Guide for Classifying Lands for Greenhouse Gas Inventories
Author: Lund, H. Gyde
Source: Journal of Forestry, Volume 104, Number 4, June 2006 , pp. 211-216(6)
Abstract:
Recently, the Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change has issued new Good Practice Guidance for Land Use, Land-Use Change, and Forestry (GPG-LULUCF), which stipulates different data analysis and reporting procedures for changes in carbon storage and greenhouse gas (GHG) emissions for six land classes: forest, cropland, grassland, wetland, settlements, and other lands. However, the GPG-LULUCF does not include a decision tree to support the identification and classification of lands. This is a critical first step necessary to proceed on land classification for subsequent calculation of GHG inventories. This article provides a useful decision tree and dichotomous key for classifying lands according to the GPG-LULUCF. Countries and the international community will need this tool to unify common criteria for land classification.Keywords: climate change; land classification; inventory
Document Type: Research article
