Carbon and biodiversity. A demonstration atlas PDF
Preview Carbon and biodiversity. A demonstration atlas
Carbon and biodiversity Federal Ministryforthe Environment,NatureConservation and NuclearSafety UNEP WCMC UNEPWorldConservationMonitoringCentre 219HuntingdonRoad Cambridge,CB30DL United Kingdom Tel:+44(01 1223277314 Fax:+44|0) 1223277136 Email: [email protected] Website:www.unep-wcmc.org TheUNEPWorldConservationMonitoringCentre(UNEP-WCMC] DISCLAIMER isthebiodiversityassessmentandpolicyimplementationarmof The contents of this report do not necessarily reflect theUnitedNationsEnvironmentProgrammeIUNEP1,theworld's the views or policies of UNEP-WCMC, contributoryorganizations foremost intergovernmental environmental organization. The or editors. The designations employed and the presentations do centre has been in operation since 1989, combining scientific not implytheexpression ofanyopinionwhatsoeveron thepartof researchwithpracticalpolicyadvice. UNEP-WCMC orcontributoryorganizations, editorsorpublishers concerningthelegalstatusofanycountry,territory,cityorareaor UNEP-WCMC provides objective, scientifically rigorous products its authority, or concerning the delimitation of its frontiers or and services to help decision makers recognize the value of boundariesorthedesignationofitsnameorallegiances.. biodiversityand applythis knowledgetoallthattheydo. Itscore business is managing data about ecosystems and biodiversity, CITATION interpretingand analysing thatdatatoprovideassessmentsand UNEP-WCMC, (2008] Carbon and biodiversity: a demonstration policyanalysis, and making the resultsavailableto international atlas.Eds.KaposV..RaviliousC,CampbellA.,DicksonB.,GibbsH.. decision-makersand businesses. Hansen M.. Lysenko I., Miles L., Price J., Scharlemann J.P.W., TrumperK. UNEP-WCMC,Cambridge, UK. ACKNOWLEDGEMENTS UNEPWorldConservationMonitoringCentrewouldliketothank ©UNEP-WCMC2008 the Federal Ministryforthe Environment, Nature Conservation, andNuclearSafetyIGermanylandHumaneSocietyInternational ABanson production forfundingthisdemonstrationatlas.Specialthanksagaintothe Printed intheUKbySwaingrove Federal Ministryforthe Environment, Nature Conservation and Nuclear Safety and also to The Nature Conservancy for supporting previouswork that hasconnbuted tothisatlas. We are grateful to all those who provided datasets and information: Michael Hoffmannand MattFosteratConservation International. Ian May and Mark Balman at BirdLife International. Vineet Katanya at IUCN, and Neil Burgess at WWF-US. Thanks also to Charles Besancon at UNEP World Conservation Monitoring Centre for support in the use of the UNEP promotes World DatabaseofProtectedAreas,alongwithSimon Blythand environmentally sound practices, Derek Gliddon. globally and in its own activities. This report is printed on FSC paper, using vegetable-based inks and other eco- friendly practices. Our distribution policy aimsto reduce UNEP's carbon footprint. Ihlll- ,r£, . Carbon and biodiversity 8U* -1 Be / y .1 A demonstration atlas Federal Ministryforthe <f3Sh Environment,NatureConservation ftflferS HUMANE SOCIETY and NuclearSafety Vvt>fgigyV INTERNATIONAL Carbon and biodiversity Contents Introduction 3 Background 3 TheRoleoftheatlas 3 Carbonstorageandbiodiversity:globaldatasets U TheNeotropics 8 TropicalAfrica 10 TropicalAsiaandOceania 12 Countryprofiles \U Panama 14 Bolivia 16 Zambia 17 Tanzania 18 Viet Nam 20 Papua NewGuinea 21 Deforestationinprotectedareas:tropicalAsia 22 Forestlossfromprotectedareas 22 Nextsteps 24 References 25 Carbon and biodiversity Introduction This atlas demonstrates the potential for spatial consideration. By reducing pressure on tropical forests. analyses to identify areas that are high in both REDD in almost any form would be likely to have some carbon and biodiversity. Such areas will be of biodiversity benefits. However, the magnitude of these interest to countriesthatwish to reduce greenhouse gas benefitsandtheimpactsofREDDonotherforestvaluesand emissions from land use change and simultaneously services would depend on the precise nature of the conserve biodiversity. mechanism adopted and how countries choose to implement it. BACKGROUND Emissions from land use change, primarily deforestation, If countries wish to maximize biodiversity benefits from contribute to an estimated 20 per cent of total anthro- reducing emissions from land use change, they will need pogenicgreenhousegasemissionsIIPCC2007). equivalent tools that help to identifythespatialoverlap of high carbon toapproximately5.8GigatonnesIGt)ofcarbondioxideICO2] andhighbiodiversityareas.Theymayfurtherneedtoidentify ayear. areas of high biodiversity value but lower carbon stocks, which may be at risk from displacement of land use Recognition of the scale of CO2 emissions from land use pressuresasa resultofREDD interventions change has led to the decision that reduced emissions from deforestation and degradation [REDD] in developing THEROLEOFTHISATLAS countries should be considered for inclusion under the This atlas demonstrates the potential value of spatial United Nations Framework Conventionon Climate Change analyses as a tool to assist countries in maximising (UNFCCC). The Bali Action Plan, adopted by UMFCCC at biodiversitybenefitswhilst reducing carbon emissions from thethirteenth sessionofitsConferenceofthePartiesICOP land usechange. 