Mapping and Monitoring Zero-Deforestation Commitments

Kemen G Austin; Robert Heilmayr; Jason J Benedict; David N Burns; Michael Eggen; Hedley Grantham; Aida Greenbury; Jane K Hill; Clinton N Jenkins; Matthew S Luskin; Timer Manurung; Laura V Rasmussen; Grant Rosoman; Bernardo Rudorff; Musnanda Satar; Charlotte Smith; Kimberly M Carlson

doi:10.1093/biosci/biab082

Mapping and Monitoring Zero-Deforestation Commitments

Bioscience. 2021 Aug 18;71(10):1079-1090. doi: 10.1093/biosci/biab082. eCollection 2021 Oct.

Authors

Kemen G Austin¹, Robert Heilmayr², Jason J Benedict², David N Burns³, Michael Eggen², Hedley Grantham⁴, Aida Greenbury⁵, Jane K Hill⁶, Clinton N Jenkins⁷, Matthew S Luskin⁸, Timer Manurung⁹, Laura V Rasmussen¹⁰, Grant Rosoman¹¹, Bernardo Rudorff¹², Musnanda Satar¹³, Charlotte Smith¹⁴, Kimberly M Carlson¹⁵

Affiliations

¹ RTI International's Center for Applied Economics, Research Triangle Park, North Carolina, United States.
² Bren School of Environmental Science and Management, University of California Santa Barbara, Santa Barbara, California, United States.
³ International Wildlife Conservation, National Wildlife Federation, and with the World Resources Institute's Climate Program, Washington, DC, United States.
⁴ Wildlife Conservation Society, Bronx, New York, United States.
⁵ Steering Group of the High Carbon Stock Approach, Singapore.
⁶ Department of Biology, University of York, York, North Yorkshire, United Kingdom.
⁷ Department of Earth and Environment, Florida International University, and with the Kimberly Green Latin American and Caribbean Center, Florida International University, Miami, Florida, United States.
⁸ The University of Queensland, Saint Lucia, Queensland, Australia.
⁹ Auriga, Jakarta, Indonesia.
¹⁰ Department of Geosciences and Natural Resource Management, University of Copenhagen, Copenhagen, Denmark.
¹¹ Global Forest Solutions, part of Greenpeace International, in Christchurch, New Zealand.
¹² Agrosatélite Geotecnologia Aplicada Ltda, Florianópolis, Brazil.
¹³ Yayasan Konservasi Alam Nusantara, Jakarta, Indonesia.
¹⁴ Department of Natural Resources and Environmental Management, University of Hawai'i at Manoa, Honolulu, Hawaii, United States.
¹⁵ Department of Environmental Studies, New York University, New York, New York, United States.

Abstract

A growing number of companies have announced zero-deforestation commitments (ZDCs) to eliminate commodities produced at the expense of forests from their supply chains. Translating these aspirational goals into forest conservation requires forest mapping and monitoring (M&M) systems that are technically adequate and therefore credible, salient so that they address the needs of decision makers, legitimate in that they are fair and unbiased, and scalable over space and time. We identify 12 attributes of M&M that contribute to these goals and assess how two prominent ZDC programs, the Amazon Soy Moratorium and the High Carbon Stock Approach, integrate these attributes into their M&M systems. These programs prioritize different attributes, highlighting fundamental trade-offs in M&M design. Rather than prescribe a one-size-fits-all solution, we provide policymakers and practitioners with guidance on the design of ZDC M&M systems that fit their specific use case and that may contribute to more effective implementation of ZDCs.

Keywords: agroecosystems; land use management; monitoring and mapping; remote sensing; tropical ecosystems.