Assessment of forest carbon stocks for REDD+ implementation in the muyong forest system of Ifugao, Philippines

Forests hold significant potential for carbon sequestration and climate change mitigation. Forest biomass estimation is vital for sustainable forest management, providing critical input data for implementing the United Nations Reducing Emissions from Deforestation and forest Degradation-plus (REDD+) mechanism. This study investigates the total carbon pools—aboveground biomass (AGB), belowground biomass (BGB), forest floor biomass, and soil carbon—using field-based information in the muyong forest management system, which is native to Ifugao in the Philippines. This study reveals that a difference may be observed between the total carbon stock of the private woodlots (muyong) and that of the communal forest (bilid). The results indicate that the bilid forest has trees with a small diameter at breast height (DBH) and high tree density in contrast to the muyong, which has trees with high DBH and low tree density. The average carbon stock per unit area is higher in muyong (150.8 tC/ha) than in bilid (126.1 tC/ha). These findings are valuable in determining whether Ifugao’s muyong forest system should be included under the REDD+ framework. Human mediation and management helps forests to sequester a greater amount of carbon than they would without human intervention. Implementation of REDD+ should promote Ifugao’s ecosystem and biodiversity conservation and agroforestry practices in addition to protecting traditional agricultural practices and livelihoods in relation to rice terraces.