IARC Natural Resources Management II Program: Wetlands Global Carbon Survey

This program analysed a global effort to fill a major data gap in REDD+, that of carbon storage, especially belowground carbon, in peatlands, mangroves, and other wetlands. The USFS and CIFOR have begun this initiative on a small scale in Philippines, Indonesia and Bangladesh. This project scaled up those efforts to a multi-year, hopefully multi-donor, global initiative that implemented inventory on the carbon storage of all the major wetland ecosystems using a standardized approach. USFS and CIFOR provided technical backstopping and leadership to create a multi-institutional network that carries out the surveys using common methodologies. After a survey of needs and gaps, the program supported the development of emissions factors for different types of human wetland management such as draining, flooding, deforestation, and conversion to agriculture; estimating CO2, methane, and other gases. Field implementation conducted with local partners such as universities, NGOs and government research agencies to build local scientific expertise.