The Rimba Raya Biodiversity Reserve REDD Project

All survey data has been entered into an Excel workbook andprovided to InfiniteEARTH, Forest Carbon and OrangutanFoundation International (OFI). These data provide the firstdetailed ground information on the condition and characteristicsof forest and peat in Rimba Raya which will be used in carbonstock assessments and other ecological analyses conducted byproject participants.Field Work Areas and Transect LocationsField survey areas were distributed north to south and located tocover a broad geographic area representing forest typesthroughout Rimba Raya (Figure 26). Inititally, six transects wereused to organize survey points, plots and subplots. Available landcover maps and satellite imagery of the area were reviewed inorder to locate transects in forest across a variety of hydrologicconditions and levels of disturbance.Field teams staged field work out of OFI monitoring posts andtemporary camps near transects. Transects 1 and 2 weresurveyed by combined teams at the start of the fieldwork.Following completion of these surveys, separate teams movedsouth to survey Transects 3 and 4 (Central Team) and Transects 5and 6 (Southern Team). From overnight camps, teams navigatedto the transect start to cut and mark the centerline.On 4 of the original 6 transects, the transect center was used asthe start point to provide an efficient means of accomplishingmulti-­‐day surveys from centrally-­‐located camps or site accesspoints. At these sites (T2, T3, T4, T6), transect layout proceededin two parts: 1-­‐1.25 km to the East and 1-­‐1.25 km to the West. Atthe other sites (T1 and T5), forest conditions relative to site entrypoints required transect layout from the endpoints.Northern transects 1 and 2 were located in the vicinity of BaungRiver and OFI’s Post Sitiung. Central transects 3 and 4 werelocated in the interior of Rimba Raya from Muara Dua village onthe Seruyan River accessed by the Sigintung River and Tatah “J”Canal. Southern transects 5 and 6 were located in Rimba Raya inthe vicinity of Tanjung Rengas village on the Seruyan, accessed bycanals.Transect and Plot LayoutThe survey was designed to orient all transects east-­‐west tofacilitate accuracy and consistency in layout. All transects followthis east-­‐west orientation except Transect 5 which follows theorientation of the relatively narrow forest patch. Transects were2.0 -­‐ 2.25 km in length oriented on a bearing of 90° -­‐ 270°.Transect 5 was oriented on a bearing of 310° -­‐ 130° to traversethe existing forest patch. Transect centerlines were marked every10 meters with poles and flagging which provided orientation forsurvey plots.Along the transects, tree counts for volume estimates wererecorded every 50 meters and peat depth was measured every100 meters. Biomass plots 250m x 10m (¼ hectare), were locatedat 250 meter intervals on the transect. Tree diameter, tree heightand tree canopy measurements were recorded in biomass plotsfor large trees (> 20 cm dbh) across the entire plot and withintwo nested subplots (50 x 10m) for small trees (10-­‐20 cm dbh). Atotal of 12.75 km of transect were surveyed including 131 samplelocations for peat depth, 262 sample locations for tree volumeand 28 biomass plots representing 7 hectares of detailed treesurveys.For a complete report on the Carbon Assessment Surveys, seeAnnex 5.88