13] in December 2007, mandates Parties to negotiate a post-2012 instrument, including possible financial The atlas uses global datasets on carbon storage in incentives for forest-based climate change mitigation terrestrial ecosystems and areas of high priority for actions in developing countries (Decision 1/CP.13). The biodiversity conservation to provide regional overviews of Parties specified that the development of such an the spatial overlap of these importantvalues in the tropics. instrument should take into consideration the role of National-scale maps for six tropical countries draw, where conservation, sustainable management of forests, and possible, on finer scale nationally developed biodiversity enhancement of forest carbon stocks in developing datasets, and showwhereexisting protected areascoincide countries'. COP 13 also adopted a decision on Reducing withhighcarbonandbiodiversityareas.Avarietyofstatistics emissions from deforestation in developing countries: aredrawnfromthenational-scalemapstodemonstratethe approachesto stimulate action' (Decision 2/CP.13]. differenttypesofinformationthatthese mapscan provide. Although REDD is necessarilyfocussed on reducing carbon These maps are intended solely as demonstrations of how loss,the BaliAction Plan recognizesthatactionstosupport combining spatialdata can help to identifyareaswhere the REDD can also promote other benefits that may contribute opportunities for carbon and biodiversity benefits coincide. to achieving the aims and objectives of other relevant REDD-related decision-making at the national scale will international conventions such as the Convention on need to be based, if at all possible, on nationally developed Biological Diversity (CBD). In addition to containing large data for both carbon stocks and biodiversity In order to amounts of carbon, many forests contain high levels of reduceemissionseffectively,andrealizeotherco-benefitsof biodiversity and provide essential ecosystem services reducing deforestation, such decisions will also need to importantforhumanwellbeing. incorporate information on the country-specific pressures causing land usechange. Policies and incentives for REDD are still under 1 Carbon and biodiversity The global carbon store and biodiversity: global datasets CARBON STORAGE INTERRESTRIALECOSYSTEMS Earth's terrestrial ecosystems are estimated to store over 2,000 Gt of carbon IGtC] in their above- and below-ground biomassand inthesoil(Campbellefat. 2008a).Asignificant proportion of this carbon is located within tropical ecosystems- The map of carbon storage in terrestrial ecosystemspresented herewasproduced bycombining the bestavailable globallyconsistent datasets on carbon in live biomass iRuesch and Gibbs. in review], estimated using the Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change IIPCCI Tier- approachIIPCC2006,Gibbsefa(.20071,andadatasetonsoil carbon to 1m depth IIGBP-DIS 2000: this is likely to Totalcarbontonnes/ha underestimatethecarbon stored in peatsoil]. 0-10 10-20 Thesedataformthebasisofeach mappresentedinthis 20-50 atlas, which focuses on tropical regions. Although global 50-100 scaledataarelikelytobelessaccuratethanthoseproduced 110500--210500 at national or regional scales, they provide a globally 200-300 consistent picture of carbon storage; suitable for the I300-400 400-500 illustrative purposesintended here. 500 For the regional and national demonstration maps, carbon stocks are divided into 'high' 'medium' and 'low' Carbonstorageinterrestrialecosystems. carbon densitycategories.Asdecisionsabout prioritiesand actions for reducing emissions from deforestation will be The prioritization schemes included in this made by countries, it may be helpful if the data are scaled assessment are shown overleaf. Conservation appropriatelyfortheirown nationalcontexts. Therefore,the International's Hotspots are areas of the world in which categories of carbon density have been defined separately there are large numbers of endemic plant species, and foreachoftheregionalandnationalmaps.The'high'carbon where lessthan30 percentofthe naturalhabitatremains category includes the carbon density values for the most (Mittermeier ef at. 2004] WWF Global 200 ecoregions are carbon rich third ofthetotal land areawithin that map.The the most biologically distinct terrestrial and freshwater medium and low categories similarly include the carbon ecoregionsofthe planet, selected forexceptional levelsof densityvaluesforthe relevantthird ofthe land area. biodiversity (Olson ef at. 2001]. Birdlife International Endemic BirdAreas (EBAs] are areaswhere two or more GLOBALBIODIVERSITYPRIORITYSCHEMES birdspecieswithrangessmallerthan50,000km;co-occur Conservation scientists have used several different (Birdlife International 2008] WWF/IUCN Centres of Plant approaches to identify areas of global importance for Diversity (CPDs) are areas of key significance for global biodiversity conservation. Each approach depends on plant biodiversity (WWF and