### Approved VCS Module VMD0005

Version 1.0
REDD Methodological Module:

Estimation of carbon stocks in the long

- term wood products pool ( CP

- W )
Sectoral Scope 14

I. SCOPE, APPLICABILITY AND PARAMETERS

Scope

This module allows for ex ante estimation of carbon stocks in the long

- term wood products pool in the baseline case

. Carbon stocks treated here are those stocks remaining in wood products after 100 years; the bulk of em issions associated with timber harvest, processing and waste, and eventual product retirement occur within this timeframe , and this module employs the simplifying assumption that the proportion remaining after 100 years is effectively “permanent 1 .”

Applicability

This module is applicable to all cases w here wood is harvested for conversion to wood products for commercial markets , for all forest types and age classes

. This module is applicable in the baseline if the wood products pool is included as pa rt of the project boundary as per applicability criteria in the framework module REDD

- MF , specifically :

 T imber harvest occurs prior to or in the process of deforestation , and where timber is
destined for commercial markets

 T he wood products pool is determin ed to be significant (using T

- SIG ).

Parameters

This module produces the following parameter:

Parameter SI Unit Description

1 The proportion remaining after 100 years is effectively the amount sequestered in the wood products pool throughout the crediting period of any VCS REDD project (maximum crediting period = 100 years).VM D 000 5 , Version 1.0 Sectoral Scope 14

CP

- W

- 2 C WP

, i t CO 2 - e ha - 1 Mean c arbon stock in wood products pool (stock remaining in wood products after 100 years) from stratum i

C XB,i t CO 2 - e ha - 1 Mean stock of extracted biomass carbon from stratum i

Frequency of update of oxidation factors

The approach outlined in this module employs emission factors (OF, SLF, and WW) derived by Winjum et al

. 1998. In the event that new research findings updating or refin ing (e.g. for specific countries) OF, SLF and/or WW factors become available in the future (during the project crediting period) , they will replace the factors included in the module, otherwise the
f actors in the module will remain valid. T he use of this module requires that project proponents review research findings (that produce emissions factors compatible with the conceptual framework here) at least every 10 years to identify further refinements to the emission factors that are empirically

- based and peer

- reviewed.

II. PROCEDURES

Ex ante e stimation of carbon stock s in the wood products pool in the baseline

This module estimates carbon stock s in wood products resulting from timber harvest occurring prior to or in the process of deforestation

. Accounting for such wood products should only take place at the time of deforestation. This module follows the conceptual framework detailed in Winjum et al. 1998 2

, applyi ng the simplifying (and conservative) assumption that all extracted biomass not retained in long

- term wood products after 100 years is emitted in the year harvested, instead of tracking annual emissions through retirement, burning and decomposition.

All factors are derived from Winjum et al . 1998.

If approved timber harvest plans

, specifying harvest intensity per strata in terms of volume extracted per ha, are available for the project area use Option 1 . If approved harvest plans are
not available use Option 2

.

Option 1 : Direct Volume Extraction Estimation

Step 1: Identify the wood product class(es) ( ty ; defined here as sawnwood, wood

- based panels, other industrial roundwood, paper and paper board, and other) that are the anticipated end
use of the e xtracted carbon calculated in Step 2.

2 Winjum, J.K., Brown, S. and Schlamadinger, B. 1998. Forest harvests and wood products: sources and sinks of atmospheric carbon dioxide. Forest Science 44: 272

- 284VM D 000 5 , Version 1.0 Sectoral Scope 14

CP

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- 3 Step 2 : Calculate the biomass carbon of the volume extracted by wood product type ty from within the project boundary:

(1)

Where:

C XB,ty,i Mean stock of extracted biomass carbon by class of wood product ty from

strat um i ; t CO 2 - e ha - 1

A i Total area of strat um i ; ha

V ex,ty,j Volume of timber extracted from within strat um i (does not include slash left

onsite) by species j and wood product class ty ; m 3

D j Mean wood density of species j ; t d.m.m - 3

CF j Carbon fraction of biomass for tree species j ; t C t - 1 d.m.

j 1, 2, 3

, ... S tree species

ty Wood product class

– defined here as sawnwood (s) , wood

- based panels (w)

,

other industrial roundwood (oir) , paper and paper board (p) , and other (o)

44/12 Ratio of molecular weight of CO 2 to carbon, t CO 2 - e t C - 1

Step 3 : Calculate the proportion of biomass carbon extracted that remains sequestered in long

term wood products after 100 years.

