Economics of carbon sequestration in community forests: Evidence from REDD+ piloting in Nepal

Reducing Emissions from Deforestation and Forest Degradation (REDD+) has been piloted in developing countries as a climate change mitigation strategy, providing financial incentives for carbon sequestration in forests. This paper examines the economic feasibility of REDD+ in community forests within two watersheds in central Nepal, Ludikhola and Kayarkhola, using data on forest product demand, carbon sequestration, carbon price and REDD+ related costs. The benefits of REDD+ are about $7994, $152, and $64 per community forest, per hectare of forest area, and per household in Ludikhola watershed compared to $4815, $29, and $56 in Kayarkhola watershed, respectively, under the business-as-usual scenario. Compared to the EU ETS carbon price ($10.3/tCO₂e), the average break-even carbon price in community forests is much higher in Kayarkhola watershed ($41.8/tCO₂e) and much lower in Ludikhola watershed ($2.4/tCO₂e) when empirical estimates of annual expenditure in community forests are included in the analysis. The incorporation of annual expenditure estimates and opportunity cost of sequestered carbon (in the form of firewood prices in local markets) in the analysis suggests that community forests are economically infeasible for REDD+ at the prevailing carbon prices. The implication of our findings is that economic feasibility of REDD+ in community forests depends on the local contexts, carbon prices and the opportunity costs, which should be carefully considered in designing REDD+ projects.     

Learning from the other: Benefit sharing lessons for REDD+ implementation based on CBFM experience in Northern Tanzania

A key challenge facing interventions in forestry sector is how to ensure that benefit-sharing arrangements meet the needs and aspirations of poor rural people. In particular, as interest and effort builds around REDD+, it is important to remember that it, and any other intervention, are likely to be shaped by the history of Tanzania’s forestry sector, especially community based forest management. This paper examines benefit lessons for REDD+ from a well-known Tanzanian Forest Reserve which has begun to participate in selling carbon. The example is particularly important as it is one of the oldest cases of village-based forest management in the country. To explore this case a total of 101 households from two reserve-adjacent villages were randomly interviewed along with key informant interviews, transect walks, participant observation, and focus group discussions. Findings of the study revealed that majority of respondents felt benefits are concentrated on an elite due to weak governance mechanisms. We argue that local governance and central oversight will enhance good benefit sharing under REDD+ and future interventions in the forest sector.     

Designing intergovernmental fiscal transfers for conservation: The case of REDD+ revenue distribution to local governments in Indonesia

A REDD+ scheme would involve the transfer of financial resources to forested developing countries taking part in it. This paper simulates different approaches to the design of intergovernmental fiscal transfers (IFTs), a possible means to channel a REDD+ international payment to local governments which, in several countries, have a certain degree of authority over forest management. Using Indonesia as a case study, the cost-reimbursement and the derivation approaches are tested. It is demonstrated that both approaches could be used. Using the cost-reimbursement approach, localities with more degraded forests would receive a higher compensation per unit of carbon emission reduction than districts with primary forests. Avoiding further conversion of logged-over areas is associated with higher opportunity costs when compared with preventing the conversion of primary forests. In contrast, the derivation approach sets a fixed percentage and rate to distribute REDD+ revenues and ignores the opportunity costs of REDD+ incurred by local governments. The distribution of REDD+ revenues to eligible local governments is based on an assumed market price of carbon credits from REDD+. This paper concludes by discussing the implications of the findings for designing the distribution of REDD+ revenues, both for Indonesia and more generically for other developing countries.     

