timber market by 25-50 per cent from the current setting (full capacity) reduced income without changing existing carbon stocks. When timber market reduction was increased by 75-100 per cent, people adopted agriculture and agroforestry to compensate income lost from logging, thus reducing existing carbon stocks but creating better income level.

References

Hairiah K and Rahayu S. 2007. Pengukuran karbon tersimpan di berbagai macam penggunaan lahan. Bogor, Indonesia. World Agroforestry Centre - ICRAF, SEA Regional Office. 77p
http://www.worldagroforestry.org/sea/publication?do=view_pub_detail&pub_no=MN0035-07

Hairiah K, Sitompul SM, van Noordwijk M and Palm CA. 2001. Methods for sampling carbon stocks above and below ground. ASB Lecture Note 4B. Bogor, Indonesia. International Centre for Research in Agroforestry, SEA Regional Research Programme. 23p
http://www.worldagroforestry.org/sea/publication?do=view_pub_detail&pub_no=LN0022-04

Lusiana B, van Noordwijk M and Rahayu S. 2005. Carbon stocks in Nunukan, East Kalimantan: a spatial monitoring and modelling approach. Report from the carbon monitoring team of the Forest Resources Management for Carbon Sequestration (FORMACS) project. Bogor, Indonesia. World Agroforestry Centre - ICRAF, SEA Regional Office. 98p.
http://www.worldagroforestry.org/sea/publication?do=view_pub_detail&pub_no=BK0083-05

Sitompul SM, Hairiah K, van Noordwijk M and Palm CA. 2001. Carbon stocks of tropical land use systems as part of the global C balance: effects of forest conversion and options for clean development activities. ASB Lecture Note 4A. Bogor, Indonesia. International Centre for Research in Agroforestry, SEA Regional Research Programme. 49p.
http://www.worldagroforestry.org/sea/publication?do=view_pub_detail&pub_no=LN0021-04

Sites for RaCSA

Printed flyer - English - Indonesian - Vietnamese

Manual Carbon Stock Measurement - English - Indonesian - 2^nd edition in Indonesian

The INRM Tools