Application of Clean Development Mechanism to forest plantation projects and rural development in India
Journal article, 2009

This paper analyses the prospects for establishing afforestation and reforestation Clean Development Mechanism (CDM) projects in Karnataka State, India. Building on multi-disciplinary fieldwork, the aim is to: (i) establish what type of plantations and forests that would best suit a forest-based project activity, considering global climate benefits and local sustainable development objectives; (ii) identify the parameters that are important for ensuring sustainable development at the local level and (iii) develop a transparent ranking tool for the assessment of possible forest-based project activities. Using equal weights for the ranking parameters and a 30-year time horizon, the ranking shows that plantations managed with the shortest rotation period (5 years) would be most suitable for forest-based project activities. However, the performance of individual forest-based project activities will depend on local conditions, which need to be reflected in the weighting procedure. Sensitivity analysis shows that when weights are varied, other forest types can become the preferred option. Based on a combination of the sensitivity analysis and results from the fieldwork, it can be concluded that successful implementation of forest-based project activities will require local participation and are likely to involve multiple forest products and environmental services demanded by the local community.

Rural development

Clean Development Mechanism

Carbon sequestration

Karnataka

Land use

Forestry

Land-use change

Forest plantation

Author

Matilda Palm

University of Gothenburg

Madelene Ostwald

University of Gothenburg

Göran Berndes

Chalmers, Energy and Environment, Physical Resource Theory

N. H. Ravindranath

Indian Institute of Science

Applied Geography

0143-6228 (ISSN)

Vol. 29 1 2-11

Driving Forces

Sustainable development

Areas of Advance

Energy

Subject Categories

Earth and Related Environmental Sciences

DOI

10.1016/j.apgeog.2008.05.002

More information

Created

10/7/2017