The evolution of forest producer associations and their current role in REDD+: case studies from Quintana Roo,Mexico

Forest associations (secondary-level institutions that support and represent groups of forest producer communities) play an important and understudied role in promoting community forestry in a multi-level forest governance context in many countries. This role continually evolves to meet new demands from their constituents, with associations diversifying into activities that bring new governance issues, interests, organizational logics and capacity needs. As community forestry in many countries is being integrated into REDD+ national strategies, questions arise regarding new roles for these associations. Through a case study of two forest associations in Quintana Roo, Mexico, this study traces the history and evolution of these associations as they react and adapt to a changing forest sector, uses forest stakeholders’ opinions to assess the associations’ current status and perceived importance of their involvement in the forest sector, and examines how current opinions and historical legacy have shaped their role in REDD+ in Mexico. Results show that association members and outsiders (mostly government stakeholders) hold divergent views of the utility of these organizations. Outsiders’ negative perceptions, as well as the niche that the associations are currently in, is largely determining their limited participation in REDD+ consultation and implementation to date. This is a missed opportunity to engage important allies who still hold high legitimacy in the eyes of the communities that will be the ultimate implementers of REDD+.     

Benefit distribution across scales to reduce emissions from deforestation and forest degradation (REDD+) in Vietnam

At very high policy levels, efforts to reduce emissions from deforestation and forest degradation (REDD+) are considered to be innovative and cost-effective ways to make forest more valuable standing than cut. In response to climate change, international funding to support reductions in emissions needs to balance conservation and development. The Government of Vietnam is currently coordinating the design of a comprehensive benefit-distribution system, with the ambition to convert certified net emissions reductions into REDD+ revenue and distribute it to local partners in a transparent, equitable and cost-effective manner. A pilot scheme is underway in Bac Kan province. With forest cover of 56.6% and a poverty rate of 36.6%, Bac Kan is among the most heavily forested and poorest provinces of Vietnam, making it a potential site for pioneering REDD+ schemes in the country.Research questions were how to incorporate international, national and local stakeholders’ investments into any distribution scheme; and how to sustain and manage an efficient, effective and equitable funding scheme for environmental services, including REDD+ revenues. Multiple data collection and analytical methods (including participatory approaches) were used to answer both research questions. Additionally, for the second question, we employed cost-benefit, opportunity cost and economic analyses.Three key concepts formed the research frame for this paper: (1) benefit-distribution systems; (2) reducing emissions from deforestation and forest degradation plus conservation (REDD+); and (3) the broader concept of payments or rewards for ecosystem services; as well as lessons learned from existing, similar schemes.This results shows that an appropriate benefit-sharing system for REDD+ revenues can be developed in such a way that meets international regulations as well as national and sub-national circumstances, particularly for the environmental services’ providers who directly protect forests. Vietnam's payments for forest environmental services’ and integrated conservation schemes (where conservation and rural development are integrated) serve as a base for the development of a REDD+ benefit-distribution system.We discuss ways of bundling such schemes with REDD+ ‘service’ payments and income streams from forestry and agroforestry ‘goods’ to provide short-term food-security/economic return and long-term environmental benefits. This combination is expected to provide sustainable incentives, but further effort is needed in the use of participatory methods and a ‘bottom-up’ approach to provide a strong base for an effective and equitable REDD+ mechanism at landscape level.Experience drawn from Vietnam, in general, and in Bac Kan, in particular, can be replicated and directly contribute to reducing carbon emissions globally.     

Assessing the financial contribution and carbon emission pattern of provisioning ecosystem services in Siwalik forests in Nepal: Valuation from the perspectives of disaggregated users

Provisioning Ecosystem Services (PS) from the forests contribute much to peoples’ livelihoods as well as to the national economy. Previous studies have been constrained by their primary focus on biophysical quantification of PS through modelling and mapping or aggregated monetary valuation, while little attention has been paid to the issues of the distribution of financial benefits among the different forest subgroups. Using market price and substitute good price methods, this paper assesses how local users exploit financial benefits and emit carbon from the use of PS in two dominant community-based forest management systems (community forestry—CF and collaborative forestry—CFM) based on proximity (nearby vs. distant users) and socio-economic class (rich vs. poor users) in the Siwalik region, Nepal. Results indicated that the wealth level of the users plays a key role in the amount of financial benefits generated from the use of PS: (1) users living near forests receive the highest economic benefits compared to those living long distances from the forest area. However the distribution of benefits differs according to management modality and socioeconomic status; (2) CF users, on average, receive higher economic benefits than CFM users; and (3) compared to poor households, rich households receive higher benefits. On average, a rich household adjacent to CF receives USD 1214/year while a poor household living in the same area receives almost half of that (USD 630/year). Similarly, a poor household living far from a forest area generates USD 189/year, slightly higher than that of a rich household in the same area (USD 109/year); and (4) an average CF user emits more carbon (7.4 tCO₂/HH/year) from the consumption of PS than an average CFM user (5 tCO₂/HH/year). Finally, we discuss the reasons behind these differences and draw policy implications for developing and refining constitutions and operational plans of forest user groups.     

