An assessment of monitoring requirements and costs of 'Reduced Emissions from Deforestation and Degradation'

We find that the design of a REDD policy framework (and specifically its rules) can have a significant impact on monitoring costs. Costs may vary from 0.5 to 550 US$ per square kilometre depending on the required precision of carbon stock and area change detection. Moreover, they follow economies of scale, i.e. single country or project solutions will face relatively higher monitoring costs.Although monitoring costs are relatively small compared to other cost items within a REDD system, they should be shared not only among countries but also among sectors, because an integrated monitoring system would have multiple benefits for non-REDD management. Overcoming initialization costs and unequal access to monitoring technologies is crucial for implementation of an integrated monitoring system, and demands for international cooperation.Globally, by far, the biggest greenhouse gas mitigation potential in forestry is reducing emissions from deforestation. The negotiations on a future REDD (Reduced Emissions from Deforestation and Degradation) policy framework are ongoing and many options exist for its implementation [1]. REDD activities will need to be based on scientifically robust estimates of emissions if they are to be effective. This requires methodologies for Monitoring, Reporting and Verification (MRV) of emissions that follow the United Nations Framework Convention on Climate Change (UNFCCC) principles of transparency, consistency, comparability, completeness, and accuracy [2]. Practicable approaches for monitoring changes in forest and vegetation carbon for REDD will involve the interpretation of remotely sensed imagery (including both airborne and satellite imagery). For many potential REDD applications, remote sensing technologies for REDD are often no longer technically constrained, as has been shown by several studies for many regions [3-5]. A variety of methods can be applied depending on national capabilities, available resources, deforestation patterns and