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Blanton A, Mohan M, Galgamuwa GAP, Watt MS, Montenegro JF, Mills F, Carlsen SCH, Valasquez-Camacho L, Bomfim B, Pons J, Broadbent EN, Kaur A, Direk S, de-Miguel S, Ortega M, Abdullah M, Rondon M, Wan Mohd Jaafar WS, Silva CA, Cardil A, Doaemo W, Ewane EB. The status of forest carbon markets in Latin America. JOURNAL OF ENVIRONMENTAL MANAGEMENT 2024; 352:119921. [PMID: 38219661 DOI: 10.1016/j.jenvman.2023.119921] [Citation(s) in RCA: 0] [Impact Index Per Article: 0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [MESH Headings] [Track Full Text] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 10/12/2023] [Revised: 11/24/2023] [Accepted: 12/11/2023] [Indexed: 01/16/2024]
Abstract
Tropical rainforests of Latin America (LATAM) are one of the world's largest carbon sinks, with substantial future carbon sequestration potential and contributing a major proportion of the global supply of forest carbon credits. LATAM is poised to contribute predominantly towards high-quality forest carbon offset projects designed to reduce emissions from deforestation and forest degradation, halt biodiversity loss, and provide equitable conservation benefits to people. Thus, carbon markets, including compliance carbon markets and voluntary carbon markets continue to expand in LATAM. However, the extent of the growth and status of forest carbon markets, pricing initiatives, stakeholders, amongst others, are yet to be explored and extensively reviewed for the entire LATAM region. Against this backdrop, we reviewed a total of 299 articles, including peer-reviewed and non-scientific gray literature sources, from January 2010 to March 2023. Herein, based on the extensive literature review, we present the results and provide perspectives classified into five categories: (i) the status and recent trends of forest carbon markets (ii) the interested parties and their role in the forest carbon markets, (iii) the measurement, reporting and verification (MRV) approaches and role of remote sensing, (iv) the challenges, and (v) the benefits, opportunities, future directions and recommendations to enhance forest carbon markets in LATAM. Despite the substantial challenges, better governance structures for forest carbon markets can increase the number, quality and integrity of projects and support the carbon sequestration capacity of the rainforests of LATAM. Due to the complex and extensive nature of forest carbon projects in LATAM, emerging technologies like remote sensing can enable scale and reduce technical barriers to MRV, if properly benchmarked. The future directions and recommendations provided are intended to improve upon the existing infrastructure and governance mechanisms, and encourage further participation from the public and private sectors in forest carbon markets in LATAM.
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Affiliation(s)
- Austin Blanton
- Ecoresolve, San Francisco, CA, United States of America; Morobe Development Foundation (via United Nations Volunteering Program), Lae, 00411, Papua New Guinea; Elliott School of International Affairs, George Washington University, Washington, DC, United States of America
| | - Midhun Mohan
- Ecoresolve, San Francisco, CA, United States of America; Morobe Development Foundation (via United Nations Volunteering Program), Lae, 00411, Papua New Guinea; Department of Geography, University of California - Berkeley, Berkeley, CA, United States of America.
| | - G A Pabodha Galgamuwa
- Ecoresolve, San Francisco, CA, United States of America; Morobe Development Foundation (via United Nations Volunteering Program), Lae, 00411, Papua New Guinea
| | | | - Jorge F Montenegro
- Ecoresolve, San Francisco, CA, United States of America; Morobe Development Foundation (via United Nations Volunteering Program), Lae, 00411, Papua New Guinea; University of Liverpool Management School, University of Liverpool, Liverpool, United Kingdom; School of Engineering, Fundación Universitaria Compensar, Bogota, Colombia
| | - Freddie Mills
- Ecoresolve, San Francisco, CA, United States of America; Morobe Development Foundation (via United Nations Volunteering Program), Lae, 00411, Papua New Guinea
| | | | - Luisa Valasquez-Camacho
- Ecoresolve, San Francisco, CA, United States of America; Unit of Applied Artificial Intelligence, Eurecat, Centre Tecnològic de Catalunya, 08005, Barcelona, Spain; Department of Agricultural and Forest Sciences and Engineering, University of Lleida, 25198 Lleida, Spain
| | - Barbara Bomfim
- Climate and Ecosystem Sciences Division, Lawrence Berkeley National Laboratory, Berkeley, CA, United States of America
| | - Judith Pons
- Ecoresolve, San Francisco, CA, United States of America; Morobe Development Foundation (via United Nations Volunteering Program), Lae, 00411, Papua New Guinea
| | - Eben North Broadbent
- School of Forest, Fisheries, and Geomatics Sciences, University of Florida, Gainesville, FL, United States of America
