Hello, my name is Murray Collins and I’m a PhD student working at the Institute of Zoology, ZSL and the London School of Economics and Political Science. My research focuses on tropical forest management for climate change mitigation and biodiversity conservation.

Tropical forests play an important role in the earth’s climate system. They store and sequester large amounts of carbon, which helps regulate the amount of carbon dioxide in the atmosphere.

When these forests are cleared (e.g. for palm oil production, as above), large amounts of carbon dioxide are released into the atmosphere. Furthermore, the carbon sink is lost.

This is most significant in tropical peatlands, which store huge amounts of carbon.

Tropical peatlands are then home to many different species, such as the highly specialised air breathing fish (above).

Under international negotiations, a scheme called Reducing Emissions from Deforestation and Degradation (REDD) is being tested, which envisions rich industrialised countries directly paying tropical forest countries to reduce their deforestation rates. I am looking at REDD in Indonesia, the world’s third largest carbon dioxide emitter after China and USA. My goal is to see how this REDD scheme can work in practice and whether it will be able to support biodiversity conservation.

Indonesia is one of the world’s most biologically diverse countries. Reducing deforestation here could potentially make a large difference to biodiversity conservation, helping preserve viable populations of rare species, such as the Kuhl’s dragon (above).

I am exploring these issues within the context of ZSL’s Berbak Carbon Initiative in eastern Sumatra. This is an official REDD demonstration project with active and ongoing biomass carbon and biodiversity surveys.

Berbak is in Sumatra’s carbon-rich peat swamp forests, and is home to tigers, two species of crocodiles, and a myriad other species.

Implementing REDD outside Berbak national park could ensure the conservation of additional forests that would not have otherwise been protected. This could improve the conservation prospects for many of Sumatra’s species, which are currently threatened by deforestation (such as the golden cat, above).

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