(2 )

Where:

C WP ,i Carbon stock in wood products pool (stock remaining in wood products after

100 years) from strat um i ; t CO 2 - e ha - 1

C XB,ty,i Mean stock of extracted biomass carbon by class of wood product ty from

strat um i ; t CO 2 - e ha - 1

WW ty Wood waste. The fraction immediately emitted through mill inefficiency by

class of wood product ty ; dimensionless

SLF ty Fraction of wood products that will be emitted to the atmosphere within 5

years of timber harvest by class of wood product ty ; dimensionless

OF ty Fraction of wood products that will be emitted to the atmosphere between 5

and 100 years of timber harvest by class of wood product ty ; dimensionlessVM D 000 5 , Version 1.0 Sectoral Scope 14

CP

- W

- 4 ty Wood product class

– defined here as sawnwood (s) , wood

- based panels (w)

,

other industrial roundwood (oir) , paper and paper board (p) , and other (o)

i 1, 2, 3, ... M strata

Option 2: Commercial inventory estim ation

Step 1: Calculate the biomass carbon of the commercial volume extracted prior to or in the process of deforestation :

( 3 )

Where:

C XB,i Mean stock of extracted biomass carbon from strat um i ; t CO 2 - e ha - 1

C AB_tree,i Mean aboveground biomass carbon stock in stratum i ; t CO 2 - e ha - 1

BCEF Biomass conversion and expansion factor (BCEF) for conversion of

merchantable volume to total aboveground tree biomass; dimensionless

P com i Commercial volume as a percent of total aboveground volume in stratum

i ; dimensionless

i 1, 2, 3, ... M strata

Step 2: Identify the w ood product class (es) ( ty ; defined here as sawnwood, wood

- ba sed panels, other industrial roundwood, paper and paper board, and other ) that are the anticipated end
use of the extracted carbon calculated in Step 1

.

Step 3 : Calculate the proportion of biomass carbon extracted that remains sequestered in long

term wood products after 100 years. This module applies the simplifying (and conservative) assumption that all extracted biomass not retained in long

- term wood products after 100 years is emitted in the year harvested, instead of tracking annual emissions through retirement, burning and decomposition. All factors are derived from Winjum et al . 1998.

( 4 )

Where:

C WP

, i Carbon stock in long

- term wood products pool (stock remaining in wood

products after 100 years) from strat um i post deforestation ; t CO 2 - e ha - 1

C XB,ty ,i Mean stock of extracted biomass carbon by class of wood product ty from

strat um i ; t CO 2 - e ha - 1VM D 000 5 , Version 1.0 Sectoral Scope 14

CP

- W

- 5 WW ty Wood waste. The fraction immediately emitted through mill inefficiency by

class of wood product ty ; dimensionless

SLF ty Fraction of wood products that will be emitted to the atmosphere within 5

years of timber harvest by class of wood product ty ; dimensionless

OF ty Fraction of wood products that will be emitted to the atmosphere between 5

and 100 years of timber harvest by class of wood product ty ; dimensionless

ty Wood product class

– defined here as sawnwood (s) , woo d

- based panels (w)

,

other industrial roundwood (oir) , paper and paper board (p) , and other (o)

i 1, 2, 3, ... M strata

III

. DATA AND PARAMETERS NOT MONITORED (DEFAULT O R POSSIBLY MEASURED ONE TIME)

Data / parameter : BCEF

Data unit: Dimensionless

Used in equations: 1

Description: Biomass conversion and expansion factor for conversion of commercial

wood volume per unit area to total aboveground tree biomass per unit area; note that BCEF as defined here, and in most applications, is not applied on a per stem basis

Source of data: Equations must have been derived using a wide range of measured

variables ( commercial wood volume per unit area and total aboveground biomass per unit area ) based on datasets that comprise at least 30 trees. Equations must be based on statistically significant regressions and must
have an r 2 that is ≥ 0.8.