| | - Ashpreet Kaur
- Morobe Development Foundation (via United Nations Volunteering Program), Lae, 00411, Papua New Guinea; School of Natural Resources and Environment, University of Florida, Gainesville, FL, United States of America
| | - Seyide Direk
- Morobe Development Foundation (via United Nations Volunteering Program), Lae, 00411, Papua New Guinea; European Enterprise Alliance/ United Nations Development Programme, Brussels, Belgium
| | - Sergio de-Miguel
- Department of Agricultural and Forest Sciences and Engineering, University of Lleida, 25198 Lleida, Spain; Forest Science and Technology Centre of Catalonia (CTFC), 25280 Solsona, Spain
| | - Macarena Ortega
- Forest Fire Laboratory (LABIF). Department of Forest Engineering. University of Cordoba, 14071, Cordoba, Spain
| | - Meshal Abdullah
- Ecoresolve, San Francisco, CA, United States of America; Department of Geography, Sultan Qaboos University, Muscat, Oman; Department of Ecology and Conservation Biology, Texas A&M University, College Station, TX, United States of America
| | - Marcela Rondon
- Ecoresolve, San Francisco, CA, United States of America; Morobe Development Foundation (via United Nations Volunteering Program), Lae, 00411, Papua New Guinea
| | - Wan Shafrina Wan Mohd Jaafar
- Ecoresolve, San Francisco, CA, United States of America; Earth Observation Centre, Institute of Climate Change, Universiti Kebangsaan Malaysia, 43600, Bangi, Selangor, Malaysia
| | - Carlos Alberto Silva
- Forest Biometrics and Remote Sensing Lab (Silva Lab) - School of Forest Resources and Conservation, University of Florida, Gainesville, FL, 32611, United States of America
| | - Adrian Cardil
- Department of Agricultural and Forest Sciences and Engineering, University of Lleida, 25198 Lleida, Spain; Forest Science and Technology Centre of Catalonia (CTFC), 25280 Solsona, Spain; Tecnosylva, S.L Parque Tecnológico de León, 24004, León, Spain
| | - Willie Doaemo
- Morobe Development Foundation (via United Nations Volunteering Program), Lae, 00411, Papua New Guinea; Department of Civil Engineering, Papua New Guinea University of Technology, Lae, 00411, Papua New Guinea
| | - Ewane Basil Ewane
- Ecoresolve, San Francisco, CA, United States of America; Morobe Development Foundation (via United Nations Volunteering Program), Lae, 00411, Papua New Guinea; Department of Geography, Faculty of Social and Management Sciences, University of Buea, P.O. BOX 63, Buea, Cameroon
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Ewane EB, Bajaj S, Velasquez-Camacho L, Srinivasan S, Maeng J, Singla A, Luber A, de-Miguel S, Richardson G, Broadbent EN, Cardil A, Jaafar WSWM, Abdullah M, Corte APD, Silva CA, Doaemo W, Mohan M. Influence of urban forests on residential property values: A systematic review of remote sensing-based studies. Heliyon 2023; 9:e20408. [PMID: 37842597 PMCID: PMC10568372 DOI: 10.1016/j.heliyon.2023.e20408] [Citation(s) in RCA: 0] [Impact Index Per Article: 0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [Track Full Text] [Figures] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 03/30/2023] [Revised: 09/22/2023] [Accepted: 09/22/2023] [Indexed: 10/17/2023] Open
Abstract
Urban forests provide direct and indirect benefits to human well-being that are increasingly captured in residential property values. Remote Sensing (RS) can be used to measure a wide range of forest and vegetation parameters that allows for a more detailed and better understanding of their specific influences on housing prices. Herein, through a systematic literature review approach, we reviewed 89 papers (from 2010 to 2022) from 21 different countries that used RS data to quantify vegetation indices, forest and tree parameters of urban forests and estimated their influence on residential property values. The main aim of this study was to understand and provide insights into how urban forests influence residential property values based on RS studies. Although more studies were conducted in developed (n = 55, 61.7%) than developing countries (n = 34, 38.3%), the results indicated for the most part that increasing tree canopy cover on property and neighborhood level, forest size, type, greenness, and proximity to urban forests increased housing prices. RS studies benefited from spatially explicit repetitive data that offer superior efficiency to quantify vegetation, forest, and tree parameters of urban forests over large areas and longer periods compared to studies that used field inventory data. Through this work, we identify and underscore that urban forest benefits outweigh management costs and have a mostly positive influence on housing prices. Thus, we encourage further discussions about prioritizing reforestation and conservation of urban forests during the urban planning of cities and suburbs, which could support UN Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs) and urban policy reforms.
