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Project Leader	Dr. Josep CANADELL GCTE Executive Officer GCTE International Project Office CSIRO Sustainable Ecosystems PO Box 284, Canberra, ACT, 2601 AUSTRALIA Tel: +61-2-6242-1557 Fax: +61-2-6242-1512 Email: pep.canadell@gcte.org
Funding	US $60,980
Participating countries	Australia, China, Indonesia, Japan, Korea, Malaysia, Mongolia, the Philippines, Russia, Thailand, USA

Introduction/Background
Research on the carbon cycle has become central to the political discourse over the last few years, as negotiations to stabilize atmospheric CO2 concentrations are progressing under the Framework Conventions for Climate Change and its associated Kyoto Protocol. The Land Use Change and Forestry (LUCF) sector has become more problematic throughout the negotiations as they are responsible for a large portion of the current terrestrial sinks, particularly in temperate regions, and for large carbon sources, particularly in tropical regions (e.g. SE Asia alone accounts for about 50% of the global carbon emissions from land use change).

This APN project was designed with the following objectives:

1) To review current knowledge and uncertainties in estimating carbon fluxes and stocks associated with land use change and disturbances in Asia.

2) To elaborate the mechanisms and processes by which land use change (both intensification and extensification) and forestry practices affect carbon pools and fluxes in the region.

3) To develop a framework, linked to the IGBP-IHDP-WCRP Carbon Cycle Research Program, to advance carbon cycle research in Asia with the view to address needs of the policy community.

4) To develop a series of projects for implementation in the region and a funding strategy.

Outline of activities conducted
The project has developed around three main activities: one workshop, five commissioned studies, and the development of two research proposals.

The workshop was held during 29 January to the 1 February 2001 in Kobe, Japan. Twenty-eight participants from Australia, China, Indonesia, Japan, Korea, Malaysia, Mongolia, the Philippines, Russia, Thailand, and USA contributed to the meeting along with eight observers from Japan.

The objectives of the workshop were to review the variety of ongoing projects on land use change and terrestrial carbon in Asia and to foster linkages between land use change scientists (both remote sensing and land use change causation modelers) with ecologists measuring carbon fluxes and pools. The group identify areas to foster integration such as the development of new land use change typologies better linked to biogeochemistry studies with a focus on relevant management practices to increase carbon sink strength and reduce carbon emissions.

A third objective of the workshop was to produce research proposals with an emphasis on integration of the effects of land use change, its causes, and climate change variability on some aspects of the terrestrial carbon cycle. Five case studies were chosen and two were developed into research proposals, one for Mongolia and another for Southeast Asia.

Outcomes/Products
1) The main outcome of the workshop was to foster research collaboration between land use change groups and ecologists who measure carbon pools and fluxes in forests, grasslands, and agro ecosystems. This was achieved and two research proposals resulted:

• Land use change and carbon sequestration in Southeast Asia; and
• Potential adaptation strategies under global warming and land use change in Mongolia.

• Land Use Change and Carbon Cycle in Arid and Semi-Arid Lands of East and Central Asia;
• Carbon Budgets of Forest Ecosystems in Southeast Asia Following Disturbance and Restoration; and
• Database of scientists and reports (available on the web) on land use change and the terrestrial carbon cycle in Asia.

4) Twelve papers have been invited to contribute to a special issue to be published in a peer-reviewed journal on the topic of the workshop.

5) Various scientists were also identified as contributors to the new IGBP-IHDP-WCRP Carbon Cycle Research Project.

Future directions/Follow-up work
1) Two new commissioned studies have been undertaken to support the development and provide background information for the two research proposals that will be fully developed at completion of the commissioned studies. The proposals will be submitted independently or cross-referenced to GEF-IPCC (Impacts and Adaptation) and APN.

2) Various groups in the region will be working over the next 5 months on their papers for the special issue. Two synthesis papers will be written by a multi disciplinary group of scientists to identify future research and integration strategies.