Mathieu Van Rijn

National forest inventories and emission factors

• National forest inventory (NFI) methodology was developed or revised in Bhutan, Cambodia, Indonesia, Mongolia, Sri Lanka, Thailand, Timor-Leste and Viet Nam. 
• Green Climate Fund (GCF) Readiness Project focused on Indonesia and Timor-Leste.
• NFI implementation continued in Bangladesh and Papua New Guinea, supported by the World Bank, the United States of America and European Union funding.
• Emission factor (EF) support was provided in Cambodia, Myanmar (mangroves), Timor-Leste and the Association of Southeast Asian Nations.
• Small-scale inventories support was provided in Timor-Leste.
• Growth models (based on permanent simple plot data) were implemented in various countries, such as Papua New Guinea.

Remote sensing

• Land use change activities took place in Bangladesh, Bhutan, Cambodia, Fiji, Mongolia, Myanmar, Nepal, Papua New Guinea, Sri Lanka, Timor-Leste and Thailand.
• Geoportal launched in Cambodia, Papua New Guinea, Sri Lanka and Viet Nam.
• Peat restoration and monitoring is ongoing in Indonesia.
• Mangrove biome extent and change mapping support was provided to Myanmar.
• System for Earth Observation Data Access, Processing and Analysis for Land Monitoring (SEPAL) was tested for near real-time monitoring of deforestation in Cambodia, Lao People's Democratic Republic, Myanmar, Papua New Guinea, Thailand and Vietnam.
• Se.plan regional restoration assessment took place in Cambodia, Fiji, Thailand and the Asia-Pacific.

Reporting and enhanced transparency frameworks

• Forest reference level/forest reference emission level submissions were supported in Bangladesh, Bhutan, Cambodia, Lao People's Democratic Republic, Mongolia, Myanmar, Nepal, Papua New Guinea, Solomon Islands, Sri Lanka, Thailand, Timor-Leste and Viet Nam.
• National communications, biennial update reports and technical analyses were supported in Cambodia, Lao People's Democratic Republic, Papua New Guinea and Viet Nam.
• Nationally determined contributions and long-term strategy support took place in Cambodia, Mongolia, Papua New Guinea and Thailand.
• “Building global capacity to increase transparency in the forest sector” (CBIT-Forest) phase 2 was implemented with the Food and Agriculture Microdata Catalogue repositories and the NFI network in the Asia-Pacific.
• Architecture for REDD+ Transactions (ART) The REDD+ Environmental Excellence Standard (TREES) registration support was provided in Nepal, Papua New Guinea and Vietnam.

Accelerating Innovative Monitoring for Forests (2023–2028)

• Technical innovations and open access advance national forest monitoring systems (NFMS) and monitoring, reporting and verification (MRV).
• High-quality agriculture, forestry and land use data and solutions are improved.
• Monitoring and MRV modules are customized with learning material for inclusive participation.
• The GFOI's country-led planning is implemented to identify gaps and embed MRV systems in national institutions.
• Technical assistance is provided to address NFMS and MRV gaps in countries.
• NFMS and MRV is institutionalized within countries.
• Open, transparent and accessible results are ensured for all stakeholders.

Forest Data Partnership

• Credible monitoring and verification are ensured by uniting organizations, governments and private sector partners.
• Landscape monitoring and management are transformed with technology advancements.

Marija Spirovska Kono, Randy Hamilton, Vo Viet Cuong and Sebastian Wesselman

Regional work

• Climate Finance Access was implemented in Nepal, Fiji, Lao People's Democratic Republic and Vietnam.
• EFs were improved, such as for burned biomass EFs and the use of lidar data for biomass mapping.
• Advanced forest monitoring topics were covered, such as forest degradation, forest removals and crop mapping with machine learning.
• Se.plan tool was piloted for forest restoration planning.
• Joint workshops with the Committee on Earth Observation Satellites were held on: 1) Improved biomass and mangrove mapping, and 2) Land cover mapping for estimating carbon emissions.
• Collaboration was facilitated with FAO, Sustainable Forest Management and REDD+ Support Project (F-REDD) with the Japan International Cooperation Agency (JICA), the World Bank, the United Nations Development Programme and SERVIR.

