Measuring Hotspots of Deforestation to Target Avoidance Measures

Avoiding forest conversion contributes to biodiversity conservation and climate change mitigation, with substantial benefits to wildlife and human sustainability. Marsh Institute Researcher Chris Williams received funding from the Open Space Institute for the project Avoided Forest Conversion as a Climate and Conservation Opportunity in the United States, which will identify and map hotspots of deforestation (forest conversion), link these hotspots to drivers of land use change, develop a forest loss tracking interface, and examine the efficacy of different kinds of measures being taken to avoid forest conversion. Specifically, the work will develop robust methodologies for measuring, monitoring, and calculating avoided forest conversion impacts and related carbon emissions.

For full project descriptions, see the Marsh Institute Research Projects web page.