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Introducing the Krumap technology at the Geo for Good Summit in 2019
Nophea Sasaki is a Professor in the Natural Resources Management programme, School of Environment, Resources, and Development, Asia Institute of Technology. He has been awarded the International Society of Environmental and Rural Development, Japan, for best journal paper. He also has been awarded Next Step, Google (USA), for introduction of Krumap, a next real-time technology for land cover change detection and monitoring.
Project Goal: Assessment of land use change and smart agriculture
Current Stage: analyzing, writing, and publishing
Although the advent of new technologies and online platforms has revolutionized the face of marketing in agriculture sector, little study exists to assess the farmers’ willingness to adopt (WTA) such technologies for their products. Here, we assessed this WTA for a mobile app – the Bamboost for marketing bamboo products and determined the related factors in municipality of Maasin in Iloilo province of Philippines, where 112 farmers were interviewed using the purposive sampling method. Extended Technology Acceptance Model was used to assess the WTA through the analysis of farmers’ perceived usefulness (PU), ease of use (PEOU), innovativeness (PI), social influence (SI), Information Awareness (IA), cost (PC), and socio-demographic factors. We found that PU, PEOU, PI, SI, and farm size had positive correlation and statistically significance at 1% (p <0.001). However, the perceived cost had significant negative influence on farmers’ WTA because of their concerns about the overall cost such as costs for mobile data, transaction, and downloading. To promote the use of the mobile app such as Bamboost to farmers, it is important that government develop enabling policies to reduce the costs of the technology adoption, which could result in rural poverty reduction. Nevertheless, to increase wider adoption beyond the study area, study on farmers’ perceptions at different locations and after the app is introduced can provide the needed information for a better-informed decision making that is beneficial to farmers as well as the technology suppliers.
Analiza C. Diaz; Nophea Sasaki; Takuji W. Tsusaka; Sylvia Szabo. Factors affecting farmers’ willingness to adopt a mobile app in the marketing of bamboo products. Resources, Conservation & Recycling Advances 2021, 11, 200056 .
AMA StyleAnaliza C. Diaz, Nophea Sasaki, Takuji W. Tsusaka, Sylvia Szabo. Factors affecting farmers’ willingness to adopt a mobile app in the marketing of bamboo products. Resources, Conservation & Recycling Advances. 2021; 11 ():200056.
Chicago/Turabian StyleAnaliza C. Diaz; Nophea Sasaki; Takuji W. Tsusaka; Sylvia Szabo. 2021. "Factors affecting farmers’ willingness to adopt a mobile app in the marketing of bamboo products." Resources, Conservation & Recycling Advances 11, no. : 200056.
Lack of understanding of the ways local subpopulations perceive various changes associated with rapid growth of the tourism industry may lead to unsustainable development. This study assessed the levels and determinants of residents’ perception regarding the changes in environmental, sociocultural, and economic conditions associated with tourism development in Phuket, Thailand. A structured questionnaire survey was conducted with 450 residents covering all three districts of Phuket Province to capture overall indicators and detailed sub-indicators of perception, whilst factors affecting the perceived changes were examined through ordered logistic regression and seemingly unrelated regression (SUR) analyses. The descriptive statistics showed that residents perceived unfavorable changes in various conditions in the island such as increased levels of pollution, road accidents, traffic congestion, and costs of living, while at the same time acknowledging the importance of long-term economic contribution of tourism development. Moreover, regression analyses revealed that various sociodemographic factors such as gender, education, residency duration, and occupation influenced residents’ perception of the changing local conditions. At the sub-indicator level, detailed insights were obtained such as female residents being more likely to positively perceive some of the changes such as increased availability of public space. Implications and suggestions for policy design and planning are discussed in detail.
Pisit Tuntipisitkul; Takuji W. Tsusaka; Sohee Minsun Kim; Rajendra P. Shrestha; Nophea Sasaki. Residents’ Perception of Changing Local Conditions in the Context of Tourism Development: The Case of Phuket Island. Sustainability 2021, 13, 8699 .
AMA StylePisit Tuntipisitkul, Takuji W. Tsusaka, Sohee Minsun Kim, Rajendra P. Shrestha, Nophea Sasaki. Residents’ Perception of Changing Local Conditions in the Context of Tourism Development: The Case of Phuket Island. Sustainability. 2021; 13 (16):8699.
Chicago/Turabian StylePisit Tuntipisitkul; Takuji W. Tsusaka; Sohee Minsun Kim; Rajendra P. Shrestha; Nophea Sasaki. 2021. "Residents’ Perception of Changing Local Conditions in the Context of Tourism Development: The Case of Phuket Island." Sustainability 13, no. 16: 8699.
While droughts and floods have intensified in recent years, only a handful of studies have assessed their impacts on croplands and production in Southeast Asia. Here, we used the Google Earth Engine to assess the droughts and floods and their impacts on croplands and crop production over 40 years from 1980 to 2019. Using the Palmer Drought Severity Index (PDSI) as the basis for determining the drought and flood levels, and crop damage levels, crop production loss in both the Monsoon Climate Region (MCR) and the Equatorial Climate Region (ECR) of Southeast Asia was assessed over 47,192 grid points with 10 × 10-kilometer resolution. We found that rainfed crops were severely affected by droughts in the MCR and floods in the ECR. About 9.42 million ha and 3.72 million ha of cropland was damaged by droughts and floods, respectively. We estimated a total loss of 20.64 million tons of crop production between 2015 and 2019. Rainfed crops in Thailand, Cambodia, and Myanmar were strongly affected by droughts, whereas Indonesia, the Philippines, and Malaysia were more affected by floods over the same period. Accordingly, four levels of policy interventions were prioritized by considering the geolocated crop damage levels.
