Papua New Guinea begins “stock-take” of its forests
Papua New Guinea is embarking on its first national forest inventory (NFI) under the understanding to reduce emissions from deforestation and forest degradation (REDD)+. PNG introduced the concept of REDD+ into international negotiations at the 13th Conference of the Parties to the United Nations Framework Convention on Climate Change (COP 13), in Bali in 2007.
PNG has taken a global lead in seeking to combat climate change, particularly by proposing measures to achieve the carbon abatement opportunity offered by preserving and sustainably managing tropical forests.
The inventory include activities for measuring timber volume and estimating carbon stocks and greenhouse gas emissions but also, significantly, a protocol for the first survey of the nation’s forest biodiversity.
The combined inventory will make it possible to assess the trade-offs between protecting biodiversity and reducing emissions, in order to promote sustainable forest management and improve local forest community livelihoods.
In recent years, the Government of Papua New Guinea with the assistance of development partners including JICA, UN-REDD, FAO and EU, have significantly improved their capacity on forest monitoring using remote sensing technology. PNG has produced a forest base map based on 2012 satellite imagery and conducted national forest and land use assessment based on 2013 satellite imagery using Collect Earth tool.
PNG Government together with its partners have produced a short film called “PNG’s first National Forest Inventory” which highlights the advanced forest monitoring system.
The data produced by Papua New Guinea’s NFI will be instrumental in developing sound government policies to sustainably manage the nation’s biodiverse forest heritage, on which most of the nation’s population of 7.6 million depends, for the benefit of present and future generations.
The film PNG’s first National Forest Inventory can be view on Youtube and the FAO video catalogue.