P. Sudha

Carbon mitigation potential and costs of forestry options in Brazil, China, India, Indonesia, Mexico, the Philippines and Tanzania

This paper summarizes studies of carbon (C) mitigation potential and costs of about 40 forestry options in seven developing countries. Each study uses the same methodological approach – Comprehensive Mitigation Assessment Process (COMAP) – to estimate the above parameters between 2000 and 2030. The approach requires the projection of baseline and mitigation land-use scenarios. Coupled with data on a per ha basis on C sequestration or avoidance, and costs and benefits, it allows the estimation of monetary benefit per Mg C, and the total costs and carbon potential. The results show that about half (3.0 Pg C) the cumulative mitigation potential of 6.2 Petagram (Pg) C between 2000 and 2030 in the seven countries (about 200× 106 Mg C yr-1) could be achieved at a negative cost and the remainder at costs ranging up to

Land availability and biomass production potential in India.

100 Mg C-1. About 5 Pg C could be achieved, at a cost less than

A study of Bangalore urban forest

20 per Mg C. Negative cost potential indicates that non-carbon revenue is sufficient to offset direct costs of these options. The achievable potential is likely to be smaller, however, due to market, institutional, and sociocultural barriers that can delay or prevent the implementation of the analyzed options.

Forestry for sustainable biomass production and carbon sequesteration in India

In this paper we have assessed the availability of land and the potential for biomass production in India to meet various demands for biomass, including modern bioenergy. This is estimated by considering the various demands on land and its suitability. The biomass production potential of energy plantations is assessed for different agroecological zones. The total woody biomass production is estimated to be 321 Mt, based on biomass productivity in the range 2 to 17 t/ha/yr for the different agro-ecological zones and considering the conservative estimate of 43 Mha land availability for biomass production. A surplus of 231 Mt of biomass (after meeting the increased demand for fuelwood and timber by the year 2010) is estimated to be available for energy, which has an electricity generation potential of 231 TWh. As a first step, only the feasible physical potential of biomass production is assessed, along with an analysis of barriers. The potential costs and benefits of biomass production strategy are not analysed

Sustainable biomass production for energy in India.

The study is aimed to investigate the species assemblage in different land-use categories and the changes in vegetation over the recent years in Bangalore City, India. Forty-six sites of nine different land-use categories were sampled to study species composition, DBH distribution and end-uses of trees. Though species richness is high in all the various land-uses, a few species are dominant accounting for >70% of the tree density. Species richness is high in parks and residential areas. Tree density is high in parks, temples and around lakes, where the land-use is recreational and low in commercial and residential areas, which have high built-up area. Bangalore urban forest is still young with most of the trees (70%), having 5 trees and 22% of houses have >5 tree species in their compound. Trees in residential areas were sampled and studied according to the economic strata of residents and the age of the area. One hundred and sixty-four species were identified in different residential areas, of which 149 species were recorded within compounds and 87 species were avenue trees. The species composition and cluster analysis showed that species choice varied in terms of the economic status of the communities rather than that with time.

Evaluation studies of Joint Forest Management in India: social and institutional implications

A sustainable forestry scenario aimed at meeting the projected biomassdemands, halting deforestation and regenerating degraded forests wasdeveloped and analyzed for additionality of mitigation and cost-effectivenessfor India. Similarly, mitigation potential of a commercial forestry scenarioaimed at meeting the biomass demands from forestry activities on privateland was assessed. India has a significant scale baseline scenario afforestationand effective forest conservation activities. India is afforesting at an averagegross rate of 1.55 × 106 ha yr-1 over the past 10 years, while the gross deforestation rate was 0.272 × 106 ha yr-1 during the same period. The sustainable forestry scenario could lead to an additional carbon (C) stock of 237 × 106 Mg C during 2000 to 2012, while the commercial forestry scenario apart from meeting all the incremental biomass demands (estimated for 2000 to 2015) could potentially lead to an additional carbon stock of 78 × 106Mg C during 2000 to 2012. Short- and Long-rotation forestry activities arecommercially viable. With appropriate policies and financial incentives allthe industrial wood, sawnwood and commercial fuelwood requirementcould be met through commercial forestry, so that government funds couldbe dedicated for conserving state owned forests and meeting subsistencebiomass demands. The commercial forestry activities could receive financialsupport under greenhouse gas (GHG) abatement programmes. The government, however, needs to develop institutions and guidelines to process, evaluate, approve and monitor forestry sector mitigation projects.