Fiji

• 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+) supported Fiji’s Ministry of Forestry with an audit of the first REDD+ monitoring report under the Forest Carbon Partnership Facility (FCPF) Carbon Fund.
  • Capacity building is taking place on activity data generation for the second monitoring report.
• A national land monitoring system is being implemented to provide guidance to a technical working group comprised of six ministries.
  • It will produce maps of six Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change land use classes and changes.
  • Sample-based area estimation will refine area estimates for REDD+ and greenhouse gas (GHG) reporting for the agriculture, forestry and other land use sector.
  • Capacity will take place in remote sensing (mapping), image interpretation and sample-based area estimation.
  • The target completion date is in June 2024.
• NFI for timber valuation standard operating procedures is being finalized for the Ministry of Forestry.

Vietnam

• NFI ongoing support is being provided for the implementation of the sixth cycle, which will improve sampling for the mangrove inventory (Ecological Research Plots).
• Land cover mapping is being harmonized with Global Land Analysis and Discovery through the University of Maryland, which will focus on Mekong delta and improved rice maps.
• GHG inventory support is being provided.
• Climate Finance and the Lowering Emissions by Accelerating Forest Finance (LEAF) Coalition process is being supported through a carbon pricing study, MRV circular and the potential of provincial level emissions reduction.

Somphavy Keoka

REDD+ result-based payment

• A national forest reference emission level was established in 2005, with the first result in 2018, yielding USD 14 million for the GCF. JICA and the Department of Forestry are expecting to access the GCF for the second phase of REDD+ result-based payment.
• The FCPF Emission Reduction Program second phase is expected soon with a hopeful payment of around 42 million for 2019–2024. The second monitoring will be carried out in 2025 with payment in 2026.
• F-REDD is providing technical support for emission reduction monitoring.
• Several REDD+ projects are under discussion between the Department of Forestry and private sector project proponents.

Provincial deforestation monitoring system (PMDS)

• PMDS is a remote sensing based MRV tool to monitor land use change (deforestation) efficiently.
• Using simple digital technology, it is easy, fast and low cost.
• 15 provinces will be involved by 2024.
• A dashboard was developed for automatic reporting on deforestation activities.

Integrating daily NICFI data with the PDMS

• Data accessibility issues make integrating high-resolution data into the PDMS is challenging.
• Access to weekly and daily data was requested for more accurate and timely monitoring.
• Technical support from SilvaCarbon is crucial for forest management in Lao People's Democratic Republic.
• NICFI Monthly mainly use in the PDMS for validation of the result and field checks.
• The time gap between Sentinel 2 (every 5 days) and NICFI Monthly Planet data is significant, leading to the early detection of deforestation hotspots by the PDMS before the availability of NICFI Planet Monthly Data.
• FAO provided the Department of Forestry and Department of Forest Inspection with an access to NICFI Daily Planet data, as well as Jupyter script.

NFI methodology: technical support from Silvacarbon

• Revision of NFI sampling design and plot design will be supported by the United States Forest Service and University of Gottingen.
• NFI Pilot Study will start in March 2024, testing new sampling and plot design in various forest types.
• Quality assurance/quality control is being reviewed, including training in Vietnam.
• EF research from biomass burning will take place through collaboration with national universities.

Internship with SERVIR on forest fire monitoring

• Accurate burn scar maps would identify fire hot spots weekly, monthly and annually from the national level to the district level.
• Forest fire detection and monitoring is crucial; recent events prompted increased attention.
• Risk map for fire forecasting will be made based on the occurrence of historical fires and land cover (fallow land over 3 to 4 years or forest close to cropland and signs for thinning, which occur a few days before the burning).
• Internships on forest fire monitoring in Thailand will take place through collaboration with Silvacarbon and the SERVIR Southeast Asia hub.

André Orth, Raphael Linzatti and Tunggul Butarbutar

Overview

• GIZ is the main implementing agency of technical assistance for German development funding.
• There are a multitude of programmes and initiatives funded by GIZ, several related to forests and the Asia-Pacific region.
• Currently there is no particular pipeline for programmes that solely focus on monitoring, but there are several programmes by GIZ that have a monitoring component and forests remain a priority.

