Mitigation Potential for Carbon Sequestration Through Forestry Activities in Southern and Eastern China

In this paper, forest protection, short- and long-rotation plantations, forestregeneration, agroforestry and other activities for carbon (C) sequestration wereevaluated. China may be divided into five sub-regions, of which three fallin the main forested areas of China, i.e., the northeast, the southeast andthe southwest regions. The forestry mitigation potential in these threeregions is the subject of this paper. The Comprehensive Mitigation AssessmentProcess (COMAP) model is used to calculatethe potential for carbon mitigation and the cost-effectiveness of eachmitigation option, assuming that 60 percent of the goals of long-termforestry plans of the Chinese government could be realized. The resultsshow that the total sequestered C by the mitigation scenario between2000 and 2030 for the three regions of China will be 2093 × 10⁶ Mg C, ofwhich 281 × 10⁶ Mg C will occur between 2008 and 2012. The total netbiomass sequestration (difference of mitigation and baseline scenarios) from2000 to 2030 and from 2008 to 2012 is 496 × 10⁶ Mg C and 59 × 10⁶ Mg Crespectively. The C sequestration potential could be higher if othertwo regions are included since the forest area of the two regions amount to26.5% of total forested area, in particular, the land area suitable forforestation in the northwest accounts for 45% of the total. The activitywith least investment cost per unit of C is forest regeneration, followedby long-rotation plantation and forest conservation. The mostinvestment-intensive activity is bioenergy. The total investment for all themitigation activities is US $12.7 billion. The above figures between2008–2012 provide an upper bound on the potential for early startprojects that might be eligible for the Clean Development Mechanism(CDM). The authors would like to note that the mitigation potential andcost-effectiveness of agroforestry and bioenergy projects need to be furtherstudied.     

Monitoring of Carbon Abatement in Forestry Projects — Case Study of Western Ghat Project

The forestry sector is being increasingly considered for abatement of greenhouse gases. A number of projects are likely to be implemented, particularly in tropical countries. It is essential to measure, record, and verify the carbon sequestered or emission avoided due to implementation of the forestry mitigation options. In this paper a set required parameters to be monitored for estimating carbon flows, monitoring methods, and institutional arrangements are presented along with a case study of the Western Ghat Forestry and Environment project. Monitoring carbon flows in forestry sector projects is different due to a long gestation period and location- or site-specific variations in various parameters, particularly rates of C sequestration and emission. Parameters to be monitored include C sequestration in vegetation and soil, rates of wood extraction, wood use related emission, litter, production, decomposition from litter, and soil. Methods include field vegetation monitoring, soil study, houschold and industry surveys, and laboratory investigation. Investigations, analysis, and report writing should be carried out using local educational institutions, NGOs, and consultaney firms. Verification could be taken care of by external agencies. Case studies of the Western Ghat Forestry and Environment project showed that less than 10% of the project budget may be adequate for intensive monitoring of carbon flows. The parameters to be monitored and methods required for any forestry mitigation project is nearly identical to that of any typical forest conservation or reforestation project.     

Issues and challenges for forest-based carbon-offset projects: A case study of the Noel Kempff climate action project in Bolivia

The Noel Kempff Climate Action Project in Bolivia, nowin its third year, is breaking ground to establishcredible and verifiable methods to quantify greenhousegas (GHG) benefits of land-use change and forestry (LUCF)projects. Developed under the United Nations FrameworkConvention Climate Change (FCCC) Activities ImplementedJointly pilot phase, the project conserves naturalforests that would otherwise have been subjected tocontinued logging and future agricultural conversion.Carbon (C) monitoring began with a C inventory of theproject area in 1997. The total amount of C in theproject area was 118 Tg (Tg = 10¹²g) ± 4%(95% confidence interval). Periodic monitoring ofrelevant C pools (occurring in 1999 and every 5 yrthereafter) occurs over the 30-year life of theproject to establish the difference between thewith-project and projected without-project scenarios. Permanent sample plots were established both insidethe project area to monitor changes in C pools overtime and in a proxy logging concession near theproject area to determine changes in C pools inforests that have been impacted by logging. Ground-based monitoring is complemented by datacollection on forest industry trends and land-usechange patterns. Remote sensing was used to developa vegetation stratification map of the area, and workis ongoing to investigate the potential application ofdual-camera aerial videography to improve theefficiency of monitoring over time.     