Manjunatha Venkatappa; Nophea Sasaki; Phoumin Han; Issei Abe. Impacts of droughts and floods on croplands and crop production in Southeast Asia – An application of Google Earth Engine. Science of The Total Environment 2021, 795, 148829 .
AMA StyleManjunatha Venkatappa, Nophea Sasaki, Phoumin Han, Issei Abe. Impacts of droughts and floods on croplands and crop production in Southeast Asia – An application of Google Earth Engine. Science of The Total Environment. 2021; 795 ():148829.
Chicago/Turabian StyleManjunatha Venkatappa; Nophea Sasaki; Phoumin Han; Issei Abe. 2021. "Impacts of droughts and floods on croplands and crop production in Southeast Asia – An application of Google Earth Engine." Science of The Total Environment 795, no. : 148829.
Global efforts have been made to manage tropical forests for timber production and climate change mitigation. This study assessed carbon emission reductions through the improved forest management and the substitution of fossil fuels with wood biomasses under the conventional (CVL) and reduced impact logging (RIL) systems in Southeast Asia between 2000 and 2060. During this period, carbon emissions from logging and deforestation in the region were approximately 10% of carbon emissions from tropical deforestation. By adopting the RIL, 96.6 Tg CO2 of emissions can be reduced, while producing 35.1 million m3 year−1 of wood products. If woody biomasses are used to substitute the combustion of coal, diesel, or natural gas for bioenergy production, total emission reductions could be 229.9, 215.4, or 207.9 Tg CO2 annually during the Paris Agreement, respectively. Depending on chosen carbon price, management of natural forests in Southeast Asia could generate about US$2.1–2.3 billion annually over 10 years between 2020 and 2030. Although costs for bioenergy production from wood biomass remain the concern, enabling global policies, emerging sustainability markets, and financial incentives through carbon tax, environmental tax, and energy tax could materialize the sound management of tropical forests for long-term timber production and climate change mitigation.
Nophea Sasaki. Timber production and carbon emission reductions through improved forest management and substitution of fossil fuels with wood biomass. Resources, Conservation and Recycling 2021, 173, 105737 .
AMA StyleNophea Sasaki. Timber production and carbon emission reductions through improved forest management and substitution of fossil fuels with wood biomass. Resources, Conservation and Recycling. 2021; 173 ():105737.
Chicago/Turabian StyleNophea Sasaki. 2021. "Timber production and carbon emission reductions through improved forest management and substitution of fossil fuels with wood biomass." Resources, Conservation and Recycling 173, no. : 105737.
Periodic assessment of the forest carbon stocks is needed as part of the global efforts to reduce deforestation and forest degradation and mitigate climate change. Here, we assessed carbon stocks, carbon emissions, removals, and reductions due to deforestation and management of the natural (NFs) and plantation forests (PFs) in Southeast Asia. We found that area of NFs declined about 1.09 million ha or 0.52% yr−1 over the last 20 years but only approximately 0.29 million ha was converted to PFs. Between 2000 and 2030, Southeast Asia emitted 477.7 TgCO2 yr−1 from NFs but gained 44.0 TgCO2 yr−1 in PFs. As area of production forest continues to decline, future timber production in the region is likely to come from the PFs. Using the retrospective approach, forest reference emission level in Southeast Asia was estimated at 431.2 TgCO2 yr−1 during the implementation period of the Paris Agreement between 2020 and 2030. If REDD+ activities were implemented to reduce deforestation and forest degradation and enhance forest carbon stocks, 1922.1 TgCO2 of carbon credits could be achieved and the net carbon revenues were US$8–180 billion between 2020 and 2030 depending on the chosen carbon prices.
Nophea Sasaki; Yadanar Yè Myint; Issei Abe; Manjunatha Venkatappa. Predicting carbon emissions, emissions reductions, and carbon removal due to deforestation and plantation forests in Southeast Asia. Journal of Cleaner Production 2021, 312, 127728 .
AMA StyleNophea Sasaki, Yadanar Yè Myint, Issei Abe, Manjunatha Venkatappa. Predicting carbon emissions, emissions reductions, and carbon removal due to deforestation and plantation forests in Southeast Asia. Journal of Cleaner Production. 2021; 312 ():127728.
Chicago/Turabian StyleNophea Sasaki; Yadanar Yè Myint; Issei Abe; Manjunatha Venkatappa. 2021. "Predicting carbon emissions, emissions reductions, and carbon removal due to deforestation and plantation forests in Southeast Asia." Journal of Cleaner Production 312, no. : 127728.