Peatland inventory and mapping in East and North Kalimantan

• 44 million hectares of tropical peatland exist globally, and Indonesia has half of it.
• There is importance for biodiversity, and the Indonesia peat carbon storage is 13.6 and 57.4 gigatons. 
• Peatlands deliver essential ecosystem services, such as maintaining air and water quality, providing timber and non-timber forest resources, and supporting fish populations for local consumption.
• Challenges include the conversion to agricultural expansion, oil palm and pulp wood, timber harvesting, mining, consequent drainage and associated fire; subsidence due to drainage; and fire risk during dry periods.
• Peatland inventory is a crucial step in identifying peatland characteristics to enable a strategic decision for peatland restoration and management. The inventory will be the basis for the formal implementation of a peatland protection and utilization map at a scale of 1:50 000. 
• The project supports the inventory of 29 Peat Hydrological Units (PHU) in the East Kalimantan and North Kalimantan province, covering an area of ca. 600 000 hectares.
• The upcoming project plans to continue the inventory for around 1.5 million hectares in Central Kalimantan and South Kalimantan.
• Activities are carried out by the project Peatland Rehabilitation and Management, commissioned by the Federal Ministry of Economic Cooperation and Development (BMZ) and implemented by GIZ in Indonesia.
• Based on Indonesia’s Minister of Environment and Forestry regulation No. 14 (2017), the peat characteristic inventory result was used to determine the peat ecosystem function.

Management and conservation of Blue Carbon Ecosystems

• This is a regional initiative covering Fiji, Papua New Guinea, the Solomon Islands and Vanuatu.
• The project aims to connect experiences from forest monitoring to blue carbon initiatives, recognizing the similarities in processes and challenges.
• It was commissioned by the German Federal Ministry of Environment, Nature Conservation, Nuclear Safety and Consumer Protection under the International Climate Initiative and implemented by GIZ in close collaboration with regional partners (Pacific Community [SPC] and Pacific Regional Environment Programme).
• The project seeks to assist countries in constructing national EF for blue carbon ecosystems by mapping seagrass and mangrove ecosystems in partner countries and quantifying ecosystem services with remote sensing.
• Remote sensing activities and capacity building are implemented through the Digital Earth Pacific (DEP) platform, created and managed by SPC.
• The DEP platform is managed based on lessons learned from similar platforms in Australia and Africa and is compatible with other platforms like Google Earth Engine.
• A preliminary example of mangrove mapping in Papua New Guinea was shared, with ongoing efforts to enhance the maps by adding control points and inventory data.
• The goal is to have a final product for both seagrass and mangrove ecosystems in all four partner countries by the end of the year.
• Workshops and capacity-building activities are conducted in partner countries to empower them in utilizing remote sensing technologies and constructing national emission factors.

Julian Gonzalo

Overview of portfolio for emission reductions

• The progress of the FCPF and Initiative for Sustainable Forest Landscapes (ISFL) Biocarbon Fund portfolio in the South Asia and East Asia Pacific region has been significant.
• The focus countries include Nepal, Lao People's Democratic Republic, Vietnam, Indonesia and Fiji.

Fiji

• The validation and verification process for Fiji's first monitoring report have commenced with positive results.
• The committed amount for the first monitoring report has been achieved, resulting in 800 000 emission reductions.
• Support was provided for commercializing emission reductions through workshops and discussions.
• Pending questions regarding the validation process include a reversal risk assessment.
• Potential risks related to the reversal risk assessment and uncertainties about the impact of el Niño.

Indonesia

• There are positive outcomes for Indonesia's two initial reduction programmes in East Kalimantan under the FCPF.
• The initial reduction payment agreement targeted 22 million emission reductions, but results show 26 million.
• Support was extended for the workshops and exploring avenues for commercializing emission reductions.

Lao People's Democratic Republic

• Lao People's Democratic Republic demonstrated efficiency in the validation and verification process, generating 3.2 million initial reductions.
• The country is waiting for the issuance and transfer of credits through the World Bank Emission Reduction Transaction Registry.

Nepal

• Nepal is currently engaged in the validation and verification process, with training conducted for both FCPF and LEAF Coalition programmes.
• Results for the first monitoring report may not fulfill the minimum volume, but efforts are ongoing.

Vietnam

• Vietnam achieved remarkable results, generating 16 million emission reductions with the first monitoring report.
• Payment was received for transfer credits and support is provided for organizing an auction for excess initial reductions.

Additional initiatives and collaborations

• Collaboration with the University of Maryland and National Aeronautics and Space Administration is ongoing for a pan-tropical structure on biomass changes and canopy heights using TanDEM-X and Global Ecosystem Dynamics Investigation data.
• Engagement in blue carbon opportunities is ongoing, especially with Singapore, involving mangroves and other non-classic blue carbon ecosystems.
• A memorandum of understandings will be signed with the National Environment Agency of Singapore to recognize FCPF credits for companies involved in the tax sector programme as a continued effort to support countries in commercializing initial reductions and FCPF and ISFL emissions programmes.