FOREST DEPARTMENT
Sri Lanka
Name:
National Consultant-REDD+ expert under the UN-REDD program
Programme/Project Number:
Expected Start Date of Assignment:
Reports to:
Name:
March/April 2012
Patrick Evans (FAOLK), Matieu Henry (FOMR),
Munasinghe, Nalin (FAOLK), Senior Deputy Conservator of
Forests (Forest Inventory) Forest Department
Duration:
6 months
Title:
MRV
expert
Background:
As part of the fight against deforestation and forest degradation, it is increasingly necessary to promote the development of systems for monitoring of forest
cover. Systems for monitoring forest cover include software, tools, and users’ services. To be operational, the system for monitoring forest cover must be
adapted to national circumstances, national policies and the human, technical and financial capacities. As part of the United nations Framework Convention on
Climate Change, REDD+ aims to reduce greenhouse gas emissions from the forestry sector either through an increase in forest cover as a reduction of its
deterioration.
Deforestation and forest degradation are major sources of greenhouse gas (GHG) emissions. Conservation of biodiversity is of special relevance to Sri Lanka.
The country, though small in size, has a varied climate and topography which has resulted in a rich biodiversity, distributed within a wide range of ecosystems.
According to the forest cover survey carried out in year 1999, the dense natural forest cover in Sri Lanka was 22.4% of the land area of the country, though
all forests including “sparse natural forests" brings the total forest cover in the country (excluding forest plantations and other forms of tree vegetation) to
29.6% of the land area.
Deforestation in Sri Lanka is caused by the rapid pace of development in the country, including large-scale agro-industrial development, and a lack of effective
implementation of existing laws and policies for forest land and forest resource management. The Government of Sri Lanka recognised the importance of
addressing this issue and facilitated the process of developing the Readiness Preparation Proposal (R-PP) for improving forest protection and management.
The Sri Lanka UN REDD National Programme has been specifically designed to support implementation of the Sri Lanka Readiness Plan Proposal on REDD+
(‘the Roadmap’). In collaboration with other initiatives supporting REDD+ in Sri Lanka, the UN-REDD Programme particularly support the development of a
Forest Monitoring System and a system for Measuring Reporting and Verifying (MRV) emission reductions. While the forest monitoring system mainly
contributes to providing data and information for evaluating the application of the policies and measures, the MRV system mainly contributes to providing the
data to be reported under the UNFCCC and facilitate the implementation of a low carbon economy.
The United Nations Collaborative Programme on Reducing Emissions from Deforestation and Forest Degradation in Developing Countries (UN-REDD
Programme) is a collaboration between FAO, UNDP and UNEP. It builds on the convening power of its participating UN agencies, their diverse expertise and
vast networks, and “delivers as One UN”. Within the partnership, FAO supports countries on technical issues related to forestry and the development of costeffective and reliable Measurement, Reporting and Verification (MRV) processes for emission reductions which may be helpful for the implementation of
REDD+ after the negotiations reach a final decision on the issue. At the international level, the partnership fosters improved guidance on MRV approaches,
including consensus on principles and guidelines for MRV and training programmes.
The work contemplated under this contract is part of the implementation of the UN-REDD in Sri Lanka and the national roadmap for REDD+. The
establishment of a system of forest satellite monitoring is necessary for Sri Lanka to enter the second phase of REDD+. To enable the development of a
functional and robust forest monitoring system in Sri Lanka, it is important to collect the lessons from other countries. It is important to identify the existing
national expertise’s and gaps still to be filled in order to facilitate the design and implementation of the best forest monitoring system for Sri Lanka.
Duties and Responsibilities
Under the general supervision of the FAO Representative for Sri Lanka, and the Director of the Division of Evaluation, management and conservation of forest
(FOM), and under the direct supervision of the Forestry Officer responsible for Measuring, reporting and verification (MRV) in the Department of Forest, in
close collaboration with the project management unit in Sri Lanka, the incumbent will support the implementation related to forest monitoring and MRV
systems. In particular, the incumbent will:

Set-up an interim MRV group to be progressively formalized;

Organize regular meetings with the MRV group to develop terms of reference for the activities to be implemented under the UN-REDD programme;

Facilitate the development of the MRV action plan;

Identify the technical challenges to implement an MRV system for REDD+ in Sri Lanka;

Identify the MRV, (GIS/RS, NFI and GHG inventory) capacities and gaps in Sri Lanka;

Identify the different REDD+ demonstration activities in Sri Lanka;

Review and assess existing tools and methods to develop a national forest monitoring systems in Sri Lanka;

Propose methods to monitor the 5 REDD+ activities using remote sensing and other methods;

Provide recommendations for the design of the forest monitoring system for the five REDD+ activities;

Initiate discussion on REL/RLs.

Provide two reports on the progress; one Interim and a final report

Perform any other tasks required.
Expected Outputs:
1.
Inception report and work plan
2.
Minutes of the MRV group meetings;
3.
Interim MRV action plan;
4.
An Interim Report
5.
Proposal for the national forest monitoring system of Sri Lanka
6.
Technical documentation and a draft working paper as per FAO publication guidelines providing descriptive information and
recommendation for forest monitoring system;
7.
Final report