Clark Labs will be unveiling new tools for REDD+ at the Forest Day 4 event in Cancun that will enable users to measure carbon emissions with the BioCarbon Fund methodology as well as model the impacts of alternative economic policies with a new interface to the OSIRIS modeling tool. These new features will be publicly available within the Land Change Modeler application in the IDRISI GIS and Image Processing software in 2011.
REDD — Reducing Emissions from Deforestation and Forest Degradation — is a climate change mitigation strategy, first proposed at the COP11 meeting in Montreal that offers developing countries incentives to reduce their forest carbon emissions. REDD+ goes beyond deforestation and forest degradation, and includes the role of conservation, sustainable management of forests and enhancement of forest carbon stocks. Development of a deforestation baseline is the first stage in the creation of a REDD proposal. The baseline is the estimated future rate and distribution of change that will occur if REDD is not implemented.
Land Change Modeler currently includes functionality for REDD+, specifically the tools for mapping land cover, modeling deforestation and future land change scenarios, and analyzing the impacts of land change on habitat and biodiversity.
The new features will automate the workflow for REDD+ project development even further, guiding the user through the steps of baseline development and directly producing the tables and graphics required in reporting based on the World Bank’s BioCarbon Fund methodology.
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