Tropical forests absorb and store vast amounts of carbon. When forests are destroyed or degraded, stored carbon is released into the atmosphere as heat-trapping gas, contributing to global climate change. Deforestation and forest degradation cause more greenhouse gas emissions than the entire global transportation sector and are the second leading source of human-induced greenhouse gas emissions after the global energy sector. To address this challenge, many countries are developing comprehensive systems for tracking and reporting forest change and terrestrial greenhouse gas emissions. Such systems are essential for advancing low emission development strategies and climate change mitigation initiatives, including Reducing Emissions from Deforestation and Forest Degradation (REDD+).

SilvaCarbon is a US technical cooperation program to enhance the capacity of selected tropical countries to design and implement credible landscape monitoring systems and terrestrial greenhouse gas inventories that can provide input to international reporting frameworks such as the United Nations Framework Convention on Climate Change (UNFCCC). SilvaCarbon draws on the expertise of eight US government (USG) agencies and other partners to support a variety of capacity building activities, including technical assistance and hands-on training, workshops at country and regional levels, international study tours, South-South cooperation, and applied research.

• Download the factsheet here: SilvaCarbon
• Visit the SilvaCarbon website here.