ABSTRACT. Will community monitoring assist in delivering just and equitable REDD+? We assessed whether local communities can effectively estimate carbon stocks in some of the world's most carbon rich forests, using simple field protocols, and we reviewed whether community monitoring exists in current REDD+ pilots. We obtained similar results for forest carbon when measured by communities and professional foresters in 289 vegetation plots in Southeast Asia. Most REDD+ monitoring schemes, however, contain no community involvement. To close the gulf between United Nations Framework Convention on Climate Change texts on involving communities and field implementation realities, we propose greater embedding of community monitoring within national REDD+ pilot schemes, which we argue will lead to a more just REDD+.

Reducing emissions from deforestation and forest degradation in developing countries, and the role of conservation, sustainable management of forests, and enhancement of forest carbon stocks in developing countries (REDD+) is a potentially powerful international policy mechanism that many tropical countries are working towards implementing. Thus far, limited practical consideration has been paid to local rights to forests and forest resources in REDD+ readiness programs, beyond noting the importance of these issues. Previous studies have shown that community members can reliably and cost-effectively monitor forest biomass. At the same time, this can improve local ownership and forge important links between monitoring activities and local decision-making. Existing studies have, however, been static assessments of biomass at one point in time. REDD+ programs will require repeated surveys of biomass over extended time frames. Here, we examine trends in accuracy and costs of local forest monitoring over time. We analyse repeated measurements by community members and professional foresters of 289 plots over two years in four countries in Southeast Asia. This shows, for the first time, that with repeated measurements community members' biomass measurements become increasingly accurate and costs decline. These findings provide additional support to available evidence that community members can play a strong role in monitoring forest biomass in the local implementation of REDD+.

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Background: At present, the role of protected areas has been expanded into climate change mitigation action, specifically on Reducing Emissions from Deforestation and Forest Degradation (REDD+). Reliable and practical method for measuring, reporting and verifying carbon stock is an essential component for REDD+. This study aims at recognizing the characteristic and estimating aboveground forest carbon stock in the tropical protected area using a combination of terrestrial forest inventory and spatial data. Results: In the study area of Bukit Tigapuluh National Park in Central Sumatra, 168 cluster plots totaling 33.6 hectares were taken proportionally based on the percentage of forest cover types (dryland primary natural forest/DPF and dryland secondary natural forest/DSF) using a traditional forest inventory method (more than 5 cm dbh) in combination with the application of information technology. Results showed that Bukit Tigapuluh National Park secured a significant aboveground forest carbon stock which has been estimated to be 269.2 + 22.2 tC/ha or 35,823,639 + 2,951,071 tC in total, being sequestered in approximately 133,051 hectares of tropical rain forest. This result was higher than other studies located in non-protected areas, but slightly lower than other studies within protected area.Conclusion: This finding supported the argument that protected areas possess higher figure of aboveground carbon stock compared to other forest management units. High amount of forest carbon biomass in the protected areas shall be very important assets for conducting the role of conservation for REDD+.

The role of protected areas has been expanded into climate change mitigation, specifically on Reducing Emissions from Deforestation and Forest Degradation (REDD+). A reliable and practical method for measuring, reporting and verifying carbon stock is an essential component for REDD+. This study aims to recognize the characteristic and estimate aboveground forest carbon (AGC) stock in the tropical protected tropical area using a combination of terrestrial forest inventory and spatial data. A 168 cluster plots totaling 33.6 hectares were taken proportionally based on the percentage of forest cover types (dryland primary natural forest/DPF and dryland secondary natural forest/DSF) using a traditional forest inventory method (more than 5 cm dbh). Results showed that Bukit Tigapuluh National Park secured a significant AGC stock which has been estimated to be 269.2 [247.07; 291.43] tC/ha or 35,823,639 [32,872,312; 38,774,966] tC in total, being stored in approximately 133,051 hectares of the tropical rain forest. This result was higher than other studies in non-protected areas but slightly lower than other studies within protected areas. This finding supported the argument that protected areas possess a higher figure of AGC stock than other forest management units. The high amount of forest carbon biomass in the protected areas shall be very important assets for conducting the role of conservation for REDD+.