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Accuracy assessment for forest and land use maps From 1990 to 2010, Viet Nam

10am, December 10th, 2015

This report has been produced by the USAID-funded Lowering Emissions in Asia’s Forests (USAID LEAF) program in its support for the development of the Lam Dong Provincial REDD+ Action Plan (PRAP). It is one of five technical reports that have been developed to help the Lam Dong Department of Agriculture and Rural Development (DARD) in defining an appropriate Forest Reference Level for the Province from which its policies and measures introduced to reduce emissions and increase greenhouse gas (GHG) removals from the forestry sector can be measured against. Specifically, the report details the methodology and results of activities undertaken to verify the accuracy of historical forest and land use maps of Lam Dong from 1990 to 2010.

Over the past decade, various national and international organizations have made significant efforts to work out mechanisms to combat deforestation and reduce emissions of greenhouse gases from the forest and land use sectors. They have attempted to quantify different values of forest resources and forest environmental services and propose workable market payment incentive mechanisms so as to effectively manage these valuable resources. Among these efforts, the most prominent initiative is the Reducing emissions from deforestation and forest degradation and the
role of conservation, sustainable management of forests and enhancement of forest carbon stocks in developing countries (REDD+) mechanism. This performance based mechanism is aimed at compensating developing countries for conserving and protecting their forest resources, thereby reducing greenhouse gases emissions and increasing greenhouse gases removals. REDD+ mechanisms also seek to generate additional social and environmental benefits, or ‘multiple-benefits’, which include biodiversity conservation, improvement of local livelihoods and gender equity.

This report, Accuracy assessment for forest and land use maps From 1990 to 2010, Viet Nam, presents the methodology and results undertaken to verify the accuracy of historical land use/ forest cover maps of Lam Dong from 1990 to 2010. Determining the accuracy of these maps is essential in confidently predicting historical forest and land use rates of change and subsequently historical greenhouse gases emission and removal levels. The report also outlines challenges in developing these historical maps for Lam Dong from which further efforts could be undertaken to improve their accuracy in the future.

Read the report: Accuracy assessment for forest and land use maps From 1990 to 2010

For more resources from this project, see here: Establishing a reference level for REDD+ from 1990 to 2010, Viet Nam

Institutions Involved

  • Lowering Emissions in Asia's Forests (LEAF)

Authors

Vu Tien Dien, Pham Duc Cuong, Peter Stephen, Tran Van Chau, Alexandre Grais, Silvia Petrova.
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