Tree biomass carbon survey complete

This month we completed our baseline survey and establishment of 25 Permanent Super Sample Plots in forests across central and southern Kilwa. The data gathered from these plots will allow us to calculate the total above-ground biomass carbon in the forests across the Kilwa landscape in which we are working. This information will provide a critical baseline for tracking changes to carbon stocks in the forest caused by our REDD Pilot Project.

The plots were randomly located across the landscape, and stratified into forest, woodland and savannah tree cover classes. Each 'super plot' contains a variety of sub-plots, the largest of which covers 9ha; the total area surveyed is just over 240ha, which is a lot of ground for a field survey team to cover. Within each sub-plot each tree stem above a certain size (which differed according to the type of sub-plot) was carefully measured and tagged so that its growth can be monitored in future surveys.