Carbon, biodiversity and ecosystem services: Exploring co-benefits. Nigeria: Preliminary Results
Land-use change, primarily through tropical forest loss and degradation, is estimated to contribute 6-17% of all anthropogenic green - house gas emissions (van der Werf et al. 2009). The UN Framework Convention on Climate Change (UNFCCC) is currently discussing incentives for Reducing Emissions from Deforestation and forest Degradation plus additional activities.
Well-planned and carefully implemented REDD+ actions can have positive outcomes that are additional to emissions reductions. Such ‘cobenefits’ include conservation of biodiversity and maintenance of ecosystem services. Potential cobenefits from REDD+ are highly relevant in Nigeria, where services provided by forests make an important contribution to the livelihoods of local communities (Aruofor 2001).
Spatial analyses relating potential co-benefits to carbon stocks can support planning and decisionmaking on REDD+. Simple mapping tools can be used to help identify areas where high carbon, high biodiversity priority, and ecosystem service values overlap, and show how these relate to pressures and management options. This brochure presents results from some initial spatial analyses for Nigeria.
