Suriname: Forest Resource assement 2010

In  many tropical countries  forest are destroyed to expand timber, mining and agricultural industries and are  affected  by  infrastructure  investments  such  roads  and  dams.  Deforestation  rates  in  Suriname  have been historically low due to the low population pressure and relative remoteness. Suriname’s status as High Forest Low Deforestation (HFLD) country is set to change if planned infrastructure investments (a hydrodam, a road to Brazil and agriculture extension with prospects for biofuels) through the heart of the country realize, moreover, if low institutional capacity and environmental regulations continue inhibiting the capacity response of governments to control the destruction of tropical forest overlapping greenstone deposits.  
 
Analytical  and  empirical  studies  have  shown  that  an  important  determinant  of  deforestation  is  the improved access to previously inaccessible forested areas alongside low governance gradients with high socio-economic  value.  Timely  information  about  the  underlying  and  proximate  drivers  of  actual  and
future deforestation and on the location and extent of expected deforestation is one condition to properly manage this process of forest cover destruction. Therefore, this study uses spatial deforestation models to assess  the  influence  of  environmental  drivers  on  forest  cover  change  and  to  project  future  deforestation trends.  
 
During  the  first  stage  of  this  project,  forest  cover  maps  were  developed  for  2005  and  2009  based  on Landsat  5TM  images.  The  resulting  forest  cover  maps  were  used  in  a  spatial  explicit  model  which calculates  forest  change  rates  and  simulates  deforestation  between  2009  and  2020  based  on  the  spatial distribution  of  spatial  variables  and  a  historical  deforestation  scenario  assuming  that  deforestation trajectories into the future will continue under the historical trend found between the period analyzed.
 
The  model  demonstrates  how  land  use,  infrastructure,  socio-economic  aspects  and  biophysical  features drive  forest  loss  in  Suriname.  With  the  outcomes  of  this  research  the  researchers  expect  to  be  able  to demonstrate  the  potential  of  this  type  of  studies  to  visualize  the  effects  of  land  use  decisions  on  forest conservation  along  future  infrastructure  developments  in  the  country,  and  to  inform  these  decisions  so that they minimize undue negative impacts on forest-dependent people and forest.  
 
Key words: Suriname, simulation of deforestation, drivers of forest change, infrastructure investments.

Report: SPATIAL DRIVERS OF DEFORESTATION IN SURINAME

Report: GLOBAL FOREST RESOURCES ASSESSMENT 2010

Implications of a potential REDD+ mechanism in Suriname

Towards a carbon balance for forests in Suriname:
Authors: Arets, E.J.J.M., Kruijt, B., Tjon, K., Atmopawiro, V.P., van Kanten, R.F., Crabbe, S., Banki, O. & Ruysschaert, S.
Currently Suriname is developing systems for Monitoring, Reporting and Verification (MRV) for Reducing Emissions from Deforestation and Forest Degradation (REDD). The goal of the study reported in this report is to support the development of an adequate MRV system for forest carbon in Suriname, with a focus on monitoring and reporting carbon stocks from field sampling. Based on available existing field data, allometric functions and expansion factors, above ground biomass and carbon stocks were assessed for a number of forest types. Using the data from a long-term logging experiment at the CELOS-Kabo site, changes in carbon stocks were quantified over time and under different intensities of selective logging. A review of carbon budget estimates across the Amazon were used to put the results for Suriname in a broader perspective. Finally an overview of methods to quantify and monitor forest carbon stocks at different scales is presented and discussed.

Sustainable Management of Tropical Rainforests: The CELOS Management System
Authors: Marinus J.A. Werger (ed.)
This book, with contributions from 25 authors, tells in brief the history of forestry in Suriname and some other tropical countries. It reveals how the work on forestry in Suriname led to the development of a potentially sustainable forest management system, integrating a harvesting and a silvicultural system. And it documents the long-term effects of applying this system as apparent from a great deal of research in experimental forest stands of CELOS in Suriname. This information holds the evidence to determine the potential of the CELOS Management System to serve as a model for other systems of sustainable management of tropical forests in Suriname and beyond, particularly in other Latin American countries in the region with similar forests.