The restoration of trees remains among the most effective strategies for climate change mitigation. We mapped the global potential tree coverage to show that 4.4 billion hectares of canopy cover could exist under the current climate. Excluding existing trees and agricultural and urban areas, we found that there is room for an extra 0.9 billion hectares of canopy cover, which could store 205 gigatonnes of carbon in areas that would naturally support woodlands and forests. This highlights global tree restoration as our most effective climate change solution to date. However, climate change will alter this potential tree coverage. We estimate that if we cannot deviate from the current trajectory, the global potential canopy cover may shrink by ~223 million hectares by 2050, with the vast majority of losses occurring in the tropics. Our results highlight the opportunity of climate change mitigation through global tree restoration but also the urgent need for action.

The global tree restoration potential.

ธรรมาภบาลของภาครฐเปนหนงในปจจยสำคญทสงอทธพลตอการพฒนาเศรษฐกจและสงคมของประเทศ บทความเรองนไดทำการพจารณาธรรมาภบาลของภาครฐใน 213 ประเทศทวโลก ซงแบงออกเปน 6 มต ไดแก การควบคมการคอรปชนความมประสทธผลของภาครฐ การปราศจากความรนแรงและการกอการรายคณภาพในการควบคม การบงคบใชกฎหมาย และเสรภาพของประชาชนในการแสดงความคดเหน ซงทำการศกษาโดยธนาคารโลกภายใตโครงการ Worldwide Governance Indicators จากการพจารณาพบวาประเทศทพฒนาแลวมธรรมาภบาลของ ภาครฐสงกวาประเทศกำลงพฒนาเปนอยางมาก สะทอนใหเหนวา ธรรมาภบาลของภาครฐคอหนงในปจจยทชวยขบเคลอนการพฒนาเศรษฐกจและสงคมของประเทศนอกจากนยงพบวาประเทศไทยยงไมสามารถพงพอใจกบระดบของธรรมาภบาลของประเทศในปจจบนได เนองจากยงอยในระดบคอนขางตา Government Governance: An Implication from Worldwide Governance Indicators Government governance is one of the major determinants of the economic and social development of the nations. This article reviewed government governance of 213 countries worldwide which was categorized into six dimensions, including control of corruption, government effectiveness, political stability and absence of violence/terrorism, regulatory quality, rule of law and voice and accountability, based on the study of the World Bank under Worldwide Governance Indicators project. After the revision, it was found that developed countries had far higher government governance than developing countries, implying that government governance is one of the factors which drive the economic and social development of the nations. Moreover, Thailand could not yet be satisfied with its current government governance since its rank was quite low.

ธรรมาภิบาลของภาครัฐ: นัยจาก Worldwide Governance Indicators

Tamm Review: Influence of forest management activities on soil organic carbon stocks: A knowledge synthesis

Combining global tree cover loss data with historical national forest cover maps to look at six decades of deforestation and forest fragmentation in Madagascar

We investigate the causes of deforestation in Indonesia, a country with one of the highest rates of primary natural forest loss in the tropics, annually between 2001 and 2016. We use high spatial resolution imagery made available on Google Earth to characterize the land cover types following a random selection of deforestation events, drawn from the Global Forest Change dataset. Notorious in the region, large-scale oil palm and timber plantations together contributed more than two-fifths of nationwide deforestation over our study period, with a peak in late aughts followed by a notable decline up to 2016. Conversion of forests to grasslands, which comprised an average of one-fifth of national deforestation, rose sharply in dominance in years following periods of considerable fire activity, particularly in 2016. Small-scale agriculture and small-scale plantations also contributed one-fifth of nationwide forest loss and were the dominant drivers of loss outside the major islands of Indonesia. Although relatively small contributors to total deforestation, logging roads were responsible for a declining share of deforestation, and mining activities were responsible for an increasing share, over the study period. Direct drivers of deforestation in Indonesia are thus spatially and temporally dynamic, suggesting the need for forest conservation policy responses tailored at the subnational level, and new methods for monitoring the causes of deforestation over time.

https://iopscience.iop.org/article/10.1088/1748-9326/aaf6db/pdf

What causes deforestation in Indonesia

Dryland biomes cover two-fifths of Earth’s land surface, but their forest area is poorly known. Here, we report an estimate of global forest extent in dryland biomes, based on analyzing more than 210,000 0.5-hectare sample plots through a photo-interpretation approach using large databases of satellite imagery at (i) very high spatial resolution and (ii) very high temporal resolution, which are available through the Google Earth platform. We show that in 2015, 1327 million hectares of drylands had more than 10% tree-cover, and 1079 million hectares comprised forest. Our estimate is 40 to 47% higher than previous estimates, corresponding to 467 million hectares of forest that have never been reported before. This increases current estimates of global forest cover by at least 9%.

/pdf/the-extent-of-forest-in-dryland-biomes-2on8lyi2ty.pdf

The extent of forest in dryland biomes

Globally, countries report forest information to the Food and Agriculture Organization of the United Nations (FAO) Global Forest Resources Assessments (FRA) at regular intervals. While the status and trends of national forest monitoring capacities have been previously assessed for the tropics, this has not been systematically done worldwide. In this paper, we assess the use and quality of forest monitoring data sources for national reporting to the FRA in 236 countries and territories. More specifically, we (1) analyze the use of Remote Sensing (RS) for forest area monitoring and the use of National Forest Inventory (NFI) for monitoring forest area, growing stock, biomass, carbon stock, and other attributes in FRA 2005-2020, (2) assess data quality in FRA 2020 using FAO Tier-based indicators, and (3) zoom in to investigate changes in tropical forest monitoring capacities in FRA 2010 - 2020. Globally, the number of countries monitoring forest area using RS at good to very good capacities increased from 55 in FRA 2005 to 99 in FRA 2020. Likewise, the number of countries with good to very good NFI capacities increased from 48 in FRA 2005 to 102 in FRA 2020. This corresponds to ~85% of the global forest area monitored with one or more nationally-produced up-to-date RS products or NFI in FRA 2020. For large proportions of global forests, the highest quality data was used in FRA 2020 for reporting on forest area (93%), growing stock (85% ), biomass (76%), and carbon pools (61%). Overall, capacity improvements are more widespread in the tropics, which can be linked to continued international investments for forest monitoring especially in the context of Reducing Emissions from Deforestation and Forest Degradation in tropical countries (REDD+). More than 50% of the tropical countries with targeted international support improved both RS and NFI capacities in the period 2010-2020 on top of those that already had persistent good to very good capabilities. There is also a link between improvements in national capacities and improved governance measured against Worldwide Governance Indicators (WGI). Our findings – the first global study – suggest an ever-improving data basis for national reporting on forest resources in the context of climate and development commitments, e.g. the Paris Agreement and Sustainable Development Goals.

https://iopscience.iop.org/article/10.1088/1748-9326/abd81b/pdf

Monica Garzuglia

Papers

The extent of forest in dryland biomes

An assessment of data sources, data quality and changes in national forest monitoring capacities in the Global Forest Resources Assessment 2005-2020

1948-2018 seventy years of FAO's global forest resources assessment : historical overview and future prospects