Diverse local regulatory responses to a new forestry regime in forest communities in the Bolivian Amazon

Over the last decade, important land and forest governance reforms have taken place in many tropical countries, including the devolution of ownership rights over land and forests, decentralization that created mechanisms for forest dwellers to participate in decision making in lowest tiers of governments. These reforms have resulted in an intensive academic debate on governance and management of forests and how actors should be involved. An important but understudied element in this debate is the ways in which communities cope with new legislation and responsibilities. Property rights bestowed by the government leave many aspects undecided and require that local forest users devise principles of access and allocation and establish authority to control those processes. We studied 16 communities in the northern Bolivian Amazon to evaluate how forest communities develop and control local rules for resource access and use. We found that the first requirement to community rule design, enforcement, and effective forest management is the opportunity to, and equity of, access to forest resources among members. Under the newly imposed forestry regulations, communities took matters in their own hands and designed more specific rules, rights and obligations of how community members could and should use economically important resources. The cases suggest that communities hold and maintain capacity to prepare their own ownership arrangements and related rules, even if they are strongly conditioned by the regulatory reforms. Very specific local histories, that may differ from community to community, influence strongly how specific ideas are being shaped, which in northern Bolivia resulted in notable local differences. The results suggest that new regulatory regimes should create appropriate conditions for communities to define adequate or at least convenient forestry institutions that assure an acceptable level of collective coexistence according to each particular communal history.     

Community forests for forest communities: Integrating community-defined goals and practices in the design of forestry initiatives

Community forestry can deliver economic, socio-cultural, and ecological benefits to rural communities, yet criticisms have arisen that community forestry remains dominated by the decision-making of offsite experts and management techniques inappropriate for some communities. We use a case study approach to ascertain the needs, wants, and current realities of selected forest communities in Brazil and Mexico, to inform bottom-up approaches to community interventions. In identifying community-defined goals, we found that other livelihood strategies, particularly agricultural practices, need to be better integrated in the planning of forestry interventions overly focused on timber production. Site-specific intervention models need to take into account the variety of contexts and community interests, rather than replicating models that have been successful in other jurisdictions. A better understanding of local perspectives can aid in the design of community forestry interventions brought by conservation and development agencies, by adding an important and under-studied perspective to the problems that face community forestry.     

南方集体林区森林经营联合认证实践应用分析

结合中国南方集体林区林权制度改革后的森林经营现状,对森林经营联合认证在其发展的有利条件、障碍及机遇进行深入分析。结果表明:林权改革发展、林业合作社兴起以及联合认证花费较低、信息技术共享等为南方集体林区发展森林联合认证创造了有利条件;林农森林认证思想薄弱、农村缺乏专业技术人才与资金以及林农分布较为分散等问题在一定程度上阻碍了联合认证的发展。此外,在南方集体林区发展森林联合认证还有一系列的机遇,例如"三农政策""扶贫政策"等国家政策的保障,巨大的林产品出口量推动合作社林产品的认证以及社区林业与林区联合认证理念契合等。因此,针对其障碍,提出开展认证培训、增设认证试点、拓宽资金渠道及明确和统一高保护价值森林定义等相应的改善对策。     