The source of data shall be chosen with priority from higher to lower preference as follows:

(a) Existing local forest type

- specific; (b) National forest type

- specific or e co

- region

- specific (e.g. from national GHG inventory); (c) Forest type

- specific or eco

- region

- specific from neighboring countries with similar conditions. Sometimes (c) might be preferable to (b); (d) Global forest type or eco

- region

- specific (e.g. IPCC 2006 INV GLs AFOLU Chapter 4 Table 4.5)

The project volume data to which the selected BCEF is applied must conform to the data the BCEF was originally derived from, in particular, itVM D 000 5 , Version 1.0 Sectoral Scope 14

CP

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- 6 must match forest type, stand structure, minimum DBH , and cover the

range of potential independent variable values (commercial volumes) likely to be encountered in the project area.

Care must be taken to ensure that the selected BCEF does not account for

non

- commercial species not represented in commercial volume estimates (i.e . is restricted to expanding merchantable volumes to account for only

non

- merchantable tree components).

Measurement procedures (if any):

Any comment: Alternatively, BCEF, where not directly available, can be calculated as

wood density (t dry mass m - 3 g reen volume) * BEF (Biomass Expansion Factor = ratio of aboveground biomass to biomass of the commercial volume).

If using BCEFs developed outside the project country (cases (c) and (d) above under Source of data), i t is necessary to validate the applicabi lity
of BCEFs used. Validation is performed by:

1. Limited Measurements

 Select at least 20 plots in the project area covering a wide range of
commercial volumes.

 O btain tree measurements (e.g. DBH

, height to a 10 cm diameter top )
from which to calculate commercial volume and total biomass

.

 Calculate commercial volume per unit area (e.g. using Smalian’s formula) and total biomass per unit area (using the biomass equation(s) selected for application in CP

- AB) for each plot

 Calculate BCEF for each plot ( biom ass (t) / commercial volume (m 3 )

 Graph the plot

- level estimates of BCEF versus commercial volume along with the BCEF equation (predicted) to be validated. If the
estimated BCEFs of the measured plots are distributed both above and
below the predicted value the BCEF equation may be used. The BCEF equation may also be used if the measured plots have a BCEF consistently lower than that predicted. If graphing the BCEF of the
measured plots indicates a systematic bias to over estimation of BCEF (>75% of the plots below the predicted value ) then another BCEF equation must be selected or developed anew

.

Data / parameter: CF j

Data unit: t C t

- 1 d.m.

Used in equations: 4VM D 000 5 , Version 1.0 Sectoral Scope 14

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- W

- 7 Description: Carbon fraction of dry matter in t C t - 1 d.m. for species j

Source of data: Species

- or family

- specific values from the literature (e.g. IPCC 2006 INV

GLs AFOLU Chapter 4 Table 4.3) shall be used if available, otherwise
default value of 0.47 t C t

- 1 d.m. can be used.

Measurement procedures (if any):

Any comment: Where new species are encountered in the course of monitoring, new

carbon fraction values must be sourced from the literature or otherwise
use the default value.

Data / parameter : D j

Data unit: t d.m. m - 3

Used in equations: 4

Description: Basic wood density in t d.m. m - 3 for species j

Source of data: The source of data shall be chosen with priority from higher to lower

preference as follows:

(a) National species

- specific or group of species

- specific (e.g. from National GHG inventory); (b) Species

- specific or group of species

- specific from neighboring countries with similar conditions. Sometimes (b) may be preferable to (a); (c) Global species

- specific or group of species

- specific (e.g. IPCC 2006 INV GLs AFOLU Chapter 4 Tables 4.13 and 4. 14).