Economic Assessment of Mitigation Options for Enhancing and Maintaining Carbon Sink Capacity in Indonesia

Land use, land-use change and forestry (LULUCF) projects may becomeeligible under Article 12 of the United Nations Framework Convention onClimate Change (UNFCCC) Kyoto Protocol's Clean DevelopmentMechanism (CDM). Some of the issues, which need to be addressed,include identifying the types of greenhouse gas (GHG) mitigation activitiesin LULUCF, which could be undertaken as CDM projects. Other issuesinvolve evaluating the mitigation potential and cost effectiveness of theactivities, as well as their likely socio-economic impacts and their influenceon the national carbon (C) stock. Three broad categories of mitigationactivities in LULUCF analyzed in this study include managing Cstorage, C conservation and carbon substitution. The C intensityof the activities was estimated to range from 37 to 218 Mg C per ha. The highest is in reforested land with slow growing species and the lowestin short-rotation plantations. At a real discount rate of 10%, investmentcosts required to implement the mitigation activities ranged from US$0.07 to 0.88 per Mg C, with life cycle costs ranging from US$ 0.07to 3.87 per Mg C, and benefits ranging from US$ –0.81 to 6.57 perMg C. Mitigation options with negative benefits are forest protection,reforestation, reduced impact logging and enhanced natural regeneration,while those with positive benefits are short rotation timber plantation, andbio-energy. Reforestation gave negative benefit since no revenue fromwood as trees are left in the forest for conservation, while Reduced ImpactLogging (RIL) and Enhanced Natural Regeneration (ENR)gave negative benefits because additional cost required to implement theoptions could not be compensated by the increase in round-hardwoodyield. Other factor is that the local price of round-hardwood is very low,i.e. US$ 160 per m³, while FOB price is between 250–400 US$ per m³. Total area available for implementing mitigationoptions (planting trees) in 1997 was 31 million hectares (× 10⁶ha) (about 40% are critical lands, 35% grasslands and 25%unproductive lands).Total area being considered for implementing the options under baseline,government-plans and mitigation scenarios in the period 2000–2030 is12.6, 16.3 and 23.6 × 10⁶ ha respectively. Furthermore, total area of production forest being considered for implementing reduced impactlogging and enrichment planting under the tree scenarios is 9, 26 and 16 × 10⁶ ha respectively, and that for forest protection is 2.1, 3.7, 3.1× 10⁶ ha respectively. The cumulative investment for implementingall mitigation activities in the three scenarios was estimated at 595, 892and 1026 million US$ respectively. National C stock under thebaseline scenario will continuously decline through 2030, while undergovernment-plans and mitigation scenarios the carbon stock increases. In2030, national C stock of the government and mitigation scenarios isalmost the same, 13% higher than that of baseline. However, the increasein national carbon stock in both scenarios could not offset carbon emissionsdue to deforestation.     

Forestry for sustainable biomass production and carbon sequesteration in India

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.     

Baseline Carbon Stocks Assessment and Projection of Future Carbon Benefits of a Carbon Sequestration Project in East Timor

Climate change is one of the most pressing environmental problems humanity is facing today. Forest ecosystems serve as a source or sink of greenhouse gases, primarily CO₂. With support from the Canadian Climate Change Fund, the Community-based Natural Resource Management for Carbon Sequestration project in East Timor (CBNRM-ET) was implemented to “maintain carbon (C) stocks and increase C sequestration through the development of community-based resource management systems that will simultaneously improve livelihood security”. Project sites were in the Laclubar and Remexio Sub-districts of the Laclo watershed. The objective of this study was to quantify baseline C stocks and sequestration benefits of project components (reforestation with fast-growing species, primarily Casuarina equisetifolia, and agroforestry involving integration of Paraserianthes falcataria). Field measurements show that mature stands (≥30 years) of P. falcataria and C. equisetifolia contain up to 200 Mg C ha⁻¹ in above ground biomass, indicating the vast potential of project sites to sequester carbon. Baseline C stocks in above ground biomass were very low in both Laclubar (6.2 Mg C ha⁻¹ for reforestation sites and 5.2 Mg C ha⁻¹ for agroforestry sites and Remexio (3.0 Mg C ha⁻¹ for reforestation and 2.5 Mg C ha⁻¹ for agroforestry). Baseline soil organic C levels were much higher reaching up to 160 Mg C ha⁻¹ in Laclubar and 70 Mg C ha⁻¹ in Remexio. For the next 25 years, it is projected that 137 671 Mg C and 84 621 Mg C will be sequestered under high- and low C stock scenarios, respectively.     

