Approach

SeqCOI [sekwa]

In response to the global issues of climate and food security, the SeqCOI [sekwa] project is studying the supply and demand for carbon sequestration in three Indian Ocean territories: Madagascar, Reunion and Rodrigues Island. The aim is to use the results of scientific research to produce the tools needed for a territorial policy to mitigate greenhouse gas emissions, through carbon sequestration in soils and biomass. The SeqCOI project focuses on the GHG balance of the Agriculture, Forestry and Other Land Use (AFOLU) sector, a sector which, after the COP21 in Paris, and especially during the Marrakech Proclamation at COP22, has received significant attention because of the role it can play in responding to climate change.

Promoting the results of scientific research

In Réunion, the research work carried out as part of the C@RUN project focused on the impacts of changes in agricultural land use on soil organic carbon stocks. The methodology developed, based on a stratification of the territory into soil and climate units, has made it possible to map the organic carbon stocks of agricultural soils and to calculate emission factors related to changes in agricultural land use in order to assess relevant GHG balances at the territorial scale.

In Madagascar, a long-term collaboration between the IRD's UMR Eco&Sols and the University of Antananarivo's Laboratory of Radio-Isotopes (synthesis of joint activities and data during the 2Carma project) will be the basis of the SeqCOI project. These two partners, along with the NGO Agrisud International, also worked on the Mahavotra project, which deals with farmer agroecology and forestry and carbon accounting, and was carried out in one of the SeqCOI project's target territories.

In three target areas

Based on the expertise of Réunion's research bodies and their recent actions in this field, and thanks to the partnership already established in the Indian Ocean region, the SeqCOI project aims to co-construct with Malagasy and Rodriguan partners a common methodology for calculating greenhouse gas balances on a territorial scale, which will then be applied in the various target territories, of equivalent size.

In Madagascar, one (or more) rural commune(s) in the Itasy region
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In Reunion, one (or more) community(ies) of communes
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In Rodrigues, on the whole territory of the island
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These three territories have of course specificities that will require the implementation of activities adapted to each territory. For example:

  • In Madagascar, rice fields are an important part of the agricultural landscape; they emit methane, an important greenhouse gas;
  • In Reunion Island, urbanization creates a significant land pressure on the agricultural domain;
  • Rodrigues has set itself a goal of environmental neutrality which will affect the dynamics of all land use patterns in the territory.

To achieve three objectives

The fundamental principle of the SeqCOI project - to develop the knowledge and produce the tools necessary for a territorial policy of mitigation of greenhouse gas emissions through carbon sequestration in soils and biomass - is broken down into 3 objectives.

STRENGTHENING CAPACITIES through the transfer of technologies, methodologies, knowledge, training and the co-construction of a database in each territory
CREATE A GROUP OF JUNIOR EXPERTS trained during the project
TO DEVELOP A DECISION-MAKING TOOL for spatialized GHG balance for the Agriculture, Forestry and Other Land Use sector, AVAILABLE ONLINE

The main expected product of this methodology is the elaboration of maps expressing the supply and demand of carbon sequestration in the target territories. Simulation tools will also be developed in order to assess the impact in terms of GHG balance of development alternatives compared to current trends.