Community forestry initiatives in Southeast Asia : a review of ecological impacts

The availability of land for biomass production, the various biomass production options, biomass productivity rates, financial viability, investment required to produce biomass for energy and the barriers to biomass production are analysed. The scenarios considered for estimating the biomass potential are incremental biomass demand, sustainable biomass demand and the full biomass demand. Under these scenarios, two situations namely no increase in cropland by 2010 and increase in cropland by 10% over 1995 area have been considered. The land available for biomass production ranges from 9.6 to 36.5 Mha under the different scenarios. Annually 62–310 Mt of wood could be generated from the surplus land, after meeting all the requirements of biomass, such as domestic fuelwood, industrial wood and sawnwood, with an investment of Rs168–780 billion. An electricity generation potential of 62–310 TWh annually is estimated. The key barriers to produce biomass sustainably for energy are lack of commercial demand for wood for energy, lack of financial incentives, low productivity of plantations, land tenurial barriers and lack of institutions to integrate biomass production for energy and bioenergy utilities.

Forest protection and regeneration under joint forest planning and management in Eastern Plains and Western Ghats of Karnataka, India

A decade after initiating Joint Forest Management (JFM) in India, many states have conducted evaluations of the JFM program to address weaknesses, if any, during the process of implementation and to adopt strategies to implement the program effectively. The analysis indicates that evaluation was mostly donor driven and therefore only the donor concerns were highlighted in most reports. In this paper, we highlight the major issues raised by the reports reviewed. Tremendous progress has been made in terms of the number of Forest Protection Committees formed (nearly 62,900) since its inception. They cover an area of over 14 million ha. Apart from 53%; open forests that can be brought under JFM, there is a lot of cultivable wasteland that could be potentially included under JFM. Though JFM has been implemented and FPC formed, their functioning is a cause for concern. Various reports indicate that the number of FPCs functioning is very low and if FPCs are to be effective, a lot of effort is needed. Lack of community participation, ineffective leadership, lack of statutory institutional support, and tenurial security are the major concerns that need to be addressed to make JFM effective. Awareness among the community about their roles and responsibilities, and capacity building is another issue that needs strengthening. A lack of proper planning, management of village resources and community involvement in the process of planning are other gaps in of the JFM program. Inadequate participation of forest dependent communities in JFM, such as landless artisans and women, is a drawback in the JFM. Adequate measures to improve their participation and the means to improve their livelihood would give them a reason to help in the cause. However, the implementation of JFM has not achieved these goals to a sufficient degree. On the other hand, the womens credit cooperatives started as a part of JFM, to emancipate women from financial constraints have succeeded, indicating that, given the right environment, JFM still could succeed. The evaluation reports have shown a huge potential for generating employment in the JFM programme, which in turn will reduce seasonal migration of landless labour. However, the income generating activity in JFM has not improved to the expected level, perhaps due to the poor links between produce availability and market channels. Ultimately, JFM has a presence in the country and has spread throughout states at least in some pockets of India. To spread the concept effectively, the Government may want to adopt a strategy that is more efficient and involves less investment, as the external support is declining. Therefore, there is a need to undertake intensive analysis involving all stakeholders, NGOs and academics to develop an implementation strategy and create a proper environment for JFM to be implemented in a meaningful manner.

Assessment of GHG inventories from the LUCF sector of Annex-I countries

Studies in South and Southeast Asia were reviewed to understand the impact of community forestry initiatives in recent times on the ecology, with respect to species richness, biomass enhancement and forest regeneration. The findings from diverse ecological regions of South and Southeast Asia have demonstrated that community forestry has resulted in significant increase in plant diversity and biomass production. In this region, over 25 Mha of degraded forestland and fragile ecosystems have been regenerated to meet the economic and ecological needs of local communities, along with increase in productivity of timber. Various practices of the local community in enhancing regeneration, diversity and productivity have improved the status of forests. This paper suggests adaptive forest management practices in addition to silvicultural practices as a strategy to manage forests in a people friendly way.

Assessment of sustainable non-plantation biomass resources potential for energy in India

Joint forest management in Karnataka, India was initiated in the Western Ghats and Eastern Plains. In Western Ghats, multispecies model was adopted, while in Eastern Plains 13 silvicultural models were adopted, of which assisted natural regeneration accounted for 43% of the plantation area that had rootstock. In addition, pre-JFPM plantations raised under social forestry were also included under JFM area in Eastern Plains. An ecological study showed that plantation approach in the Western Ghats and pre-JFPM model of Eastern Plains are comparable with high biomass and lower species diversity, and the Eastern Plains JFM areas are characterised by higher biodiversity index, lesser tree density, above ground biomass and mean annual increments.