Land use and land cover changes, including legal and illegal deforestation, are amongst the most important factors that contribute to the social and environmental challenges facing mankind in the 21st century. Deforestation alone is responsible for about 12% of the world’s anthropogenic greenhouse gas (GHG) emissions, whereas another 6% stems from peat oxidation and fires on degraded peatland areas (Van der Werf et al., 2009).
The combined effects of logging and forest regrowth on abandoned land are responsible for 10-25% of global human-induced emissions (Achard et al., 2002; Gullison et al., 2007). Annual emissions from deforestation in Indonesia and Brazil equal four-fifths of the annual reduction target of the Kyoto Protocol (Santilli et al., 2005). Under the United Nations Framework Convention on Climate Change (UNFCCC), the REDD+ instrument (Reducing Emissions from Deforestation and Forest Degradation), as agreed at COP-16 of the UNFCCC in December 2010, will alter the situation for developing countries. Read More
