Journal of Earth Science & Climatic Change
Open Access

Abstract

Forest degradation is an important source of emissions of carbon dioxide, a greenhouse gas. In many African woodland countries, degradation is a more substantial source of carbon dioxide emissions than deforestation, but degradation cannot be accurately measured using optical remote sensed data such as Landsat. LTS International and the University of Edinburgh have developed FoRAsT (Forest Radar Assessment Tool), an innovative new tool for detecting and measuring forest degradation using radar technology. Radar systems are well suited for assessing above ground biomass, because they are sensitive to woody biomass but not to canopy foliage. Radar can also be used in the day or night times, under any weather conditions. In 2014, LTS applied the FoRAsT in two different international development projects. In the first project, biomass change in the Sierra Leone/Guinea border region was assessed as part of a USAID and USFS/IP funded climate change mitigation pilot project. Over 90% of the biomass lost resulted from degradation. These data are being used by the STEWARD project to inform land use decisions and contribute to on-going forest monitoring. LTS also produced a biomass change assessment for priority catchments of the Shire river basin in Malawi as part of an integrated land use management project for the Government of Malawi. Production of biomass maps for 2007 and 2010 enabled the project team to show the spatial pattern of forest degradation over that period. This information is now being used by the Government of Malawi to target interventions in support of sustainable land use management.

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