Development of recommendations on inventory of wetlands as natural sources and absorbers of greenhouse gases

Nowadays more and more attention is paid to the role of wetlands in nature processes of climate forming. Special attention is paid to the role of wetlands (both in natural and transformed conditions) in processes connected with emission and absorption of greenhouse gases (GNG). UN Framework Convention on Climate Change (UNFCCC) consider special types of wetlands, specifically peatbogs as sources and absorbers of greenhouse gases. Peatbogs arise from land transformation in land-use change. The information on these special types of wetlands can be included in reports of countries – Parties to the Convention.

National system of anthropogenic emissions and absorbtion estimation targets meeting the commitments of the Russian Federation according to UNFCCC and the Kyoto Protocol. The national system of the Russian Federation must answer the requirements for national systems (UNFCCC/CP/2001/13/Add.3). Methodological base of accounting is determined by “Revised 1996 IPCC Guidelines for National Greenhouse Gas Inventories”, by “Good Practice Guidance and Uncertainty Management in National Greenhouse Gas Inventories” (2000), by “Good Practice Guidance for Land Use, Land-Use Change and Forestry” (2003) and by “IPCC National Greenhouse Gas Inventories Program” (2006).

Special types of wetlands accounting as sources of GNG highly probably can become an obligatory procedure for the Russian Federation required to answer the commitments of UN Framework Convention on Climate Change. These trends of the Convention are extremely important for the Russian Federation because ¼ of its territory is covered by wetlands. Methods developed by IPCC and approved by the Convention must fairly consider geographical features, specificity of land use, legislative foundations of reasonable use (including revegetation and wetlands restoration) of countries – Parties to the Convention. However the use of these methods should not result in setting too high of the data on the distribution of GNG sources. That’s why it is very important and urgent to develop recommendations on perfection and use of international methods of wetlands accounting as sources and absorbers of GNG so, that they will satisfy the interests of the Russian Federation.

The recommendations on inventory of wetlands as natural sources and absorbers of GNG according to the issue “Land use, Land-use change and forestry” of IPCC Guidelines for National Greenhouse Gases Inventories and according to UN Framework Convention on Climate Change have been developed. Materials on types of wetlands of the Russian Federation that are to be accounted as sources and absorbers of GNG according to IPCC Guidelines for National Greenhouse Gas Inventories have been prepared. The main attention was paid to exploited or abandoned peatbogs and to the peatbogs that are going to be exploited, because these are the accounted wetland types of highest priority according to IPCC National Greenhouse Gas Inventories Program.

The place of wetlands in national system of GNG emissions and absorption estimation has been determined; principles of special wetland types accounting in national system of anthropogenic emissions and absorbtion estimation in compliance with international recommendations have been analyzed; present-day system of state wetlands accounting has been analyzed; the data on the distribution and dynamics of wetlands areas (accounted as sources and absorbers of GNG) have been summarized. The conclusions have been made and the recommendations on inventory of wetlands as natural sources and absorbers of greenhouse gases on the territory of the Russian Federation have been presented.