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Affiliation(s)
- Ewane Basil Ewane
- United Nations Volunteering Program, via Morobe Development Foundation, Lae 00411, Papua New Guinea
- Ecoresolve Inc., San Francisco, CA, USA, 94105
- Department of Geography, Faculty of Social and Management Sciences, University of Buea, P.O. BOX 63 Buea, Cameroon
| | - Shaurya Bajaj
- United Nations Volunteering Program, via Morobe Development Foundation, Lae 00411, Papua New Guinea
- Ecoresolve Inc., San Francisco, CA, USA, 94105
| | - Luisa Velasquez-Camacho
- Unit of Applied Artificial Intelligence, Eurecat, Centre Tecnològic de Catalunya, 08005 Barcelona, Spain
- Department of Agricultural and Forest Sciences and Engineering, University of Lleida, Av. Alcalde Rovira Roure 191, 5198 Lleida, Spain
| | - Shruthi Srinivasan
- Department of Forest Analytics, Texas A&M Forest Service, Dallas, TX 75252, USA
| | - Juyeon Maeng
- United Nations Volunteering Program, via Morobe Development Foundation, Lae 00411, Papua New Guinea
- AAP Labs, Cornell University, USA
| | - Anushka Singla
- United Nations Volunteering Program, via Morobe Development Foundation, Lae 00411, Papua New Guinea
| | - Andrea Luber
- United Nations Volunteering Program, via Morobe Development Foundation, Lae 00411, Papua New Guinea
| | - Sergio de-Miguel
- Department of Agricultural and Forest Sciences and Engineering, University of Lleida, Av. Alcalde Rovira Roure 191, 5198 Lleida, Spain
- Joint Research Unit CTFC-AGROTECNIO-CERCA, Ctra. Sant Llorenç de Morunys km 2, 25280 Solsona, Spain
| | - Gabriella Richardson
- United Nations Volunteering Program, via Morobe Development Foundation, Lae 00411, Papua New Guinea
- Department of Sociology and Anthropology, University of Guelph, Guelph ON, Canada
| | - Eben North Broadbent
- Spatial Ecology and Conservation (SPEC) Lab, School of Forest, Fisheries, and Geomatics Sciences, University of Florida, PO Box 110410, Gainesville, FL 32611, USA
| | - Adrian Cardil
- Department of Agricultural and Forest Sciences and Engineering, University of Lleida, Av. Alcalde Rovira Roure 191, 5198 Lleida, Spain
- Joint Research Unit CTFC-AGROTECNIO-CERCA, Ctra. Sant Llorenç de Morunys km 2, 25280 Solsona, Spain
- Tecnosylva, S.L Parque Tecnológico de León, 24004 León, Spain
| | - Wan Shafrina Wan Mohd Jaafar
- Earth Observation Centre, Institute of Climate Change, Universiti Kebangsaan Malaysia, Bangi 43600, Selangor, Malaysia
| | - Meshal Abdullah
- Department of Geography, College of Arts and Social Sciences, Sultan Qaboos University, Muscat, P.O. Box 50, Oman
- Department of Ecology and Conservation Biology, Texas A&M University, College Station, TX, USA
| | - Ana Paula Dalla Corte
- BIOFIX Research Center, Federal University of Paraná (UFPR), Curitiba 80210-170, Brazil
| | - Carlos Alberto Silva
- Forest Biometrics, Remote Sensing and Artificial Intelligence Laboratory (Silva Lab), University of Florida, USA
| | - Willie Doaemo
- United Nations Volunteering Program, via Morobe Development Foundation, Lae 00411, Papua New Guinea
- Department of Civil Engineering, Papua New Guinea University of Technology, Lae, 00411, Papua New Guinea
- Morobe Development Foundation, Doyle Street, Trish Avenue-Eriku, Lae 00411, Papua New Guinea
| | - Midhun Mohan
- United Nations Volunteering Program, via Morobe Development Foundation, Lae 00411, Papua New Guinea
- Ecoresolve Inc., San Francisco, CA, USA, 94105
- Department of Geography, University of California-Berkeley, Berkeley, CA 94709, USA
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Patlolla AK, Smith Z, Tchounwou P. Indirect Impacts of COVID-19 on the Environment: A Global Review. INTERNATIONAL JOURNAL OF BIOMEDICAL AND CLINICAL ANALYSIS 2022; 2:9-19. [PMID: 36267598 PMCID: PMC9580545] [Citation(s) in RCA: 0] [Impact Index Per Article: 0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [Download PDF] [Figures] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Indexed: 11/27/2022]
Abstract
Coronavirus (COVID-19) is an infectious disease caused by the SARS-CoV-2 virus, which has plagued the Earth for the past two years and brought much controversy along with it. This report aims to analyze how the Covid-19 pandemic has had indirect effects on the environment. The onset of the pandemic has not only caused havoc disrupting routine average and businesses, but also claimed at least five million lives worldwide. This prompted the governments and the World Health Organization (WHO) to formulate measures to contain the transmission and the impact of the disease on the populations. Quarantine measures, movement restrictions, lockdowns and curfews, and travel bans are some of the most effective response methods that have helped the world contain the pandemic's spread. The adopted measures have had an indirect impact on the environment, opening the global community to numerous opportunities and threats. This report provides a critical analysis of how the Covid-19 pandemic has had indirect effects on the environment, examining how the response and containment measures have affected the environment. It focuses on air quality, water demand and quality, climate change, afforestation and deforestation, wildlife resurgence, littering, traffic congestion, noise reduction and changed human activities. It explores how the Covid-19 containment measures have had an environmental impact with a keen interest in the earlier areas.