Small holder’s carbon forestry project in Haryana India: issues and challenges

The small scale forestry carbon project in Haryana, India has been registered as a Clean Development Project (CDM) activity and is the first such projects from India. Developed under the Kyoto Protocol of United Nations Framework Convention on Climate Change (UNFCCC), the projects aims at restoring heavily degraded sandune affected private lands and contribute to climate change mitigation. The project is expected to sequester 234,584 tons of carbon dioxide (tCO²) in 20 years project cycle with an average annual sequestration of 11,729 (tCO²) per year. The project is expected to have a total carbon stock of 385,253.1 ton Carbon (tC) in the project life span of 20 years as against 7,920.6 (tC) in the baseline scenario. The carbon credits earned from the project is supposed to provide additional incentives to the smallholders who have formed a cooperative society for this purpose. This paper addresses the issues and challenges in developing the project activity and also discusses the lessons learned in the process. The project is supposed to help in poverty alleviation and has become a success story for rehabilitating degraded lands in semi arid regions of India through plantation forestry.     

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 $100 Mg C^-1. About 5 Pg C could be achieved, at a cost less than $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 projects for climate change mitigation: an overview of guidelines and issues for monitoring,evaluation, reporting,verification, and certification

Monitoring and evaluation of forestry projects is needed to accurately determine their impact on greenhouse gas (GHG) emissions and other attributes, and to ensure that the global climate is protected and that country obligations are met. We present an overview of guidelines recently developed for the monitoring, evaluation, reporting, verification, and certification (MERVC) of forestry projects for climate change mitigation.¹ These guidelines are targeted to developers, evaluators, verifiers, and certifiers of forestry projects, and address several key issues, including methods for estimating gross and net carbon savings. The next phase of our work will be to develop a procedural handbook providing information on how one can complete monitoring, evaluation and verification forms.     

Carbon Sequestration by Carbonization of Biomass and Forestation: Three Case Studies

We proposed the carbon sink project called “Carbon Sequestration by Forestation and Carbonization (CFC),” which involves biomass utilization and land conservation by incorporating the products of biomass carbonization into the agents for soil improvement, water purification, etc. Our purpose was to demonstrate the potential of the CFC scheme for carbon sequestration, particularly carbon storage in soil. Case studies were conducted in both developing and developed countries. 1. In southern Sumatra, Indonesia, 88,369 Mg-C year⁻¹ of wood residue from a plantation forest and excess bark from a pulp mill would be converted into 15,571 Mg-C year⁻¹ of the net carbon sink by biochar for soil improvement. The fixed carbon recovery of the system is 21.0%. 2. In a semiarid region in western Australia, the carbonization of wood residue was incorporated with multipurpose projects of a mallee eucalyptus plantation that involved the function of salinity prevention. During the project period of 35 years, the total carbon sink would reach 1,035,450 Mg-C with 14.0% by aboveground biomass, 33.1% by belowground biomass and 52.8% by biochar in soil. 3. In southern Kyushu, Japan, the study was focused on the effective use of surplus heat from a garbage incinerator for carbonizing woody materials. Sawdust of 936.0 Mg-C year⁻¹ would be converted into the net carbon sink of 298.5 Mg-C year⁻¹ by carbonization, with the fixed carbon recovery of the system being 31.9%. Consequently, the CFC project could encourage the creation of a carbon sink in soil. However, we recognize that the quality standard of biochar, the stability of biochar in soil, and the methods for monitoring biochar utilization must be clarified before incorporating biochar carbon into the carbon credit system. Throughout this article (except for diagrams and in citation details) carbonized biomass is, with the authors'agreement, called ‘biochar’ in lieu of the commonly used but misleading word ‘charcoal’ (Editor).     

