Sixteen communities trained to conduct community-based forest monitoring in their territories
Understanding and measuring forest carbon stocks is crucial for REDD+ and in particular for the Low Carbon Development Strategy (LCDS) discussions in Guyana. For local community to make informed decisions related to LCDS or REDD+ schemes, it was essential for communities to understand collectively the forest carbon cycle and existing forest carbon stocks within their titled forests. Above-ground biomass measurements are also important inputs for national forest inventories and in monitoring changes in forest carbon stock.
As such, in 2013, sixteen communities participating in the Community-based forest monitoring (CMRV) project took part in a series of training workshops delivered by Global Canopy Programme’s project partners to learn concepts related to REDD+, such as climate change, forest botany and carbon emissions. The training focused specifically on building local capacity for community monitors to develop biomass inventory.
The collection of this data has been reported back to the communities who have expressed much interest in how this information can be used for future participation in a REDD+ scheme, and on how to improve/maintain existing carbon stock by curbing unsustainable resource extraction. In addition, this information has been key for aligning and testing the role of community monitoring in measuring ecosystem services, as well as providing a valuable source of data for the national MRV system being developed by Guyana Forestry Commission (GFC). As such, under an existing memorandum of cooperation between the The North Rupununi District Development Board, Global Canopy Programme and Guyana Forestry Commission, a detailed technical report was delivered on carbon stock measurement for the Annai Demonstration Site, for testing and developing community MRV methodologies and approach for community participation under Guyana’s Low Carbon Development Strategy. The existing data is to be validated by GCF as part of the current agreements.