The Rimba Raya Biodiversity Reserve REDD Project

selective logging, intensive logging, fires, small-­‐scale agricultureby subsistence farmers, and forest conversion to oil palm in thenorth. Historical and on-­‐going anthropogenic disturbance hasmodified natural vegetation to varying degrees such thatvegetation classes described above are occur over a range ofdisturbance classes.Vegetation and Land Cover AssessmentA land cover assessment of the Rimba Raya Project Area wasconducted January 2010 in order to provide baseline data for theproject and to support the carbon assessment. A classificationscheme of 18 land use / land cover types was developed forRimba Raya based on Ministry of Forestry classification andexpanded to include more detailed and accurate types specific tothe Project Area. Annex 2 includes the full report for the landcover assessment, conducted by Bolick (2010).Land cover mapping was accomplished following a two-­‐partapproach including remote sensing image classificationtechniques followed by image interpretation in GIS. In the firstphase, pixel-­‐based image classification was conducted to makeuse of spectral information in Landsat7 ETM+ bands that aresensitive to vegetation. The results of this classification providedimportant verification of broad land cover types such as forest,shrub and herb cover. In the second phase, land cover wasinterpreted and digitized using classified and full band Landsatdata in a GIS. Interpretation was therefore able to incorporatekey ancillary data including aerial photos, field survey data andother GIS data compiled for Rimba Raya, which substantiallyimproved the classification.The resulting 18 classes from the land cover assessment, weregrouped into 13 classes for the carbon assessment to reflectbroad vegetation classes identified by Stanley and Salim (2008),while preserving classification detail that strongly affects above-­groundbiomass and carbon estimates (e.g. forest type and levelof degradation). Vegetation classes are described in Table 2 andshown in Figure 7.Table 2. Rimba Raya Land Use/Land Cover ClassesClass NameLowland forestLowland forest(degraded)Peat swampforest (lightlydegraded)Peat swampforest (highlydegraded)PeatshrublandsSeasonallyinundatedwetlandsDescriptionLowland dipterocarp forest on mineral soils.This is a “dry land” type and is foundprimarily in the northwest.Lowland dipterocarp forest on mineral soilswith some apparent logging damage,adjacent to lowland forest. Note that theterm “degraded” is used rather than the term“secondary” which implies forest successionfrom clear-cutting.Peat swamp forest, locally “rawa” denotingpeat substrate. All peat swamp forests inRimba Raya appear to be lightly tomoderately degraded by logging and fire.Peat swamp forest patches bordering areasof intensive human activity. Heavilydegraded and at high risk of loss.Formerly peat swamp forests, these areaswere deforested by fire. Shrubs andscattered trees on peat, seasonally wet.Locally “danau” or seasonal lake, most ofthese areas were formerly peat swampforests that have been logged and burned.Where these are adjacent to rivers, floodingmay be semi-permanent.16