Background: The reliable monitoring, reporting and verifcation (MRV) of carbon emissions and removals from the forest sector is an important part of the eforts on reducing emissions from deforestation and forest degrada- tion (REDD+). Forest-dependent local communities are engaged to contribute to MRV through community-based monitoring systems. The efciency of such monitoring systems could be improved through the rational integration of the studies at permanent plots with the geospatial technologies. This article presents a case study of integrating community-based measurements at permanent plots at the foothills of central Nepal and biomass maps that were developed using GeoEye-1 and IKONS satellite images.
Results: The use of very-high-resolution satellite-based tree cover parameters, including crown projected area (CPA), crown density and crown size classes improves salience, reliability and legitimacy of the community-based survey of 0.04% intensity at the lower cost than increasing intensity of the community-based survey to 0.14% level (2.5 USD/ha vs. 7.5 USD/ha).
Conclusion: The proposed REDD+ MRV complementary system is the frst of its kind and demonstrates the enhancement of information content, accuracy of reporting and reduction in cost. It also allows assessment of the efcacy of community-based forest management and extension to national scale.
Keywords: Satellite images, Community monitoring, REDD+ MRV, Biomass map, Nepal
