Tracking land-use change events

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.

How much does land-use change in Canada contribute to carbon emissions?

In Canada, the establishment of new forests (or afforestation) does not occur on a large scale—around 9000 hectares annually. This limited afforestation results in the removal from the atmosphere of around 1 million tonnes of carbon dioxide each year, and this will slowly increase over time as new trees grow. Deforestation has a bigger impact, but this is still quite small on a global scale. The area deforested annually in Canada has fallen from just over 64 000 hectares in 1990 to 45 000 hectares in 2009. Consequently, immediate emissions from forest conversion have decreased from 26 megatonnes of carbon dioxide equivalents (Mt CO2 eq) in 1990 to 18 Mt in 2009. Deforestation in Canada is caused mainly by the conversion of forest land for agriculture, industrial development, resource extraction and urban expansion.

National Afforestation Inventory

The National Afforestation Inventory (NAI) is an internet-based reporting system that has been used to gather information about afforestation in Canada and provide it to the NFCMARS.

The NAI was used to track afforestation plantations established under the Forest 2020 Plantation Demonstration and Assessment initiative. 

The NAI showcases how the Canadian Forest Service can exchange information on afforestation with afforestation practitioners over the internet.  Managers of afforestation projects can provide information about their projects to the Canadian Forest Service using forms accessible through a web browser.  The public can view maps showing the general location of afforestation activities and can obtain summary statistics about the area afforested in Canada.

The NAI is hosted on the NFIS network. In order to access this site you must have an account with the National Forest Information System (NFIS). Accounts are free and available.

For more information contact Brian Simpson

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.

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