Development of private tube wells and groundwater markets have transformed the farming systems of smallholders in Pakistan, leading to the realization of economic incentives for higher outputs, profits, and sustainability. This chapter aimed at identifying significant factors affecting farmers’ choice of tube well ownership. The multinomial logit model was applied to investigate the factors that drove farmers’ choice among the following three options to access groundwater namely, (1) exclusive ownership of a tube well, (2) sharing a tube well, and (3) buying water from informal groundwater markets. Data from 224 households consisting of 84 exclusive owners, 65 tube well shareholders, and 75 water buyers were analyzed. The results showed that decision maker’s age, groundwater depth, and salinity perception increased the odds of choosing the shared tube wells over exclusively owned tube wells. The price of groundwater significantly decreased the odds of opting for shared tube wells. The odds of purchasing water significantly increased with an increase in salinity. On the other hand, land size, price of groundwater, and ownership of tractor decreased the odds of purchasing water. The findings implied that shared tube wells were more preferred over exclusive tube wells in deeper water table areas and where water was more saline. In the given circumstances of falling groundwater levels, and decreasing quality of groundwater, the focus should be shifted to sustainable use and management of these shared tube wells and purchased water to safeguard the groundwater resources and farm profitability in the long run.
Sobia Asghar; Takuji W. Tsusaka; Nophea Sasaki. Factors affecting farmers’ choice of tube well ownership in Punjab, Pakistan. Natural Resource Governance in Asia 2021, 239 -254.
AMA StyleSobia Asghar, Takuji W. Tsusaka, Nophea Sasaki. Factors affecting farmers’ choice of tube well ownership in Punjab, Pakistan. Natural Resource Governance in Asia. 2021; ():239-254.
Chicago/Turabian StyleSobia Asghar; Takuji W. Tsusaka; Nophea Sasaki. 2021. "Factors affecting farmers’ choice of tube well ownership in Punjab, Pakistan." Natural Resource Governance in Asia , no. : 239-254.
Coastal tourism development can appropriately contribute to the livelihood of the community. To date, few studies have been conducted on the impacts of tourism development on the coastal communities in Thailand. This study assessed these impacts through the analysis of local perceptions based on four criteria of tourism development—the economic, environmental, social, and cultural impacts—using a five-point Likert scale. A survey of 116 households (HHs) was conducted at Cha-am Beach in the Gulf of Thailand. We found that the impacts of tourism development on coastal communities were 3.13 ± 1.02 (± refers to standard deviation) for social impact and 2.85 ± 1.03 for economic impact, indicating that tourism development had neutral and positive impacts. However, impacts on the other two criteria were below the average scores, indicating that tourism development had a negative impact on the local environment (2.50 ± 1.05) and local culture (2.41 ± 0.95). For overall impacts, the average score was 2.72 ± 1.02, indicating the coastal communities accepted tourism development in their communities. Nevertheless, as the overall score of tourism development was still far below the maximum point of 5, more efforts by the government as well as the private sector are needed to protect the local culture and coastal communities while improving the positive impacts on economic development and social integrity.
Sussaangana Unhasuta; Nophea Sasaki; Sohee Kim. Impacts of Tourism Development on Coastal Communities in Cha-am Beach, the Gulf of Thailand, through Analysis of Local Perceptions. Sustainability 2021, 13, 4423 .
AMA StyleSussaangana Unhasuta, Nophea Sasaki, Sohee Kim. Impacts of Tourism Development on Coastal Communities in Cha-am Beach, the Gulf of Thailand, through Analysis of Local Perceptions. Sustainability. 2021; 13 (8):4423.
Chicago/Turabian StyleSussaangana Unhasuta; Nophea Sasaki; Sohee Kim. 2021. "Impacts of Tourism Development on Coastal Communities in Cha-am Beach, the Gulf of Thailand, through Analysis of Local Perceptions." Sustainability 13, no. 8: 4423.
Forest biomass estimation at large scale is challenging and generally entails large uncertainty in tropical regions. With their wall‐to‐wall coverage ability, passive remote sensing signals are frequently used to extrapolate field estimates of forest aboveground biomass (AGB). However, studies often use limited reference data and/or flawed validation schemes and thus report unreliable extrapolation error estimates. Here, we compared the ability of three medium‐ to high‐resolution passive satellite sensors, Landsat‐8 (L8), Sentinel‐2B (S2) and Worldview‐3 (WV3), to map AGB in a forest landscape of Thailand. We used a large airborne LiDAR‐derived AGB dataset as a reference to train and validate a random forest algorithm and conducted robust error assessments and variable selection using spatialized cross‐validations. Our results indicate that the selected predictors strongly varied among the three sensors and between analyses were restricted to low (≤200 Mg ha−1) and high (>200 Mg ha−1) AGB areas. WV3 and S2 data outperformed L8 data to extrapolate AGB (RMSE of 68 and 72 against 84 Mg ha−1, respectively) due to the inclusion of the red‐edge band and, probably, to their higher spatial and spectral resolution. Sensitivity to large AGB values was higher for WV3 than for S2 and L8 with saturation point of 247 Mg ha−1 against 204 and 192 Mg ha−1. AGB values above these saturation points remained poorly predictable, especially for L8, indicating that several tropical forest AGB maps should be interpreted with extreme caution. However, predicted gradients of lower AGB values (≤200 Mg ha−1), i.e., in early forest successional stages, were fairly consistent among sensors (r > 0.70), even if the mean absolute difference between estimates was large when AGB predictions were extrapolated out of the calibration area at regional level (34%). We finally showed that calibrating the model only within the sensitivity AGB domain (e.g., <200 Mg ha−1) minimizes the risk of induced bias for estimating small AGB values. These results provide important benchmarks for interpreting previously published maps and to improve future validation schemes.
