ThEO

Deforestation and restoration

Melvin Lippe

BW Institute of Farm Economics

WF Institute of Forestry WO Institute of Forest Ecosystems

In order to develop solutions for sustainable forest development in the tropics and subtropics, remote sensing is used to investigate deforestation patterns, their drivers and causes. On this basis, we analyse how these changes affect ecosystem services and what potential there is for restoring forests.

Deforestation in Nord-Luzon, Philippines

In many tropical regions, forests are threatened and often have to give way to agricultural and settlement areas. This land-use change has major implications for climate, biodiversity, and development prospects for local populations. In order to develop policy tools, the causes of deforestation and degradation and their impacts on ecosystem services and livelihoods must first be investigated - both at local and supra-regional scales. To do this, we use remote sensing methods, along with empirical biophysical and socioeconomic surveys at the landscape level.

The overall goal is to counteract deforestation and degradation of tropical and subtropical forests and to promote reforestation processes. This is flanked by the following individual measures:

Analysis of land use change, especially deforestation and reforestation, and assessment of the restoration potential of forests in the tropics and subtropics (LULUCF).

Supporting policy-making processes such as REDD+

Support for deforestation-free supply chains
https://www.europarl.europa.eu/news/en/press-room/20230414IPR80129/parliament-adopts-new-law-to-fight-global-deforestation

Our research questions

How great is the deforestation pressure on the remaining intact forest areas in the tropics and subtropics, e.g. in Ecuador, the Philippines and Zambia?

What is the potential for restoration and reforestation in Ethiopia?

With what quality of analysis can forest strata (natural forest, secondary forest) be distinguished from agroforestry and plantations using high-resolution satellite data?

How is information on forest carbon cycling, tree diversity, and wood use in Asia, Africa, and South America derived from satellite data?

The drone sequences show different rainforest formations in the lowlands of the Philippines.

Projects

CITIZEN-SDSS

The remaining Philippine forests are threatened by deforestation, forest degradation and climate change. They are also important for the wellbeing of the local population as well as being a global biodiversity hotspot. This project aims to foster nature-based solutions by including local stakeholder aspirations into land use planning and combining it with a spatial decision support system which shall allow for more sustainable forest management.

Ecological and Socioeconomic Functions of Tropical Lowland Rainforest Transformation Systems

The transformation of tropical rainforest to rubber and oil palm plantations has extensive impact on nature and living conditions. Remote sensing helps us to understand the spatial-temporal patterns and drivers of those processes.

Forest Restoration

Restoring forest lands at the landscape level contributes to Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs) e.g. hunger, poverty, well-being and life on land especially in poor communities of sub-Saharan Africa.

GEOS-EUDR

The aim of the research project is to contribute to the improved feasibility of the EUDR in the field of geolocalization and the detection of deforestation and forest degradation using remote sensing and geocomputation.

Landscape Forestry in the Tropics

LaForeT schätzt den Einfluss monetärer Anreizsysteme und von Governance-Instrumenten auf räumliche und zeitliche Muster der Landnutzung sowie die Auswirkungen auf Waldbedeckung, Kohlenstoffspeicherung, Parameter der Baumarten-Diversität sowie die Existenzgrundlagen der lokalen Bevölkerung ab.