Potential and Cost of Carbon Sequestration in the Tanzanian Forest Sector

The forest sector in Tanzania offers ample opportunities to reduce greenhouse gas emissions (GHG) and sequester carbon (C) in terrestrial ecosystems. More than 90% of the country's demand for primary energy is obtained from biomass mostly procured unsustainably from natural forests. This study examines the potential to sequester C through expansion of forest plantations aimed at reducing the dependence on natural forest for wood fuel production, as well as increase the country's output of industrial wood from plantations. These were compared ton conservationoptions in the tropical and miombo ecosystems. Three sequestrationoptions were analyzed, involving the establishment of short rotation and long rotation plantations on about 1.7 × 10⁶ hectares. The short rotation community forestry option has a potential to sequester an equilibrium amount of 197.4 × 10⁶ Mg C by 2024 at a net benefit of 79.5 × 10⁶, while yielding a NPV of 0.46 Mg^-1 C. The long rotation options for softwood and hardwood plantations will reach an equilibrium sequestration of 5.6 and 11.8 × 10⁶ Mg C at a negative NPV of 0.60 Mg^-1 C and 0.32 Mg^-1 C. The three options provide cost competitive opportunities for sequestering about 7.5 × 10⁶ Mg C yr^-1 while providing desired forest products and easing the pressure on the natural forests in Tanzania. The endowment costs of the sequestration options were all found to be cheaper than the emission avoidance cost for conservation options which had an average cost of 1.27 Mg^-1 C, rising to 7.5 Mg^-1 C under some assumptions on vulnerability to encroachment. The estimates shown here may represent the upper bound, because the actual potential will be influenced by market prices for inputs and forest products, land use policy constraints and the structure of global C transactions.     

Community and farm forestry climate mitigation projects: case studies from Uttaranchal,India

The methodologies for forest mitigation projects still present challenges to project developers for fulfillment of criteria within the Clean Development Mechanism (CDM) or other such mechanisms for the purpose of earning carbon credits. This paper systematically approaches the process of establishing carbon (C) stocks for baseline (BSL) and mitigation scenario (MSL) for two case studies i.e., community and farm forestry projects in Uttaranchal, India. The analysis of various interventions shows that both projects present high carbon mitigation potential. However, the C reversibility risk is lower in long-rotation pine and mixed species plantation on community lands. The project is financially viable though not highly lucrative but the carbon mitigation potential in this ‘restoration of degraded lands’ type of project is immense provided challenges in the initial phase are adequately overcome. C revenue is an essential driver for investors in community projects. The short-rotation timber species such as Eucalyptus (Eucalyptus), Poplar (Populus) have high internal rates of return (IRR) and high carbon benefit reversibility potential due to fluctuations in market prices of commodities produced. The land holdings are small and bundling is desired for projects to achieve economies of scale. The methodological concerns such as sampling intensities, monitoring methodologies, sharing of benefits with communities and bundling arrangements for projects need further research to make these projects viable.     

Smallholder Agroforestry Systems For Carbon Storage

Most smallholder agroforestry systems in Southeast Asia are tree- and species-rich systems producing non-wood and wood products for both home use and market sale. Due to their high biomass, these systems contain large carbon (C) stocks. While the systems of individual farmers are of limited size, on a per area basis smallholder systems accumulate significant amounts of C, equaling the amount of C stored in some secondary forests of similar age. Their ability to simultaneously address smallholders’ livelihood needs and store large amounts of C makes smallholder systems viable project types under the Clean Development Mechanism (CDM) of the Kyoto Protocol, with its dual objective of emissions reduction and sustainable development. Smallholder systems have not developed in areas where enabling conditions do not exist. A CDM project that facilitates a minimum threshold of enabling conditions that make smallholder agroforestation possible should qualify for C credits. To secure smallholder confidence, the agroforestry systems promoted through a CDM project must be socially and economically viable independent of C payments. To assure system productivity and profitability, projects should provide farmers with technical and marketing assistance. Additionally, project sites should meet the following preconditions: areas of underutilized low-biomass landuse systems available for rehabilitation; smallholders interested in tree farming; accessible markets for tree products; supportive local governments; sufficient infrastructure; and transparent and equitable relationships between project partners. Questions of leakage and additionality should not be problematic and can be addressed through the project design, establishment of quantifiable baseline data and facilitating enabling conditions. However, smallholder-focused CDM projects would have high transaction costs. The subsequent challenge is thus to develop mechanisms that reduce the costs of: (a) making information (e.g., technology, markets) more accessible to multiple clients; (b) facilitating and enforcing smallholder agreements and (c) designing feasible monitoring systems.     