Nidhi Jha; Nitin Kumar Tripathi; Nicolas Barbier; Salvatore G. P. Virdis; Wirong Chanthorn; Gaëlle Viennois; Warren Y. Brockelman; Anuttara Nathalang; Sissades Tongsima; Nophea Sasaki; Raphaël Pélissier; Maxime Réjou‐Méchain. The real potential of current passive satellite data to map aboveground biomass in tropical forests. Remote Sensing in Ecology and Conservation 2021, 1 .
AMA StyleNidhi Jha, Nitin Kumar Tripathi, Nicolas Barbier, Salvatore G. P. Virdis, Wirong Chanthorn, Gaëlle Viennois, Warren Y. Brockelman, Anuttara Nathalang, Sissades Tongsima, Nophea Sasaki, Raphaël Pélissier, Maxime Réjou‐Méchain. The real potential of current passive satellite data to map aboveground biomass in tropical forests. Remote Sensing in Ecology and Conservation. 2021; ():1.
Chicago/Turabian StyleNidhi Jha; Nitin Kumar Tripathi; Nicolas Barbier; Salvatore G. P. Virdis; Wirong Chanthorn; Gaëlle Viennois; Warren Y. Brockelman; Anuttara Nathalang; Sissades Tongsima; Nophea Sasaki; Raphaël Pélissier; Maxime Réjou‐Méchain. 2021. "The real potential of current passive satellite data to map aboveground biomass in tropical forests." Remote Sensing in Ecology and Conservation , no. : 1.
Management of plantation forests for multiple purposes is critically important in the fight against climate change and loss of natural forests. This study aims to assess bioenergy generation, timber production, carbon emission reductions, carbon removals, and related carbon revenues through the management of plantation forests in Myanmar. We used the latest data from the forest resource assessment to develop the forest land use and growing stocks models for fast-growing and slow-growing plantation forests between 2000 and 2040. We found that natural forests lost 2.6% annually but only 0.02% was converted to plantation forests. Total growing stocks for both forest types increased from just 8.9 million m3 in 2000 to 39.8 million m3 in 2040. Total carbon removals were 1.2 Tg CO2 yr-1 between 2000 and 2040 and 1.3 Tg CO2 yr-1 during the Paris Agreement timeframe. The use of thinned wood and wood biomasses to substitute the fossil combustion could reduce 12.7 Tg CO2 yr-1 of carbon emissions. If combined, total emission reductions from bioenergy generation and carbon removals accounts for 82% of Myanmar’s total emissions in energy sector. This study concludes that management of plantation forest could contribute to climate change mitigation while reducing timber demand from natural forests.
Yadanar Ye Myint; Nophea Sasaki; Avishek Datta; Takuji W. Tsusaka. Management of plantation forests for bioenergy generation, timber production, carbon emission reductions, and removals. Cleaner Environmental Systems 2021, 2, 100029 .
AMA StyleYadanar Ye Myint, Nophea Sasaki, Avishek Datta, Takuji W. Tsusaka. Management of plantation forests for bioenergy generation, timber production, carbon emission reductions, and removals. Cleaner Environmental Systems. 2021; 2 ():100029.
Chicago/Turabian StyleYadanar Ye Myint; Nophea Sasaki; Avishek Datta; Takuji W. Tsusaka. 2021. "Management of plantation forests for bioenergy generation, timber production, carbon emission reductions, and removals." Cleaner Environmental Systems 2, no. : 100029.
United Nations Framework Conventions on Climate Change (UNFCC) conventions in their conference of parties (COPs) has continuously considered and agreed reducing emission level in order to minimize the impact of global climate change. Reducing emission due to deforestation and degradation (REDD) ,was considered as one of the major activities in this regard during Kyoto protocol in 2009 which laid foundation for the participating countries to be compensated financially for reduced carbon emission. Mexico convention -2012 required the countries to develop and implement a transparent and consistent monitoring, reporting and verification (MRV) process. Later in Paris agreement-2015, the parties agreed to limit the global warming to 2 degree centigrade and with further efforts to 1.5-degree centigrade furthering entailing the parties to prepare and communicate nationally determined contributions (NDCs) every five years. Nepal aimed to decrease the average annual deforestation rate by 0.05 percent from existing 0.44 percent in the terai region and 0.1 percent in the Chure. Nepal decided to develop its forest reference level (FRL) in national level for the historical period 2000-2010 considering Carbon dioxide and carbon pools above and below ground. As per the Forestry Sector Strategy, Nepal aims to increase carbon stock growth by at least 5% by 2025 as compared to 2015 and decrease mean annual deforestation rate to 0.05. After major change in administrative division in Nepal, forest management responsibility has shifted down to the Sub-national level. But forest resource studies have not been conducted yet in these levels. Despite a small country, Nepal has at least four clear physiological regions. The amount of carbon stock stored by different forest type are different depending upon species distribution, carbon volume and density for each species, and their distribution along ecological and physiological regions. Sal (shorea Robusta), for example, having one of the highest carbon densities, is a major forest types in Nepal. The purpose of this study was to generate forest map of the country, calculate carbon stock, gain and loss, and their rate in each province due to deforestation/afforestation using remote sensing data. Further Sal forest map was generated and its contribution in carbon stock was calculated using averaged national carbon density as well as using regional density method. According to the study, around 5.1 million hectares of Nepali land was forest in 2015 increasing from 4.2 million hectares in 2005. However, Sal forest has decreased during the same period. Province 1 contributed the maximum (130 Tg) and Province 2 the minimum (40Tg) of Carbon stock in 2015. Using the conventional method of calculation with national average density (108.08 t/ha), a total of 36.7T CO2 yr-1 carbon sink was observed in the Country. Whereas, with the new approach of calculation, a total of 44.7 T CO2 e of carbon sink per year was estimated during the same period. This approach holds potential for qualifying as an MRV process of Nepal. The subnational level forest and carbon statistics produced during this study can be important assets for the better forest governance. This can also pave way for policy formation and preparation of action plan for sustainable forest management and intervention strategy and obtaining better financial incentives participating in the reduction of emission due to deforestation and forest degradation (REDD) plus programs.