Species

- specific wood densities may not always be available, and may be difficult to apply with certainty in the typically species rich forests of the humid tropics, hence it is acceptable practice to use wood densities developed for forest types or p lant families or species groups.

Measurement procedures (if any): N/A

Any comment: Where using wood densities developed outside of the project country

(cases (b) and (c) above under Source of data), wood densities must be
validated with either limited de structive sampling or direct measurement of wood hardness (e.g. with a Pilodyn wood tester) in the field and correlating with wood density. Samples or measurements should be from

20

- 30 trees. For validation of mean forest type or species group wood
densiti es, representation of species in the sample should be proportional to their occurrence in terms of basal area or volume in the project area (not abundance or stem density). Samples should provide representationVM D 000 5 , Version 1.0 Sectoral Scope 14

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- W

- 8 across the length of the tree.

Wood samples a re cut in discs and thickness and diameter measured to calculate green volume. Samples are oven dried (70 o C) to a constant weight in the laboratory, and density calculated as dry weight (g) per unit green volume (cm 3 ).

If the density of the samples/measu rements (or mean density in the case of forest type or species group means) is within ±10% of the selected density values, then the selected density values may be used. Otherwise, a new density value must be developed with more extensive sampling, using th e validation samples as a base.

Where new species are encountered in the course of monitoring, new wood density values must be sourced from the literature and validated, if necessary, as per requirements and procedures above.

Data / parameter : OF ty

Data unit: Dimensionless

Used in equations: 2,4

Description: OF = Fraction of wood products that will be emitted to the atmosphere

between 5 and 100 years after production by class of wood product ty ;
Winjum et al . 1998 gives annual oxidation fractions for each class of wood products split by forest region (boreal, temperate and tropical). This methodology projects these fractions over 95 years to give the additional proportion ( OF value) that is oxidized between the 5 th and 100 th years after initial harvest :

Wood Product Class OF

Boreal Temperate Tropical

Sawnwood 0.36 0.60 0.84

Woodbase panels 0.60 0.84 0.97

Other industrial
roundwood 0.84 0.97 0.99

Paper and paperboard 0.36 0.60 0.99

Source of data: The source of data is the published paper of Winjum et al . 1998 3

3 Winjum, J.K., Brown, S. and Schlamadinger, B. 1998. Forest harvests and wood products: sources and sinks of atmospheric carbon dioxide. Forest Science 44: 272

- 284VM D 000 5 , Version 1.0 Sectoral Scope 14

CP

- W

- 9 Measurement procedures (if any):

Any comment: Parameter values to be updated if new empirically

- based peer

- reviewed

findings become available. Every 10 years, project proponents should review research findings to identify further ref inements to the emission factors that are empirically

- based and peer

- reviewed

Data / parameter : Pcom i

Data unit: Dimensionless

Used in equations: 1

Description: Commercial volume as a percent of total aboveground volume in stratum

i

.
Source of data: The source of data shall be chosen with priority from higher to lower

preference as follows:

(a) Direct forest inventory of the project area, distinguishing commercially viable stocks on the basis of species and tree size, referencing local expert knowle dge or a participatory rural assessment (PRA) of harvest practices and markets; (b) Forest inventory from a proxy area in the same region, representing the same forest type and age class, distinguishing commercially viable stocks on the basis of species a nd tree size, referencing local expert knowledge of harvest practices and markets National and forest type

specific or eco

- region

- specific (e.g. from National GHG inventory).

Measurement procedures (if any): This parameter is updated at baseline renewal w hen aboveground

biomass is re

- inventoried as per module CP

- AB ( at least every 10 years).

Any comment: Updated at the time of baseline revision ( at least every 10 years).

Note that application of the commercial percentage of total volume introduces the simplifying assumption (and conservative, as it is only
used in the ex ante baseline calculations) that all commercial stocks are extracted (i.e. perfect efficiency).

