ASSESSMENT OF MONETARY VALUE DYNAMICS OF FOREST CARBON STOCK IN IKORODU LOCAL GOVERNMENT AREA, LAGOS STATE

Abstract

This research assesses the monetary value of forest carbon stock in Ikorodu Local Government Area of Lagos State from 2002 to 2019 in order to evaluate the existing problem of deforestation and forest degradation and how much is actually being lost as result to spending on alternatives to reduce their effects which in most case is global warming. Land use land cover classification was carried out in order to determine the spatial pattern of land-use land cover change. This was accomplished with the application of Support Vector Machine (SVM) classification technique which was applied on Landsat 7 TM and Landsat 8 OLI. The results showed a rapid increase in built up areas which related to loss of vegetation. Forest carbon stock was quantified using field measurements and satellite data. Field measurements were carried out to measure forest biomass which was then converted to carbon stock and spectral response model was applied to satellite data in order to quantify forest carbon across the study area, the results showed a reduction in the quantity of forest biomass which was related also to loss of vegetation in the study area as time went by and vegetated areas were lost due to increase in residential developments and other forms of urban infrastructure. Natural Capital Integrated Valuation for Ecosystem Services and Tradeoffs was applied to the results from the first and second objectives in order to determine the monetary value for forest carbon as well as the monetary value of carbon sequestered or lost as a result of deforestation and degradation. The results show that the study area has a total of 3,082,941,424 billion Mega grams of Carbon in 2002 that value reduced to 3,060,335,402 billion Mega grams of Carbon in 2013 and in 2019 it reduced even further to 3,039,370,820 billion Mega grams of Carbon. The net present value of forest carbon stock between 2002 and 2013 was 2,134,951,960 billion US dollars and by 2019 the value had increased to 2,311,699,160 billion US dollars. The increase in financial value of forest carbon stock could be attributed to the forces at play in the carbon market and Reduced Emissions for Deforestation and Degradation. Ikorodu Local Government Area has lost a total of 1,894,403,234 Mega grams of Carbon in 17 years. This loss could be attributed to population explosion which saw a rise in demand for housing and living space. The study provides insight to technology that can be applied to valuing carbon stock as a means of increasing the internally generated revenue of the nation and the state