Bhoj Raj Ghimire; Bhogendra Mishra; Masahiko Nagai; Kitamoto Asanobu; Nophea Sasaki. Carbon Stock in Sub-National Level Forests in Nepal. 2021, 1 .
AMA StyleBhoj Raj Ghimire, Bhogendra Mishra, Masahiko Nagai, Kitamoto Asanobu, Nophea Sasaki. Carbon Stock in Sub-National Level Forests in Nepal. . 2021; ():1.
Chicago/Turabian StyleBhoj Raj Ghimire; Bhogendra Mishra; Masahiko Nagai; Kitamoto Asanobu; Nophea Sasaki. 2021. "Carbon Stock in Sub-National Level Forests in Nepal." , no. : 1.
Management of teak plantation can contribute to global sustainability. The objective of this study is to assess the overall carbon storage through forest management in a teak plantation at Thong Pha Phum in Thailand from the time of planting to final felling. We collected field data from 30 quadrat sample plots of 30 m × 30 m size in teak plantations of different age classes – 17, 24, 31, and 35 years. Accordingly, carbon stocks of the standing trees were analyzed using the allometric equations. The decay function was used to assess carbon storage in the harvested wood products (HWPs) over a 100-year period. Historical thinning activities and intensity were constructed using a combination of key-informant interviews and the logistic growth model. The average carbon storage was 63.3 MgC ha−1, 42% of which were stored in the HWPs. If global Teak forests are managed, emission reductions could be equivalent up to 30.7% of the European Union's Emission Reduction Target by 2030. Carbon-based revenues were US$2219 ha−1 year−1 depending on the chosen carbon prices. We conclude that management of Teak plantation can mitigate climate change, thereby contributing to achieving the Sustainable Development Goals 13 and 15 and the Paris Agreement.
Pinyarat Chayaporn; Nophea Sasaki; Manjunatha Venkatappa; Issei Abe. Assessment of the overall carbon storage in a teak plantation in Kanchanaburi province, Thailand – Implications for carbon-based incentives. Cleaner Environmental Systems 2021, 2, 100023 .
AMA StylePinyarat Chayaporn, Nophea Sasaki, Manjunatha Venkatappa, Issei Abe. Assessment of the overall carbon storage in a teak plantation in Kanchanaburi province, Thailand – Implications for carbon-based incentives. Cleaner Environmental Systems. 2021; 2 ():100023.
Chicago/Turabian StylePinyarat Chayaporn; Nophea Sasaki; Manjunatha Venkatappa; Issei Abe. 2021. "Assessment of the overall carbon storage in a teak plantation in Kanchanaburi province, Thailand – Implications for carbon-based incentives." Cleaner Environmental Systems 2, no. : 100023.
Understanding the drivers of deforestation and forest degradation and the agents of such drivers is important for introducing appropriate policy interventions. Here, we identified drivers and agents of drivers through the analysis of local perceptions using questionnaire surveys, focus group discussions, and field observations. The Likert scale technique was employed for designing the questionnaire with scores ranging from 1 (strongly disagree) to 5 (strongly agree). We found nine direct drivers of forest deforestation and forest degradation, namely illegal logging (4.53 ± 0.60, ± is for standard deviation), commercial wood production (4.20 ± 0.71), land clearing for commercial agriculture (4.19 ± 1.15), charcoal production (3.60 ± 1.12), land clearing for subsistence agriculture (3.54 ± 0.75), new settlement and land migration (3.43 ± 0.81), natural disasters (3.31 ± 0.96), human-induced forest fires (3.25 ± 0.96), and fuelwood for domestic consumption (3.21 ± 0.77). We also found four main indirect drivers, namely lack of law enforcement, demand for timber, land tenure right, and population growth. Our analysis indicates that wood furniture makers, medium and large-scale agricultural investors, charcoal makers, land migrants, firewood collectors, and subsistent farmers were the agents of these drivers. Through focus group discussions, 12 activities were agreed upon and could be introduced to reduce these drivers. In addition to enforcing the laws, creating income-generating opportunities for locals along with the provision of environmental education could ensure long-term reduction of these drivers. The REDD+ project could be an option for creating local income opportunities, while reducing deforestation and forest degradation.
Sereyrotha Ken; Nophea Sasaki; Tomoe Entani; Hwan Ok Ma; Phalla Thuch; Takuji W. Tsusaka. Assessment of the Local Perceptions on the Drivers of Deforestation and Forest Degradation, Agents of Drivers, and Appropriate Activities in Cambodia. Sustainability 2020, 12, 9987 .
AMA StyleSereyrotha Ken, Nophea Sasaki, Tomoe Entani, Hwan Ok Ma, Phalla Thuch, Takuji W. Tsusaka. Assessment of the Local Perceptions on the Drivers of Deforestation and Forest Degradation, Agents of Drivers, and Appropriate Activities in Cambodia. Sustainability. 2020; 12 (23):9987.
