Tracking Land-Use Change Events for NFCMARS

The National Forest Carbon Monitoring, Accounting, and Reporting System tracks changes in carbon stocks that result from afforestation, reforestation, or deforestation activities in Canada. Under the Kyoto Protocol, Canada is required to monitor changes in carbon stocks that result from afforestation, reforestation, and deforestation activities that have occurred since 1990.

Afforestation/Reforestation

The National Forest Carbon Monitoring, Accounting, and Reporting System compiles information on all documented afforestation and reforestation activities in Canada, including location, extent, planting densities, growth rates, and survival rates. Information on historical afforestation rates has been obtained from the Feasibility Assessment of Afforestation for Carbon Sequestration (FAACS) initiative and the Forest 2020 Plantation Demonstration and Assessment initiative through the National Afforestation Inventory. More information…

Deforestation

Deforestation is the permanent change of land use from forest to non-forest. Whether deforestation occurs due to expansion of agricultural pasture (Figure 1), suburban sprawl (Figure 2), or industrial activity, the loss of sequestered carbon in Canada’s forest leads to an undesirable increase in atmospheric carbon dioxide. Our knowledge suggests that while deforestation is estimated to affect less than 0.1% of Canada’s forested lands over a ten year period, the loss of forest cover results in substantial emissions of greenhouse gases.

Figure 4a. Expansion of agricultural pasture in the Saskatchewan prairie fringe.
Figure 1. Expansion of agricultural pasture in the Saskatchewan prairie fringe.

Figure 4b. Land clearing for suburban housing, Prince George, British Columbia
Figure 2. Land clearing for suburban housing, Prince George, British Columbia.

The Deforestation Monitoring Group is ensuring that the methods and databases fit into the Carbon Budget Model of the Canadian Forest Sector (CBM-CFS3), and that they are useful for other reporting and analysis requirements.

For more information contact Don Leckie