Data / parameter : SLF ty

Data unit: Dimensionless

Used in equations: 2,4

Description: SLF = Fraction of wood products that will be emitted to the atmosphereVM D 000 5 , Version 1.0 Sectoral Scope 14

CP

- W

- 10 within 5 years of production by class of wood product ty

Winjum et al. 1998 give the following proportions for wood products
with short

- term (<5 yr) uses after which they are retired and oxidized (applicable internationally):

Sawnwood 0.2 Woodbase panels 0.1
Other industrial roundwood 0.3 Paper and Paperboard 0.4

The methodology makes the assumption that all other classes of wood products, and where wood product class ty is unknown, are 100% oxidized within 5 years.

Therefore SLF, by wood product class, is equal to:

Wood Product Class SLF

Sawnwood 0.2

Woodbase panels 0.1

Other industrial roundwood 0.3

Paper and paperboard 0.4

Other classes of wood products 1.0

Source of data: The source of data is the published paper of Winjum et al . 1998 4

Measurement procedures (if any):

Any comment: Parameter values to be updated if new empirically

- based peer

- reviewed

findings become available.

Data / parameter : WW ty

Data unit: dimensionless

Used in equations: 2,4

Description: WW = Fraction of extracted biomass effectively emitted to the

atmosphere during production by class of wood product ty

Winjum et al . 1998 indicate that the proportion of extracted biomass

4 Winjum, J.K., Brown, S. and Sch lamadinger, B. 1998. Forest harvests and wood products: sources and sinks of atmospheric carbon dioxide. Forest Science 44: 272

- 284VM D 000 5 , Version 1.0 Sectoral Scope 14

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- 11 that is oxidized (burning or decaying) from the production of commodities to be equal to 19% for developed countries, 24% for developing countries. WW is therefore equal to C XB,ty multiplied by 0.19 for developed countries and 0.24 for developing countries.

Source of data: The source of data is the published paper of Winjum et al . 1998 5

Measurement procedures (if any):

Any comment: Parameter value s to be updated if new empirically

- based peer

- reviewed

findings become available.

IV

. DATA AND PARAMETERS MONITORED

Data / parameter : A i

Data unit: ha

Used in equations: 3

Description: Total area of stratum i

Source of data:

Measurement procedures (if any):

Monitoring frequency: At a minimum every time the baseline is updated (at least every 10 years )

QA/QC procedures:

Any comment: Ex

- ante it shall be assumed that strata area will remain constant

Data / parameter : V ex ,i

Data unit: m 3

Used in equations: 3

Description: The volume of timber in m 3 extracted from within the stratum (does not

include slash left onsite), reported by wood product class and preferably species

.

5 Winjum, J.K., Brown, S. and Schlamadinger, B. 1998. Forest harvests and wood products: sources and sinks of atmospheric c arbon dioxide. Forest Science 44: 272

- 284VM D 000 5 , Version 1.0 Sectoral Scope 14

CP

- W

- 12 Source of data: Timber harvest records and/or estimates derived from field

measurements or remote assessments with aerial photography or satellite imagery.

Measurement procedures (if any):

Monitoring frequency: At a minimum every time the baseline is updated (at least every 10 years )

QA/QC procedures:

Any comment: Note that this volume does not include logging slash left onsite. Data

compilers should also make sure that extracted volumes reported are gross volumes removed (i.e. reported volume does not already discount for estimated wood waste, as is of ten the practice in harvest records). Assignment of volume extracted to wood product class(es), must be substantiated on the basis of participatory rural appraisal (PRA) findings (also used to assess potential for degradation in module M

- MON ) or
records of timber sales. Assignment of volume extracted to species, must be substantiated on the basis of either PRA findings, harvest records, or a commercial inventory.

Baseline removals will be known ex

- ante. With project removals are classed as project emissions and where expected shall be detailed ex

ante alongside evidence on expected harvested volumes.