Caribbean Reforestation Potential (Southeast Blueprint Indicator)

Reason for Selection This indicator reflects the importance of restoring forests in the Caribbean to provide quality habitat for species and protect local drinking water supplies. Agriculture, timber harvesting, and development have greatly reduced the extent of Caribbean forests, resulting in habitat loss for many species and declines in water quality due to increased nutrient runoff and sedimentation (Newkirk II 2018, Brash 1987, Lyons and Gartner 2017). In watersheds that contain reservoirs used for local drinking water, reducing sedimentation is particularly important. Not only does sediment accumulation in reservoirs cause “loss in storage capacity of the dam, but it may also lead to many negative effects both within and downstream of reservoirs which may include high turbidity, loss of flood-carrying capacity and reduction in water quality” (Adeogun et al. 2018). These negative impacts can incur high financial and environmental costs (Kawashima 2007). Protecting drinking water and improving the environmental sustainability of coffee production is a major focus of reforestation efforts in the Caribbean by partners like the Natural Resources Conservation Service (NRCS) (Frank Velazquez – Assistant State Conservationist for the NRCS Caribbean Area State Office, personal communication, 2-9-2023). The intent of this indicator is not to eliminate coffee production, but rather to support farmers in maintaining and enhancing forest cover in coffee plantations to “protect, enhance, and conserve soil, water, and wildlife habitat” (NRCS 2019). Input Data * [Southeast Blueprint 2023 subregions]: Caribbean * [Southeast Blueprint 2023 extent] * 2020 [LANDFIRE Existing Vegetation Type] (EVT) (v2.2.0) for Puerto Rico and the U.S. Virgin Islands; [access the data for U.S. Insular Areas] * U.S. Geological Survey [Watershed Boundary Dataset] (WBD), accessed 1-5-2023: HUC12s; [download the data] Mapping Steps * Export the HUC12 watersheds in the Caribbean from the WBD using states = ‘VI’ or states = ‘PR’. * Make a raster of coffee locations with LANDFIRE using the classes “Tropical agroforestry plantation” and “Caribbean bush fruit and berries”. The Caribbean bush fruit and berries LANDFIRE class is intended to represent sun-grown coffee, while tropical agroforestry plantation is intended to capture shade-grown coffee (LANDFIRE help desk, personal communication, 2-22-23). * Make a raster of potential reforestation areas with LANDFIRE using coffee areas from the step above, plus the Developed-Open Space class and agriculture classes (Pasture and Hay, Cultivated Crops and Irrigated Agriculture). * From the WBD, identify HUC12 watersheds with reservoirs. A watershed is assumed to contain a reservoir if it contains the word “Dam” in the “name” attribute. * Convert HUC12 watersheds with reservoirs from polygon to raster. * Combine the above rasters and reclassify to produce the final indicator values seen below. * Clip to the Caribbean Blueprint 2023 subregion. * As a final step, clip to the spatial extent of Southeast Blueprint 2023. Note: For more details on the mapping steps, code used to create this layer is available [in the Southeast Blueprint 2025 Data Download] or [Caribbean-only Southeast Blueprint 2025 Data Download] under > 6_Code. Final indicator values Indicator values are assigned as follows: 4 = Highest reforestation potential (coffee production in watershed with reservoir) 3 = Very high reforestation potential (other coffee production) 2 = High reforestation potential (open space in developed area, pasture, or crops in watershed with reservoir) 1 = Medium reforestation potential (other open space in developed area, pasture, or crops) 0 = Low reforestation potential (already natural or developed) Known Issues * This indicator does not account for differences in canopy cover among existing coffee plantations. It assigns the same level of priority to both sun-grown and shade-grown coffee. While sun-grown coffee is often considered a higher priority for reforestation (Almodovar 2013, NRCS 2019), even plantations that are considered shade-grown can vary in their level of canopy cover and would benefit from management or restoration to maintain or enhance the overstory. * The methods used to identify watersheds that contain reservoirs do not distinguish between reservoirs used for drinking water and reservoirs used for other purposes, such as recreation or flood control. While drinking water quality is a major driver of this indicator, not all reservoirs identified in this indicator are necessarily used for drinking water. * This indicator underprioritizes reforestation in some areas that are classified as natural but have significantly fewer trees than they should. Some ecosystems in the Caribbean (e.g., thorn scrub in eastern St. Croix), do not have many trees due to climate and geology. However, other areas classified as natural are lacking trees due to invasive species, grazing, or other human disturbance. Disclaimer: Comparing with Older Indicator Versions There are numerous problems with using Southeast Blueprint indicators for change analysis. Please consult Blueprint staff if you would like to do this (email [hilary_morris@fws.gov]). Literature Cited Adeogun, Adeniyi Ganiyu and Bolaji Fatai Sule, Adebayo Wahab Salami. Cost effectiveness of sediment management strategies for mitigation of sedimentation at Jebba Hydropower reservoir, Nigeria. Journal of King Saud University - Engineering Sciences, Volume 30, Issue 2. 2018. Pages 141-149, ISSN 1018-3639. [[https://doi.org/10.1016/j.jksues.2016.01.003]]. Almodovar, Edwin. Natural Resources Conservation Service. Shade-Grown Coffee Protects Puerto Rico Bay Coral Reefs. April 8, 2013. Accessed July 26, 2023. [[https://www.usda.gov/media/blog/2013/04/08/shade-grown-coffee-protects-puerto-rico-bay-coral-reefs]]. Brash, Alexander R. The history of avian extinction and forest conversion on Puerto Rico. Biological Conservation, Volume 39, Issue 2, 1987, Pages 97-111, ISSN 0006-3207. [[https://doi.org/10.1016/0006-3207(87)90028-0]]. Kawashima, S. (2007), Conserving reservoir water storage: An economic appraisal, Water Resources Research, 43, W05417. [[https://doi.org/10.1029/2006WR005090]]. LANDFIRE, Earth Resources Observation and Science Center (EROS), U.S. Geological Survey. Published August 1, 2022. LANDFIRE 2020 Existing Vegetation Type (EVT) Puerto Rico US Virgin Islands. LF 2020, raster digital data. Sioux Falls, SD. [[https://www.landfire.gov]]. Lyons, Katie, and Todd Gartner. World Resources Institute. 3 Surprising Ways Water Depends on Healthy Forests. March 21, 2017. [[https://www.wri.org/insights/3-surprising-ways-water-depends-healthy-forests]]. Natural Resource Conservation Service (2019). Shade Coffee for the Caribbean. Accessed July 25, 2023. [[https://www.nrcs.usda.gov/conservation-basics/conservation-by-state/caribbean-area/shade-coffee-for-the-caribbean]]. Newkirk, Vann R. II. The 150-Year Mission to Reforest Puerto Rico. The Atlantic – Science. September 25, 2018. Accessed July 26, 2023. [[https://www.theatlantic.com/science/archive/2018/09/the-150-year-mission-to-reforest-puerto-rico/571219/]]. U.S. Geological Survey. National Hydrography Products – Watershed Boundary Dataset. Accessed January 5, 2023. [[https://www.usgs.gov/national-hydrography/access-national-hydrography-products]].