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Affiliation(s)
- Anita K. Patlolla
- RCMI-Center for Environmental Health, CSET, Jackson State University, Jackson, MS, USA.,Department of Biology, CSET, Jackson State University, Jackson, MS, USA.,Corresponding author: Anita K. Patlolla, Assistant Professor, Department of Biology, CSET, Jackson State University, 1400 Lynch Street, PO. Box 18540, Jackson, MS-39217, USA, Tel: +601-979-0210;
| | - Zavier Smith
- Environmental Science Ph.D., Program, Jackson State University, Jackson, MS, USA
| | - Paul Tchounwou
- RCMI-Center for Environmental Health, CSET, Jackson State University, Jackson, MS, USA.,Department of Biology, CSET, Jackson State University, Jackson, MS, USA
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Abstract
Indonesia has the second-largest biodiversity of any country in the world. Deforestation and forest degradation have caused a range of environmental issues, including habitat degradation and loss of biodiversity, deterioration of water quality and quantity, air pollution, and increased greenhouse gas emissions that contribute to climate change. Forest restoration at the landscape level has been conducted to balance ecological integrity and human well-being. Forest restoration efforts are also aimed at reducing CO2 emissions and are closely related to Indonesia’s Nationally Determined Contribution (NDC) from the forestry sector. The purpose of this paper is to examine the regulatory, institutional, and policy aspects of forest restoration in Indonesia, as well as the implementation of forest restoration activities in the country. The article was written using a synoptic review approach to Forest Landscape Restoration (FLR)-related articles and national experiences. Failures, success stories, and criteria and indicators for forest restoration success are all discussed. We also discuss the latest silvicultural techniques for the success of the forest restoration program. Restoration governance in Indonesia has focused on the wetland ecosystem such as peatlands and mangroves, but due to the severely degraded condition of many forests, the government has by necessity opted for active restoration involving the planting and establishment of livelihood options. The government has adapted its restoration approach from the early focus on ecological restoration to more forest landscape restoration, which recognizes that involving the local community in restoration activities is critical for the success of forest restoration.
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UAV-Supported Forest Regeneration: Current Trends, Challenges and Implications. REMOTE SENSING 2021. [DOI: 10.3390/rs13132596] [Citation(s) in RCA: 15] [Impact Index Per Article: 5.0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Track Full Text] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Indexed: 12/15/2022]
Abstract
Replanting trees helps with avoiding desertification, reducing the chances of soil erosion and flooding, minimizing the risks of zoonotic disease outbreaks, and providing ecosystem services and livelihood to the indigenous people, in addition to sequestering carbon dioxide for mitigating climate change. Consequently, it is important to explore new methods and technologies that are aiming to upscale and fast-track afforestation and reforestation (A/R) endeavors, given that many of the current tree planting strategies are not cost effective over large landscapes, and suffer from constraints associated with time, energy, manpower, and nursery-based seedling production. UAV (unmanned aerial vehicle)-supported seed sowing (UAVsSS) can promote rapid A/R in a safe, cost-effective, fast and environmentally friendly manner, if performed correctly, even in otherwise unsafe and/or inaccessible terrains, supplementing the overall manual planting efforts globally. In this study, we reviewed the recent literature on UAVsSS, to analyze the current status of the technology. Primary UAVsSS applications were found to be in areas of post-wildfire reforestation, mangrove restoration, forest restoration after degradation, weed eradication, and desert greening. Nonetheless, low survival rates of the seeds, future forest diversity, weather limitations, financial constraints, and seed-firing accuracy concerns were determined as major challenges to operationalization. Based on our literature survey and qualitative analysis, twelve recommendations—ranging from the need for publishing germination results to linking UAVsSS operations with carbon offset markets—are provided for the advancement of UAVsSS applications.
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