Chicago/Turabian StyleSereyrotha Ken; Nophea Sasaki; Tomoe Entani; Hwan Ok Ma; Phalla Thuch; Takuji W. Tsusaka. 2020. "Assessment of the Local Perceptions on the Drivers of Deforestation and Forest Degradation, Agents of Drivers, and Appropriate Activities in Cambodia." Sustainability 12, no. 23: 9987.
Identification of the drivers and their agents of deforestation and forest degradation is important for effective implementation of the REDD+ activities. Here, we identified the direct and indirect drivers through the analysis of local perceptions. The mixed method was used for data collection and analysis. A survey of 215 families and four focus group discussions with 72 participants were conducted in seven community forests in Kampong Thom province, Cambodia. The Likert scale scoring was used to assess the level of acceptance by the locals. We found nine direct drivers and four main indirect drivers and six agents of forest deforestation and forest degradation.
Sereyrotha Ken; Nophea Sasaki; Tomoe Entani; Takuji W. Tsusaka. Identification of the Direct and Indirect Drivers of Deforestation and Forest Degradation in Cambodia. Transactions on Petri Nets and Other Models of Concurrency XV 2020, 84 -95.
AMA StyleSereyrotha Ken, Nophea Sasaki, Tomoe Entani, Takuji W. Tsusaka. Identification of the Direct and Indirect Drivers of Deforestation and Forest Degradation in Cambodia. Transactions on Petri Nets and Other Models of Concurrency XV. 2020; ():84-95.
Chicago/Turabian StyleSereyrotha Ken; Nophea Sasaki; Tomoe Entani; Takuji W. Tsusaka. 2020. "Identification of the Direct and Indirect Drivers of Deforestation and Forest Degradation in Cambodia." Transactions on Petri Nets and Other Models of Concurrency XV , no. : 84-95.
Digital and scalable technologies are increasingly important for rapid and large-scale assessment and monitoring of land cover change. Until recently, little research has existed on how these technologies can be specifically applied to the monitoring of Reducing Emissions from Deforestation and Forest Degradation (REDD+) activities. Using the Google Earth Engine (GEE) cloud computing platform, we applied the recently developed phenology-based threshold classification method (PBTC) for detecting and mapping forest cover and carbon stock changes in Siem Reap province, Cambodia, between 1990 and 2018. The obtained PBTC maps were validated using Google Earth high resolution historical imagery and reference land cover maps by creating 3771 systematic 5 × 5 km spatial accuracy points. The overall cumulative accuracy of this study was 92.1% and its cumulative Kappa was 0.9, which are sufficiently high to apply the PBTC method to detect forest land cover change. Accordingly, we estimated the carbon stock changes over a 28-year period in accordance with the Good Practice Guidelines of the Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change. We found that 322,694 ha of forest cover was lost in Siem Reap, representing an annual deforestation rate of 1.3% between 1990 and 2018. This loss of forest cover was responsible for carbon emissions of 143,729,440 MgCO2 over the same period. If REDD+ activities are implemented during the implementation period of the Paris Climate Agreement between 2020 and 2030, about 8,256,746 MgCO2 of carbon emissions could be reduced, equivalent to about USD 6-115million annually depending on chosen carbon prices. Our case study demonstrates that the GEE and PBTC method can be used to detect and monitor forest cover change and carbon stock changes in the tropics with high accuracy.
Manjunatha Venkatappa; Nophea Sasaki; Sutee Anantsuksomsri; Benjamin Smith. Applications of the Google Earth Engine and Phenology-Based Threshold Classification Method for Mapping Forest Cover and Carbon Stock Changes in Siem Reap Province, Cambodia. Remote Sensing 2020, 12, 3110 .
AMA StyleManjunatha Venkatappa, Nophea Sasaki, Sutee Anantsuksomsri, Benjamin Smith. Applications of the Google Earth Engine and Phenology-Based Threshold Classification Method for Mapping Forest Cover and Carbon Stock Changes in Siem Reap Province, Cambodia. Remote Sensing. 2020; 12 (18):3110.
Chicago/Turabian StyleManjunatha Venkatappa; Nophea Sasaki; Sutee Anantsuksomsri; Benjamin Smith. 2020. "Applications of the Google Earth Engine and Phenology-Based Threshold Classification Method for Mapping Forest Cover and Carbon Stock Changes in Siem Reap Province, Cambodia." Remote Sensing 12, no. 18: 3110.
Although vegetation phenology thresholds have been developed for a wide range of mapping applications, their use for assessing the distribution of natural bamboo and the related carbon stocks is still limited, especially in Southeast Asia. Here, we used Google Earth Engine (GEE) to collect time-series of Landsat 8 Operational Land Imager (OLI) and Sentinel-2 images and employed a phenology-based threshold classification method (PBTC) to map the natural bamboo distribution and estimate carbon stocks in Siem Reap Province, Cambodia. We processed 337 collections of Landsat 8 OLI for phenological assessment and generated 121 phenological profiles of the average vegetation index for three vegetation land cover categories from 2015 to 2018. After determining the minimum and maximum threshold values for bamboo during the leaf-shedding phenology stage, the PBTC method was applied to produce a seasonal composite enhanced vegetation index (EVI) for Landsat collections and assess the bamboo distributions in 2015 and 2018. Bamboo distributions in 2019 were then mapped by applying the EVI phenological threshold values for 10 m resolution Sentinel-2 satellite imagery by accessing 442 tiles. The overall Landsat 8 OLI bamboo maps for 2015 and 2018 had user’s accuracies (UAs) of 86.6% and 87.9% and producer’s accuracies (PAs) of 95.7% and 97.8%, respectively, and a UA of 86.5% and PA of 91.7% were obtained from Sentinel-2 imagery for 2019. Accordingly, carbon stocks of natural bamboo by district in Siem Reap at the province level were estimated. Emission reductions from the protection of natural bamboo can be used to offset 6% of the carbon emissions from tourists who visit this tourism-destination province. It is concluded that a combination of GEE and PBTC and the increasing availability of remote sensing data make it possible to map the natural distribution of bamboo and carbon stocks.
