Faculty of Mathematics and Natural Sciences - Earth Observation Lab

I-REDD+

Impacts of Reducing Emissions from Deforestation and Forest Degradation and Enhancing Carbon Stocks

Project period: 01/2011 - 12/2014

Description of the project

The goal of I-REDD+ is to obtain an improved understanding of how the implementation of REDD+ mechanisms may 1) reduce emissions of greenhouse gases and maintain or enhance existing stocks of carbon in vegetation and soil of various land cover types; 2) impact livelihoods and welfare of local farming communities and differences between communities; 3) impact biodiversity conservation, and 4) provide a realistic framework for monitoring, reporting and verification of REDD+, including the importance of governance and accountability at multiple levels. The project has a regional focus in the uplands of Southeast Asia, specifically in the ‘Heart of Borneo’, Indonesia, and in the northern parts of Lao PDR and Vietnam, and Yunnan in Southwest China. The Geomatics group at Humboldt-University of Berlin contributes to I-REDD+ by developing remote sensing methods and data sets to support monitoring of deforestation and forest degradation, and associated carbon flux in Southeast Asia. To overcome existing challenges in monitoring vegetation dynamics in tropical forests, we use an integrated approach across multiple sensors and spatial-temporal scales. The core research areas focus on detecting long-term trends in forest degradation, land use, and land-use intensities using dense Landsat time series, integration of optical and radar (SAR) data, and the potential of hyperspectral remote sensing in light of the up-coming EnMap mission. I-REDD+ is an international, interdisciplinary team with researchers and professionals from 9 countries funded by the 7th Framework Program of the European Commission.


Lab members involved
Links

http://cordis.europa.eu/result/rcn/165533_en.html

Funding

This research was funded by the European Commission (Collaborative Project Impacts of Reducing Emissions from Deforestation and Forest Degradation and Enhancing Carbon Stocks, I-REDD+, FP7-ENV-2010-265286).