Title : Greenhouse gas inventory report for the agriculture, forestry and other land use sector in the bimodal and monomodal rain forest agroecological zones in Cameroon
Abstract:
This paper presents the greenhouse gas inventory report of the Agriculture, Forestry and other Land Use (AFOLU) sector which allows the assessment of carbon emissions and absorption for the period from 2010 to 2018 in the monomodal and bimodal rain forest agroecological zones. The aim of this report is to serve as an operational tool in greenhouse gas reduction activities; to propose to the government preventive measures to reduce greenhouse gas emissions as well as mitigation measures in this sector. The methodological approach used for the calculation of GHG emissions in the Livestock category is essentially that proposed by the IPCC 2006 guidelines, taking into account the national systems of other countries. In general, emissions calculations were done based on the Tier 1 methodology. It should be noted that emissions are not directly measured but calculated by integrating activity data from the different sectors considered in the IPCC software. In the subcategory of land use change, the SEPAL platform (https://sepal.io/) was used to download the images, while the processing and analysis was done using ArcGis 10.6 software. In addition, the equation of Peng et al. (2000) was used to evaluate the soil organic carbon stock.
In the monomodal rain forest agroecological zone the study shows that, emissions recorded in the zone amounted to 29,770.68 GgCO2eq for the period from 2010 to 2015, i.e., an annual average of 4,961.78 Gg CO2 eq. On the other hand, absorptions were estimated at -345,013.82 Gg CO2eq for the same period, i.e., an annual average of -57,502.30 Gg CO2eq. It also emerges that the average annual balance is -52,540.53 Gg CO2 eq.
In the bimodal rainfall forest agroecological zone, emissions are in the order of 251,770.62 Gg CO2eq for the period from 2010 to 2015, i.e., an annual average of 41,961.77 GgCO2eq. On the other hand, absorptions are in the order of -2,579,827.4 GgCO2eq, i.e., an annual average of -429,971.23 Gg CO2 eq. This gives an average annual balance of -388 009.46 GgCO2eq.
Emissions and removals are higher in the bimodal rain forest agroecological zone than in the monomodal rain forest agroecological zone. Also, emissions in these two agroecological zones result to 281 541.3 GgCO2eq for the period from 2010 to 2015, or an annual average of 46 923.55 GgCO2eq. On the other hand, the absorptions are of the order of -2 924 841.22 GgCO2eq for the same period, i.e., an annual average of -487 473.54 GgCO2eq. In these two zones of study, the average annual carbon balance is -440 549.99 Gg CO2.
These results show that the bimodal and monomodal rain forest agroecological zones have a high absorption potential that Cameroon could use in the context of mitigation results transferred to the international level.
Audience Take Away:
- The methodology used in estimating these emissions and absorptions;
- Evolution of greenhouse gas emissions and absorptions in the two agroecological zones from 2010 to
- 2018;
- The CO2 absorption potential of the two forest zones;
- Key mitigation measures proposed for decision makers.
