Assessing CO2 Emissions from Deforestation and Fires in Bolivia Between 2010 and 2023

This study estimates net annual CO2 emissions from deforestation and fires in Bolivia from 2010 to 2023, considering both gross emissions and absorptions resulting from land clearing, land use change, fires, and forest regeneration. Using high-resolution annual land cover maps from MapBiomas Bolivia (1985–2023), a global biomass density map and a carbon bookkeeping model, we track carbon changes at a 100×100m resolution. To estimate emissions from forest degradation due to fires, we used the Global Fires Emissions Database and subtracted emissions from deforestation within burned areas to prevent double counting. Our results indicate that net CO2 emissions from deforestation and gross emissions from forest degradation due to fires are annually about 70 million tCO2 and 126 million tCO2 respectively, corresponding to per capita emissions of 6.6 and 12.3 tCO2/pers./year.