Coordination of greenhouse gas inventories of the forests of the DOM-TOM Guyane française, Polynésie française, Guadeloupe, Martinique, Nouvelle-Calédonie, Saint Barthélemy, Saint-Martin (partie française), Saint-Pierre-et-Miquelon

Context of the service

The France is the only developed country with tropical forests and binding greenhouse gas (GHG) emission reduction targets under the Kyoto Protocol. This imposes special obligations on it. Indeed, the France's application of Article 3.3 of the Kyoto Protocol requires accounting for GHG emissions and removals related to deforestation and afforestation carried out since 1990 (reference year), both in metropolitan France, but also in the overseas departments (DOM), including Guyana (where forests cover 95% of the territory, or nearly 8 million hectares).
All GHG emissions from overseas deforestation are reported to the Secretariat of the United Nations Framework Convention on Climate Change (UNFCCC), which then makes this data public.
As the international community is particularly sensitive to massive GHG emissions due to deforestation in tropical areas, the subject of the mechanism for reducing GHG emissions from deforestation (REDD+), the France must be exemplary on the subject.
The establishment and implementation of the so-called "LULUCF" inventories (Land Use, Land Use Change, and Forestry) in the DOM required the involvement of many organizations: National Forest Inventory (NFI), National Forestry Office (ONF), International Center for Agricultural Research for Development (CIRAD), National Center for Scientific Research (CNRS) and Interprofessional Technical Center for Studies on Air Pollution (CITEPA).

Services provided

In 2009, the NFI compared aerial and/or satellite images acquired in 2008 and 1990 to estimate deforestation between 1990 and 2008 in the French overseas departments (Guadeloupe, French Guiana, Martinique, Réunion).
These deforestation estimates for each DOM were then multiplied by the average forest carbon value per hectare for each of the overseas departments. For French Guiana, this value was established in 2005 by a joint dendrometric study by the ONF, CIRAD and CNRS. For the other overseas departments, the values come from studies conducted in 2008 by the NFB and NFB-International.
The main conclusions of these LULUCF inventories are as follows:
- The deforestation rate is heterogeneous between DOM: very high in Martinique (5 times the average global deforestation rate), it is high in Guadeloupe (2.5 times the average world deforestation rate), almost identical to the average global deforestation rate in Réunion and relatively low in French Guiana,
- On the other hand, the very high carbon content of Guyanese forests (3 times higher than that of metropolitan forests) means that one hectare deforested in French Guiana counts triple in the national GHG balance under Article 3.3 of the Kyoto Protocol,
- The cumulative balance of GHG emissions due to deforestation in the four overseas departments is not negligible: 4.46 MteqCO2/year, or 0.8% of the annual emissions of the France in 1990,
- The annual deforestation rate in French Guiana increased by 70% between the 1990-2006 average and the 2006-2008 average.

Summary of the service

Coordination of greenhouse gas inventories in the forestry sector of the French overseas territories [French Antilles (Guadeloupe, Martinique, Saint-Barthélemy, Saint-Martin), Mayotte, New Caledonia, French Polynesia, Reunion Island, Saint-Pierre-et-Miquelon, Wallis and Futuna]: Comparison of aerial and/or satellite images acquired in 2008 and 1990, in order to estimate deforestation between 1990 and 2008; Cross-referencing of data with average forest carbon values; Reporting under Articles 3.3 and 3.4 of the Kyoto Protocol.