IUCN 1994], and Amphibian measures of the distribution of particular components of DiversityAreas represent the areas significant for global biodiversity, and manyincorporate measuresofthreat. amphibian diversity (Duellman 1999), Carbon and biodiversity In the regional maps that follow, high' biodiversity biodiversity conservation, they also confer some level of areas are those identified by fouror more of these global protection on the carbon stocks contained within them. It prioritisation schemes. These are areas with the greatest has been estimated that globally, ecosystems within degree of consensus as to their importance (areas protected areas store over 312 GtC. or 15 per cent of the included in fewer prioritisation schemes are also terrestrialcarbon stock (Campbell etat. 2008a). important for biodiversity conservation). Alliance for Zero Protected areas are likely to make up just part of a Extinction(AZE)sites,considered keysitesforconservation nationalclimatechangemitigationstrategy,andtheroleof to safeguard the last remaining refuges of Endangered or protected areas in REDD is still up for debate. It may be Critically Endangered species (Ricketts et al. 2005], are useful for countries to know where protected areas lie in also shown. relation to the nationalcarbon stocks. Protected area data The national-scale examples illustrate a variety of from the World Database on Protected Areas IWDPA; differentapproachesto identifying areasofhigh biodiversity UNEP-WCMC. IUCN 2007] are included on the national- valueata nationallevel,asdetailed foreach map. scale maps. PROTECTEDAREAS Althoughprotectedareasaredesignatedforthepurposeof Carbon and biodiversity Thespatialoverlapoftheglobalterrestrial biodiversitypriorityareas used forthe regionalmaps,andthe original priority schemesfromwhichthismapwasderived. AreaswhereUormore priorityschemes overlapareconsidered hereto be high biodiversity'.AllianceforZero Extinction sites(AZEs] arealso shown. Numberofoverlappingglobal biodiversityprioritiesinterrestrialareas Endemicbirdareas(EBAsl [BirdLifeInternational) I f .. • Allianceforzeroextinctionsites(AZEs) ! AmphibiamdiversityIDuellman1999) | Global200terrestrialecoregions[WWF| Global200freshwaterecoregions[WWF] Carbon and biodiversity f^ f \ v -\ ./: Wfi,. «4 • *- > '-^-:> 'A " J".-/- { Biodiversityhotspots[ConservationInternational] Centresofplatdiversity(WWF/IUCN) Carbon and biodiversity The Neotropics The terrestrial ecosystems of the Neotropics cover 15.8 million km- of land and contain 321 Gt of carbon (GtC). The vast majority of this store is in the humid tropical forests, where high deforestation rates accounted for approximately 60 per cent of deforestation across the whole humidtropicalforest biome between 2000and 2005 (Hansen efat2008]-Thehighdeforestation inthisregion reflectsboth the large total remaining forest area and the high land use pressuresacting upon it. Boththehigh carbonstocksandthe biodiversityvaluesof the Neotropics are threatened bythis deforestation, which is largely driven by pasture expansion (Chomitz ef al. 2006, Nepstadefat20081.Recently,largescalesoybeanproduction hasalsobecomeaveryimportantcontributortodeforestation inthe BrazilianAmazon ICern etal. 20071. In addition to containing a large carbon store, the Neotropics are extremely high in biodiversity. The tropical Andes is the richest and most diverse biodiversity hotspot in the world IMittermeier ef al. 20041; and the Amazon rainforest, the world's largest continuous rainforest area, is estimated to hostaguarteroftheworld'sterrestrialspecies. Sixoftheworld's17'megadiversity'countriesIMittermeieref at 1997]are in the Neotropics. Areasofhigh biodiversityvalue,whereat leastfourglobal biodiversity priorityschemes overlap, are shown on the map containanestimated35GtC,accountingfor11 percentofthe ingreen.Theseareas,whicharelargelyconcentratedoverthe total regional carbon stock. The Alliance for Zero Extinction tropical Andes and Amazon River, cover 1.6 million km- and sites (AZEs] shown on the map are the last refuges for endangered and critically endangered species, and also highlightareas inwhich biodiversitybenefitscould be gained Totalcarbon321Gt Totallandarea 15,759km2 through conservation ofcarbon stocks. The areasofthe map in darkestgreen, thosewhere high biodiversityvalueoverlapsareasofhighcarbondensity(more than 273 t/ha; represented by dark brown], cover more than 138 9,206 0.4 million km; or 3 per cent of the total land area of the 148 region.Thesehighcarbonand high biodiversityareascontain 4,882 14 Gt of carbon, or 4 per cent of the total regional carbon ^ stock (see diagram, left]. In such areas REDD-related 1 interventions could also produce significant biodiversity 21 14 conservation benefits. However, the precise locationsofsuch priorityareas' would be far betterdetermined byfinerscale Highcarbon analysisthan derived fromglobalscaledata. Itwouldalso be Highcarbon& high biodversity usefultoidentifyaslidingscaleofbiodiversityvalueinrelation Highbiodiversity Lowercarbon to the carbon stock, including those areas that are low in carbon buthigh in biodiversity.
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