Capacity to recover: Carbon storage and capture in the Sinharaja land use mosaic

What this project investigates: The potential for forest regrowth and regeneration in places where forests are “fragmented” or interspersed with cropland or other land uses.

How this will be done: By using the extensive existing documentation of land ownership and the long record of aerial and satellite images documenting land use over time in Sinharaja Man and Biosphere Reserve, Sri Lanka.

Why it matters: Studying this data-rich setting will enable researchers to understand the likely carbon consequences of decisions like increasing the size of forest reserves, changing the land tenure structure, or changing agricultural crop export policies.