ABSTRACT

Introduction On a global scale, land use, land-use change and forestry (LULUCF) activities historically have been, and are currently, net sources of carbon dioxide to the atmosphere. During the 1990s carbon dioxide (CO2) emissions to the atmosphere caused by changes in land use were estimated to be 1.6 billion tons C/yr (GtC/yr; Bolin and Sukumar, 2000), with tropical deforestation and degradation responsible for most of this source. Activities that reduce deforestation rates offer significant potential for mitigating greenhouse gas (GHG) emissions, thereby reducing the potential impacts of climate change. Through management, humans have the potential to change the direction and magnitude of the flux of carbon dioxide between the land and atmosphere while at the same time providing multiple co-benefits to meet environmental and socioeconomic goals of sustainable development.