林业碳汇项目基准线和监测方法学及应用分析——以贵州省贞丰县林业碳汇项目为例

气候变化给全球社会经济发展带来了重大影响,林业碳汇在适应和减缓气候变化、促进可持续发展三方面的重要作用日益被世界各国所认可。林业碳汇项目实施的难点在于准确掌握林业碳汇项目设计的规则、标准体系,重点在于基准线判别、碳汇计量、监测的方法学和工具。本文系统介绍了国际清洁发展机制造林再造林(CDM A/R)项目方法学和国内碳汇造林项目方法学、标准体系等最新成果,并以贵州省贞丰县林业碳汇项目为例,分析了基准线和监测方法学在林业碳汇项目开发设计中的实际应用。     

干热河谷林地燥红土固碳特征及"新固定"碳表观稳定性

全球气候变化背景下,森林土壤固碳能力及所固定碳的稳定性受到极大关注.基于土壤密度分组和酸水解技术,对比研究了1991年营造的大叶相思(Acacia auriculiformis)林不同阶段(1991、1997、2003和2010年)土壤及其物理和生化组分中有机碳密度.结果表明,造林19 a后林地表层(0～15 cm)和亚表层(15～30 cm)土壤有机碳密度分别为1.40 kg.m-2和0.99kg.m-2.研究期内(1991～2010年)表层和亚表层土壤平均固碳速率分别为37.89 g.(m2.a)-1和16.84 g.(m2.a)-1,且土壤呈现加速固碳特征.2003年林地表层重组有机碳分配比例为71.44%,显著高于2010年(67.99%).2003年林地表层或亚表层轻组顽固性碳指数显著高于重组,但均随林龄的增加而降低,尤其是轻组顽固性碳指数.2003～2010年间燥红土"新固定"碳中57%～70%受物理保护,33%～49%为生化稳定性碳.研究揭示出干热河谷人工林燥红土具备较大的固碳能力.受物理保护碳的生化稳定性低于非保护碳,其稳定性均随林龄的增加而降低.     

How sustainable are forestry clean development mechanism projects?—A review of the selected projects from India

This paper analyses social, economic and ecological issues affecting sustainability of the four selected forestry clean development mechanism (CDM) projects from India. Data from the group discussions and stakeholder interviews suggest that three out of the four projects are economically unsustainable for local people because of high opportunity cost of land and labour, and delayed and low benefits. The average opportunity cost of the land is 20000, 12000 and 9000 INR/ha/year in case of Haryana, Himachal Pradesh and Tamil Nadu, India projects respectively, which is unlikely to be met through projected carbon revenues and other benefits. A significant number of farmers have already withdrawn their private lands in Haryana and Tamil Nadu projects. Very few of them have undertaken plantations on the private lands in the Himachal project. All the four projects have undertaken block plantations of predominantly fast growing species such as Eucalyptus (Eucalyptus hybrid), Casuarina (Casuarina equisettifolia) and Ailanthus (Ailanthus excelsa) for high growth and quick returns, which could have adverse social and ecological impacts over long term. There are social and institutional issues such as low participation of local communities, weak or non existing community institutions, inflexible design and rigid CDM rules, which affect sustainability of these projects. It has implications for other carbon forestry programmes such as Green India Mission and Reducing Emissions from Deforestation and Degradation (REDD+) being rolled out at a large scale in the country. The rationale and significance of these programmes needs to be objectively reexamined in context of the issues affecting CDM projects.     

