ABSTRACT
As a result of recent policy developments under the United Nations Framework Convention on Climate Change (UNFCCC), a large market for carbon credits from tropical forests is likely to open up soon. If developing countries are able to decrease their rates of deforestation and forest degradation, the resulting reduction of emissions of greenhouse gases may be credited and compensated either directly through a market or via a global fund. This could provide an important stimulus not only for the protection of pristine tropical forests, but also for the regeneration of large areas of forest which are already partly degraded as a result of human activities. These areas include tropical dry forests and savanna woodlands, which in general have much higher population densities than rainforests. In these areas the loss of forest biomass tends to be linked to exploitation of forest products by local communities, rather than extraction of timber by commercial concerns.
