Definitions of ‘Forests’ in International Environmental Law: Implications for Ecosystems, Forest Peoples and Climate Change Feja Lesniewska School of Oriental and African Studies, University of London 8 th IUCN ELA Colloquium 15 September 2010, Ghent

Contents  Introduction  Forest Definitions - Land Use or Land Cover?  Existing international forest definitions  Definitional issues in REDD+  Alternative approaches: biome & carbon flow  Harmonisation  Conclusions

Forests: Land Use or Land Cover?

FAO Forest Resource Assessment, 2010 ‘Land spanning more than 0.5 hectares with trees higher than 5 meters and a canopy cover of more than 10%, or trees able to reach these thresholds in situ. It does not include land that is predominantly under agricultural or urban use.’

Convention on Biological Diversity ‘Forest is a land area of more than 0.5 ha, with a tree canopy cover of more than 10%, which is not primarily under agriculture or other specific non-forest land use. In the case of young forest or regions where tree growth is climatically suppressed, the trees should be capable of reaching a height of 5m in situ, and of meeting the canopy cover requirement.’

Kyoto Protocol’s Marrakech Accord “Forest” is a minimum area of land of hectares with tree crown cover (or equivalent stocking level) of more than per cent with trees with the potential to reach a minimum height of 2-5 metres at maturity in situ. A forest may consist either of closed forest formations where trees of various storeys and undergrowth cover a high proportion of the ground or open forest. Young natural stands and all plantations which have yet to reach a crown density of per cent or tree height of 2-5 metres are included under forest, as are areas normally forming part of the forest area which are temporarily unstocked as a result of human intervention such as harvesting or natural causes but which are expected to revert to forest’

Deforestation - FCCC/KP/AWG/2010/CRP.2 In the case of planted production forests [established before 1 January 1990 only], conversion of forest land to non-forest land shall be considered harvesting, and shall not be considered deforestation, where an equivalent forest is established elsewhere on non-forest land that would have qualified for afforestation or reforestation. Equivalent forest shall not be included in a Party’s assessment of emissions and removals from afforestation and reforestation activities and must be included in a Party’s accounting of forest management under Article 3, paragraph 4, if elected

International Forest Degradation Definitions I CBD (2001) - a degraded forest is a secondary forest that has lost, through human activities, the structure, function, species composition or productivity associated with a natural forest type expected on that site. Hence a degraded forest delivers reduced supply of goods and services from the given site and maintains only limited biological diversity. Biological diversity of degraded forest includes many non-tree components, which may dominate in the under-canopy vegetation. IPCC (2003)- a direct human induced activity that leads to a long term reduction in forest carbon stocks.

International Forest Degradation Definitions II ITTO (2005) – direct human induced loss of forest values (particularly carbon), likely to be characterised by a reduction of tree crown cover. Routine management from which crown cover will recover within the normal cycle of forest management operations is not included. FAO (2006) - changes within the forest which negatively affect the structure or function of the stand or site, and thereby lower the capacity to supply products and/or services

Alternative Approaches Biome specificCarbon flow

Harmonisation

Thank you for your attention Feja Lesniewska –