Changes in the above-ground biomass stock in forest indicate the balance between gains in biomass stock due to forest growth and losses due to wood removals, natural losses, fire, wind, pests and diseases. At country level and over a longer period, sustainable forest management would imply a stable or increasing biomass stock per hectare, while a long-term reduction of biomass stock per hectare would imply either unsustainable management of the forests and degradation or unexpected major losses due to fire, wind, pests or diseases.

Indicator unit: The above-ground carbon (AGC) is expressed in Mg (megagrams or tonnes) of carbon per km2 . It corresponds to the carbon fraction of the oven-dry weight of the woody parts (stem, bark, branches and twigs) of all living trees, excluding stump and roots, as estimated by the GlobBiomass project (globbiomass.org) with 2017 as the reference year.

Indicator unit: The belowground biomass carbon (BBC) is expressed in Mg (megagrams or tonnes) of carbon per km2 . It represents an estimation of the carbon stored in the roots of all living trees. This carbon pool is calculated as a fraction of the aboveground biomass carbon stock using root-to-shoot ratios (R). It is derived from two main data sources: the global aboveground biomass map produced by the GlobBiomass project (globbiomass.org) and the 2019 Refinement to the 2006 IPCC Guidelines for National Greenhouse Gas Inventories (IPCC, 2019).

Mangroves provide both climate change mitigation and adaptation services. They provide benefits for coastal communities and they are among the most effective carbon-capture ecosystems. If they are degraded or cleared, the carbon stored will be released into the atmosphere as CO2 and it will exacerbate climate changes.

This indicator shows economic value of ecosystem services in Timor Leste biomes, estimated through regionalised summary values from the Ecosystem Services Value Database.

How much value do ecosystems hold in Timor-Leste? Evaluation by local key informants

Stakeholders-informed evaluation of ecosystem services in biomes of Timor-Leste. This evaluation is based on key informants opinion on ecosystem services importance and the role of each biome in providing them. Biomes follow the defintion adopted for the Ecosystem Services Value Database https://www.esvd.info/ and are derived from the Copernicus Hot Spot Land Cover map for 2016.

A new paper published in Nature Sustainability mapped the irrecoveral carbon in earth's ecosystems. It shows how manageable, vulnerable and irrecoverable carbon are distributed among ecosystems. Petland, mangrove forests, old-growth forests are the most important-reserve of irrecoverable carbon.

Number of terrestrial semi-natural ecosystems protected compared to those existing in each country.

Terrestrial Ecosystems in Country and WDPA protected sites. Analysis performed by L. Battistella in February 2021. Original dataset provided by "USGS-TNC" (World Terrestrial Ecosystems, Sayre et al. 2020).

Number of terrestrial ecosystems protected compared to those existing in each country.

Terrestrial Ecosystems in Country and WDPA protected sites. Analysis performed by L. Battistella in February 2021. Original dataset provided by "USGS-TNC" (World Terrestrial Ecosystems, Sayre et al. 2020).

Indicator unit: Amount of carbon stored in the soil (0 to 30 cm depth), expressed in Mg (megagrams or tonnes) per km2.

Area of interest: The SOCI has been calculated at the country level, terrestrial ecoregion level and for all protected areas and is provided for each country and each terrestrial and coastal protected area of size ≥ 1 km2.

Indicator unit:  Amount of carbon stored in the soil (0 to 30 cm depth), expressed in Mg (megagrams or tonnes) per km2 .

Area of interest The SOCI has been calculated at the country level and for all protected areas and is provided and  for each country, each terrestrial ecoregion and each terrestrial and coastal protected area of size ≥ 1 km2.

Policy question: There are two main policy questions to which the SOCI indicator is relevant: