Primary Forest Cover Loss in Indonesia 2000 to 2012

Quantifying forest cover type and extent is required for sustainable forest management.  Humid tropical primary forests are of particular interest in the maintenance of key ecosystem services, including climate regulation biodiversity richness. Quantifying the loss of primary forest is critical in balancing the competing needs of economic development and sustainable forest ecosystem services.  Indonesia is the site of extensive clearing of primary tropical forest; however, there is no consensus on the areal extent and temporal trends of primary forest clearing in Indonesia.
For this study, forest is defined as tree cover with a minimum height of 5 meters and canopy cover density of at least 30 percent at the Landsat pixel scale (referring to FAO 2005, FAO-GFRA 2006, MoF 2008, GOFC-GOLD 2010, Hansen et al., 2013, 2014). Primary forest includes all mature forest stands that retain their natural composition, structure and have not been completely cleared and re-planted in recent history (at least 30 years in age) and were mapped using a minimum mapping unit of 5 ha (GOFC-GOLD 2010). 
Primary forests were disaggregated into two types: intact and degraded. Intact primary forest has a minimum area unit of 50,000 ha with the absence of detectable signs of human-caused alteration or fragmentation, and is based on the Intact Forest Landscape definition of Potapov et al., (2008). Degraded primary forest is a primary forest that has been fragmented or subjected to forest utilization, e.g. by selective logging or other human disturbances, which have led to partial canopy loss and altered forest composition and structure (ITTO 2002, Margono et al.,2012). 
Terra-firma lowland, wetland, upland and montane landforms were mapped using digital elevation data (Margono et al.,2014) and combined with the forest disturbance data to assess rates of primary forest loss within Indonesia.

We ask you to credit provided data as follows:
Margono B.A., Potapov P., Turubanova S., Stolle F., Hansen M. Primary forest cover loss in Indonesia over 2000-2012. Nature Climate Change 2014, [http://dx.doi.org/10.1038/nclimate2277]

Indonesia time-sequential primary forest extent and loss

The dataset depicts time-sequential primary forest extent and annual loss for the following periods:  2000, 2005, 2010, and 2012. Dataset characterization is described in Margono et al. (2014) Primary forest cover loss in Indonesia over 2000-2012. Nature Climate Change 2014, [http://dx.doi.org/10.1038/nclimate2277]

Indonesia_forest_and_change.zip [91MB]

Indonesia landform

The dataset depicts major landforms for terra-firma lowland, wetland, upland and montane forests. Dataset characterization is described in Margono et al. (2014) Nature Climate Change 2014, [http://dx.doi.org/10.1038/nclimate2277]

Indonesia_landform.zip [127MB]

References

  1. FAO (Food and Agricultural Organization). State of the World's Forests (Rome: UNFAO) (2005)
  2. FAO (Food and Agricultural Organization). Global Forest Resources Assessment 2005. FAO Forestry Paper No. 147 (Rome: UNFAO) (2006)
  3. GOFC-GOLD (Global Observation of Forest and Land Cover Dynamics). A sourcebook of methods and procedures for monitoring and reporting anthropogenic greenhouse gas emissions and removals caused by deforestation, gains and losses of carbon stocks in forests remaining forests, and forestation. GOFC-GOLD Report version COP16-1, (GOFC-GOLD Project Office, Natural Resources Canada, Alberta, Canada) (2010)
  4. Hansen, M.C. et al. High-resolution global maps of 21st-century forest cover change. Science 342, 850-853 (2013)
  5. Hansen, M.C. et al. Response to comment on "High-resolution global maps of 21st-century forest cover change". Science 344, 981 (2014)
  6. ITTO (The International Tropical Timber Organization). ITTO guidelines for the restoration, management and rehabilitation of degraded and secondary tropical forests. ITTO Policy Development Series No. 13 (2002)
  7. Margono B.A, Bwangoy, J-R.B, Potapov, P.V. & Hansen M.C. Mapping wetlands in Indonesia using Landsat data sets and derived topographical indices. Geo-spatial Information Science 17:1, 60-71 (2014)
  8. Margono, B.A. et al. Mapping and monitoring deforestation and forest degradation in Sumatra (Indonesia) using Landsat time series data sets from 1990 to 2010. Environ. Res Letters 7, 034010 (16pp) (2012)
  9. Potapov, P.V. et al. Mapping the world's Intact Forest Landscapes by remote sensing. Ecology and Society 13 51 (2008)