Manjunatha Venkatappa; Sutee Anantsuksomsri; Jose Castillo; Benjamin Smith; Nophea Sasaki. Mapping the Natural Distribution of Bamboo and Related Carbon Stocks in the Tropics Using Google Earth Engine, Phenological Behavior, Landsat 8, and Sentinel-2. Remote Sensing 2020, 12, 3109 .
AMA StyleManjunatha Venkatappa, Sutee Anantsuksomsri, Jose Castillo, Benjamin Smith, Nophea Sasaki. Mapping the Natural Distribution of Bamboo and Related Carbon Stocks in the Tropics Using Google Earth Engine, Phenological Behavior, Landsat 8, and Sentinel-2. Remote Sensing. 2020; 12 (18):3109.
Chicago/Turabian StyleManjunatha Venkatappa; Sutee Anantsuksomsri; Jose Castillo; Benjamin Smith; Nophea Sasaki. 2020. "Mapping the Natural Distribution of Bamboo and Related Carbon Stocks in the Tropics Using Google Earth Engine, Phenological Behavior, Landsat 8, and Sentinel-2." Remote Sensing 12, no. 18: 3109.
Little study was done to understand the role of high-altitude oak forests in climate change mitigation. Here, we analyzed data from 30 sample plots collected along the four altitudinal gradients to assess species distribution and carbon stocks in the Panchase Conservation Area in Nepal. Three carbon pools were considered, namely aboveground carbon (AGC), belowground carbon (BGC), and carbon in litters (leaf litters, grass, and herb biomass, CiL). Seven species were found, of which two are oak tree species (Quercus semecarpifolia and Quercus lamellosa). Quercus semecarpifolia is the most dominant species in terms of stem density and carbon stocks, followed by Quercus lamellose. Average tree diameter, height, and total carbon stocks were 27.7 cm, 8.4 m, and 127.6 MgC ha−1, respectively. Our study found higher carbon stocks at the higher altitudinal gradient. Pearson’s correlation analysis shows a strong effect of altitudinal gradients on carbon stocks (r = 0.7124), moderate effect on tree height (r = 0.5263), and less effects on diameter (r = 0.1733). A stepwise multiple regression analysis shows strong relationship between carbon stocks with height (P = 0.0059) and carbon stocks with tree diameter (P = 0.0148). Our ground observations and random interviews indicate that the low carbon stocks at the low altitude were due to human disturbance. Oak forests at lower altitudes are sparse forest stands with poor regeneration capacity, overgrazing, and extensive lopping. If such disturbance is prevented, oak forest can increase carbon stocks to 361.7 MgC ha−1 as found at the higher altitude. Conservation of oak forests in the Panchase Conservation Area could result in emission reductions of 633.0 MgCO2 ha−1. These reductions could be eligible for financial incentives under the REDD + scheme.
Asmita Poudel; Nophea Sasaki; Issei Abe. Assessment of carbon stocks in oak forests along the altitudinal gradient: A case study in the Panchase Conservation Area in Nepal. Global Ecology and Conservation 2020, 23, e01171 .
AMA StyleAsmita Poudel, Nophea Sasaki, Issei Abe. Assessment of carbon stocks in oak forests along the altitudinal gradient: A case study in the Panchase Conservation Area in Nepal. Global Ecology and Conservation. 2020; 23 ():e01171.
Chicago/Turabian StyleAsmita Poudel; Nophea Sasaki; Issei Abe. 2020. "Assessment of carbon stocks in oak forests along the altitudinal gradient: A case study in the Panchase Conservation Area in Nepal." Global Ecology and Conservation 23, no. : e01171.
Long-term monitoring of vegetation is critical for understanding the dynamics of forest ecosystems, especially in Southeast Asia’s tropical forests, which play a significant role in the global carbon cycle and have continually been converted into various stages of secondary forests. In Thailand, long-term monitoring of forest dynamics during the successional process is limited to plot scales assuming from the distinct structure of successional stages. Our study highlights the potential of coupling airborne light detection and ranging (LiDAR) technology and stand age data derived from Landsat time-series to track back forest succession, and infer patterns in the plant area index (PAI) recovery. Here, using LIDAR data, we estimated the PAI of the 510 sample plots of a seasonal evergreen forest dispersed over the study area in Khao Yai National Park, Thailand, capturing a successional gradient of tropical secondary forests. The sample plots age was derived from the available Landsat time-series dataset (1972–2017). We developed a PAI recovery model during the first 42 years of the succession process. We investigated the relationship between the model residuals and PAI values with topographic factors, such as elevation, slope, and topographic wetness index. The results show that the PAI increased non-linearly (pseudo-R2 of 0.56) during the first 42 years of forest succession, and all three topographic factors have less influence on PAI variability. These results provide valuable information of the spatio-temporal PAI patterns during the successional process and help understand the dynamics of tropical secondary forests in Khao Yai National Park, Thailand. Such information is essential for forest management and local, regional, and global PAI synthesis. Moreover, our results provide significant information for ground-based spatial sampling strategies to enable more accurate PAI measurements.