CO2 emissions from tropical drained peat in Sumatra,Indonesia

With the increasing use of tropical peatland for agricultural development, documentation of the rate of carbon dioxide (CO₂) emissions is becoming important for national greenhouse gas inventories. The objective of this study was to evaluate soil-surface CO₂ fluxes from drained peat under different land-use systems in Riau and Jambi Provinces, Sumatra, Indonesia. Increase of CO₂ concentration was tracked in measurement chambers using an Infrared Gas Analyzer (IRGA, LI-COR 820 model). The results showed that CO₂ flux under oil palm (Elaeis guineensis) plantations ranged from 34?±?16 and 45?±?25 Mg CO₂ ha^–1 year^–1 in two locations in Jambi province to 66?±?25 Mg CO₂ ha^–1 year^–1 for a site in Riau. For adjacent plots within 3.2 km in the Kampar Peninsula, Riau, CO₂ fluxes from an oil palm plantation, an Acacia plantation, a secondary forest and a rubber plantation were 66?±?25, 59?±?19, 61?±?25, 52?±?17 Mg ha^–1 year^–1, respectively, while on bare land sites it was between 56?±?30 and 67?±?24 Mg CO₂ ha^–1 year^–1, indicating no significant differences among the different land-use systems in the same landscape. Unexplained site variation seems to dominate over land use in influencing CO₂ flux. CO₂ fluxes varied with time of day (p?<?0.001) with the noon flux as the highest, suggesting an overestimate of the mean flux values with the absence of night-time measurements. In general, CO₂ flux increased with the depth of water table, suggesting the importance of keeping the peat as wet as possible.     

A data support infrastructure for Clean Development Mechanism forestry implementation: an inventory perspective from Cameroon

Clean Development Mechanism (CDM) forestry project development requires highly multi-disciplinary and multiple-source information that can be complex, cumbersome and costly to acquire. Yet developing countries in which CDM projects are created and implemented are often data poor environments and unable to meet such complex information requirements. Using Cameroon as an example, the present paper explores the structure of an enabling host country data support infrastructure for CDM forestry implementation, and also assesses the supply potential of current forestry information. Results include a conceptual data model of CDM project data needs; the list of meso- and macro-level data and information requirements (Demand analysis); and an inventory of relevant data available in Cameroon (Supply analysis). From a comparison of demand and supply, we confirm that data availability and the relevant infrastructure for data or information generation is inadequate for supporting carbon forestry at the micro, meso and macro-levels in Cameroon. The results suggest that current CDM afforestation and reforestation information demands are almost impenetrable for local communities in host countries and pose a number of cross-scale barriers to project adoption. More importantly, we identify proactive regulatory, institutional and capacity building policy strategies for forest data management improvements that could enhance biosphere carbon management uptake in poor countries. CDM forestry information research needs are also highlighted.     

Methodological issues in forestry mitigation projects: a case study of Kolar district

There is a need to assess climate change mitigation opportunities in forest sector in India in the context of methodological issues such as additionality, permanence, leakage and baseline development in formulating forestry mitigation projects. A case study of forestry mitigation project in semi-arid community grazing lands and farmlands in Kolar district of Karnataka, was undertaken with regard to baseline and project scenario development, estimation of carbon stock change in the project, leakage estimation and assessment of cost-effectiveness of mitigation projects. Further, the transaction costs to develop project, and environmental and socio-economic impact of mitigation project was assessed. The study shows the feasibility of establishing baselines and project C-stock changes. Since the area has low or insignificant biomass, leakage is not an issue. The overall mitigation potential in Kolar for a total area of 14,000 ha under various mitigation options is 278,380 t C at a rate of 20 t C/ha for the period 2005–2035, which is approximately 0.67 t C/ha/year inclusive of harvest regimes under short rotation and long rotation mitigation options. The transaction cost for baseline establishment is less than a rupee/t C and for project scenario development is about Rs. 1.5–3.75/t C. The project enhances biodiversity and the socio-economic impact is also significant.

Forest carbon management,the greenhouse effect and electric utilities

Electric utilities in the US have initiated forestry projects to conserve energy and to offset carbon dioxide (CO₂) emissions. In 1995, 40 companies raised US$2.5 million to establish the non-profit UtiliTree Carbon Company which is now sponsoring eight projects representing a mix of rural tree planting, forest preservation, forest management and research efforts at both domestic (Arkansas, Louisiana, Mississippi, and Oregon) and international sites (Belize and Malaysia). The projects include extensive external verification. Such forestry projects — properly documented, monitored and verified — should be a component of domestic and international strategies to address greenhouse gas (GHG) emissions, due to GHG benefits, cost-effectiveness and many other environmental benefits (e.g., related to habitat, erosion and biodiversity). These projects on average are projected to manage CO₂ at a cost of about US $1 per ton. Experts have determined through a series of technical workshops and projects that GHG benefits can be accurately quantified for most types of forestry projects and, in fact, forestry projects in general present no greater challenges than energy-related projects. Near-term policy decision-making related to CO₂ management via forestry is discussed.