Developing the Foundations for Climate Action and Sustainable Forest Management in Timor-Leste

The Challenge

As one of Southeast Asia's newest nations, Timor-Leste faces significant environmental pressures. Between 2003 and 2010, the country experienced widespread deforestation (estimated at 1.7-2.23% annually) driven by slash-and-burn agriculture, land clearing, and repeated burning for cultivation and grazing. With forests covering approximately 60% of the country's land area and playing a critical role in sustaining traditional livelihoods, the Government of Timor-Leste recognised the urgent need to address forest loss and build the technical foundations for climate action.

However, major information gaps stood in the way:

• No consistent national-scale data on forest cover or carbon stocks

• No National Forest Inventory (NFI) had ever been completed

• Historical forest maps were inconsistent, outdated, and not reproducible

• Limited in-country technical capacity for forest monitoring, GIS, and REDD+ reporting

Without robust baseline data and technical systems, Timor-Leste could not access international climate finance, report credibly on forest-related emissions, or track progress toward its climate commitments under the UNFCCC.

The Solution

FAO, with funding from the Green Climate Fund (GCF), engaged Elvino Aparicio de Oliveira as National Forest Specialist and Project Coordinator to help deliver the development of Timor-Leste's first Forest Reference (Emissions) Level (FRL/FREL), a critical benchmark for measuring the country's performance in reducing emissions from deforestation and forest degradation under the REDD+ framework.

Elvino's work spanned technical design, fieldwork, capacity building, and high-level coordination:

Co-designing and implementing the National Forest Inventory

• Developed the methodology for Timor-Leste's first-ever NFI, including plot design, field protocols, and carbon calculation methods

• Trained government technical staff from the Directorate General of Forestry, Coffee and Industrial Plants (DGFCIP) to conduct field-based forest inventory

• Led field data collection across the country, establishing the foundational dataset for national forest monitoring

Remote sensing and land cover mapping

• Supported the Remote Sensing team to validate 4,215 sample plots nationwide using systematic sampling and visual interpretation of satellite imagery

• Applied cutting-edge tools including Sentinel-2, Planet mosaics, and Google Earth Engine to map forest cover and land use change

• Produced Timor-Leste's updated 2021 Land Cover Map, the country's most recent and reproducible forest map

Calculating the Forest Reference Level

• Co-authored the FRL/FREL submission document using IPCC guidelines and Timor-Leste's first national forest data

• Integrated activity data (land use change) with emission factors (carbon stock estimates) to calculate national-level emissions and removals from forests

• The FRL/FREL was formally submitted to the UNFCCC in January 2023 and published on the UNFCCC REDD+ platform: https://redd.unfccc.int/submissions/by-country/country_detail/tls.html

Coordination and knowledge transfer

• Served as Project Coordinator, liaising between multiple government ministries, the UNFCCC Technical Secretariat, and international partners

• Travelled to Rome with Government representatives to present the FRL/FREL to FAO and UNFCCC officials

• Presented findings to Government officials in Timor-Leste, ensuring national ownership and understanding of the technical approach

Results and Impact

• First-ever national forest baseline: Timor-Leste now has a credible, UNFCCC-recognised Forest Reference Level, enabling the country to access results-based climate finance

• Capacity built: 20 government technical staff trained in forest inventory, GIS, and carbon monitoring

• National forest data infrastructure: 4,215 validated sample plots and a reproducible land cover map providing ongoing monitoring capability

• International recognition: FRL/FREL successfully submitted and published by UNFCCC in 2023

• Policy foundation: The FRL/FREL directly supports Timor-Leste's Nationally Determined Contributions (NDCs) and national forest strategy development

Long-term outcomes:

• Timor-Leste is now positioned to track deforestation trends, measure carbon stock changes, and report transparently on REDD+ activities

• The NFI methodology provides a replicable framework for future full-scale forest inventories

• The country is now working on to update its NDC 3.0 and update its NBSAP (National Biodiversity Strategy and Action Plan) – but in order to update this document, national level NFI need to be updated at large scale.

Technical Expertise

This project required deep expertise across:

• Forest inventory design and implementation

• GIS and remote sensing (Landsat, Sentinel-2, Planet, Google Earth Engine)

• REDD+ MRV (Measurement, Reporting, Verification) systems

• IPCC greenhouse gas accounting methodologies

• Stakeholder coordination and capacity building

• Technical writing and international reporting standards

Want to learn more about Future Partners' work in climate, forestry, and natural resource management? Contact us or explore our other projects.