Siriruk Pimmasarn; Nitin Kumar Tripathi; Sarawut Ninsawat; Nophea Sasaki. Applying LiDAR to Quantify the Plant Area Index Along a Successional Gradient in a Tropical Forest of Thailand. Forests 2020, 11, 520 .
AMA StyleSiriruk Pimmasarn, Nitin Kumar Tripathi, Sarawut Ninsawat, Nophea Sasaki. Applying LiDAR to Quantify the Plant Area Index Along a Successional Gradient in a Tropical Forest of Thailand. Forests. 2020; 11 (5):520.
Chicago/Turabian StyleSiriruk Pimmasarn; Nitin Kumar Tripathi; Sarawut Ninsawat; Nophea Sasaki. 2020. "Applying LiDAR to Quantify the Plant Area Index Along a Successional Gradient in a Tropical Forest of Thailand." Forests 11, no. 5: 520.
Climate-change mitigation projects are expected to improve local livelihoods in targeted areas. Several REDD+ projects aimed at reducing emissions from deforestation and forest degradation, conserving and enhancing forest carbon stocks, and sustainably managing forests have been implemented in Cambodia but few studies have examined the effects on local livelihoods before and during project implementation. Our study applies a sustainable livelihood framework to assess the livelihood assets of local communities in the Oddar Meanchey and Keo Seima REDD+ project sites in Cambodia before and during project implementation. Five capital assets, namely natural, physical, human, financial, and social capital, are assessed and scored on a 1-to-5 Likert scale. Data analysis collected through 252 interviews in Oddar Meanchey and Keo Seima reveals a slight increase in livelihood assets in both sites from project validation to implementation. Generally, the mean scores for local livelihood assets increased from 2.81 ± 0.07 (±is followed by the standard error) and 2.66 ± 0.06 to 3.07 ± 0.09 and 3.06 ± 0.08 in Oddar Meanchey and Keo Seima, respectively. Nevertheless, natural capital assets sharply declined from 3.50 and 3.32 to 2.09 and 2.25, respectively. Respondents mainly blamed illegal logging for the decline, suggesting that strict patrolling and enforcement must be implemented. Furthermore, the scarcity of carbon-credit buyers and the projects' inability to generate carbon-based revenues has led to dissatisfaction among local communities, inducing avoidable illegal activities in pursuit of short-term benefits. A financial mechanism to ensure sufficient and sustained financial support regardless of carbon-market volatility is urgently needed.
Sereyrotha Ken; Tomoe Entani; Takuji W. Tsusaka; Nophea Sasaki. Effect of REDD+ projects on local livelihood assets in Keo Seima and Oddar Meanchey, Cambodia. Heliyon 2020, 6, e03802 .
AMA StyleSereyrotha Ken, Tomoe Entani, Takuji W. Tsusaka, Nophea Sasaki. Effect of REDD+ projects on local livelihood assets in Keo Seima and Oddar Meanchey, Cambodia. Heliyon. 2020; 6 (4):e03802.
Chicago/Turabian StyleSereyrotha Ken; Tomoe Entani; Takuji W. Tsusaka; Nophea Sasaki. 2020. "Effect of REDD+ projects on local livelihood assets in Keo Seima and Oddar Meanchey, Cambodia." Heliyon 6, no. 4: e03802.
In recent years, international attention has been rendered to development of ecotourism for poverty reduction and biodiversity conservation. We assessed local livelihood assets in Kampong Phluk Community before and after the introduction of the community-based ecotourism (CBET) governance system, where it was previously under the private company management system (SEAPAC). We used a sustainable livelihood framework to assess natural, physical, human, social, and financial assets by analyzing a set of panel data of 150 observations according to the scoring scale of zero (total dissatisfaction) to one (total satisfaction). We found that full implementation of CBET raised the overall average score of livelihood assets by 0.15. In particular, physical capital and human capital achieved remarkable growth by 0.25 to 0.23, respectively, while growth in natural capital and financial capital was statistically insignificant. Although CBET showed promising results, improving communication and providing community health care would motivate active participation in ecotourism development.
Sokna Kry; Nophea Sasaki; Avishek Datta; Issei Abe; Sereyrotha Ken; Takuji Tsusaka. Assessment of the changing levels of livelihood assets in the Kampong Phluk community with implications for community-based ecotourism. Tourism Management Perspectives 2020, 34, 100664 .
AMA StyleSokna Kry, Nophea Sasaki, Avishek Datta, Issei Abe, Sereyrotha Ken, Takuji Tsusaka. Assessment of the changing levels of livelihood assets in the Kampong Phluk community with implications for community-based ecotourism. Tourism Management Perspectives. 2020; 34 ():100664.
Chicago/Turabian StyleSokna Kry; Nophea Sasaki; Avishek Datta; Issei Abe; Sereyrotha Ken; Takuji Tsusaka. 2020. "Assessment of the changing levels of livelihood assets in the Kampong Phluk community with implications for community-based ecotourism." Tourism Management Perspectives 34, no. : 100664.