气候变化和林业:REDD入门

在如何应对气候变化的讨论中,最有争议的问题之一是REDD(减少毁坏和林地退化造成的碳排放)。在基于市场减排战略中的作用,分析审查REDD活动的成本表明,REDD不但在减少GHG排放的全球战略中发挥重要作用,还可以保护热带雨林提供生物多样性和重要生态系统服务。但是REDD项目限于在一定地域,除非全球森林都被纳入REDD,否则漏洞无法消除,此外,REDD在政策设计问题上存在一定争议,因此还需进一步的研究讨论。     

Interventions to better manage the carbon stocks in Australian Melaleuca forests

Forests and woodlands dominated by tree species of the genus Melaleuca cover around 7,556,000 ha in Australia and predominantly occur as wetland ecosystems. In this Viewpoint, we use published secondary data to estimate that there is likely to be between 158 tC/ha and 286 tC/ha stored in Melaleuca forests. These estimates are at least five times greater than the previous estimate made by the Australian Government (about 27.8 tC/ha). There are 2.1 million ha of protected Melaleuca forest which likely stock between 328 M tC and 601 M tC; equivalent to between 2.7% and 5.0% of total carbon storage of all Australian native forests. These estimates are significant because it appears that carbon stocks in Melaleuca forests are currently dramatically under-estimated in Australia's national greenhouse gas emissions inventory reported under the United Nations Framework Convention on Climate Change (UNFCCC). Whilst the precision of the estimates is limited by the availability of rigorous primary data, we also argue that the estimates are indicative and meaningful, and this synopsis highlights the fact that this forest type should be considered a significant carbon store nationally and globally.     

Heterogeneity and assessment uncertainties in forest characteristics and biomass carbon stocks: Important considerations for climate mitigation policies

The management of forests to store carbon and mitigate climate change has received significant international attention during the last decade. Using in situ data from a 2008–2009 forest inventory field campaign in Sri Lanka, this study describes the structural characteristics and carbon stocks of six natural forest types. This paper has a dual scope: i) to highlight the variation in carbon stored in aboveground biomass within and between forest types and ii) to determine the implications of the allometric equations chosen to calculate biomass carbon stocks. This study concerns work related to climate change interventions, such as Reducing Emissions from Deforestation and Forest Degradation (REDD+) and other forest-related, performance-based initiatives that require proper monitoring, reporting, and verification of carbon stocks, sinks and emissions. The results revealed that forests are heterogeneous in terms of tree density and height–diameter relationships, both between and within the six forest types investigated. The mean aboveground carbon stock in the different forest types ranged from 22 to 181 Mg C ha⁻¹, and there were statistically significant differences in the carbon stocks of the six forest types in 7 of 15 cases. The estimated carbon stock depended heavily on the allometric equation used for the calculations, the variables, and its application to the specific life zone. Due to the diversity of forest structures, these results suggest that caution should be taken when applying default values to estimate forest carbon stocks and emission values in reporting and accounting schemes. The results also indicated the need for allometric equations that are context-specific for different forest types. Therefore, new field investigations and measurements are needed to determine these specific allometric equations, as well as the potential variation in forest carbon stocks in tropical natural forests.     

Effects of industrial plantations on ecosystem services and livelihoods: Perspectives of rural communities in China

This paper addresses the current research void on local community views of changes in ecosystem services associated with rapid land use transformation in the context of plantation-based forestry. This interview-based study, conducted in southern China, aims at assessing the perspectives of local communities of: 1) the effects of Eucalyptus industrial plantations on selected ecosystem services and on local development; and 2) opportunities for future community livelihood development, based on the relations with the government and with forest industry operating locally. We analysed data from semi-structured interviews with 70 villagers for their views on changes in ecosystem services after the establishment of plantations, and their future expectations on the local livelihood development. Most interviewees mentioned some negative development on environmental quality after the establishment of the industrial plantations, especially on soil and water. Furthermore, the reduced productivity of cropland surrounding industrial plantations, coupled with other financial drivers, induced several villagers to switch from agricultural crops to household plantations. In the absence of destructive typhoons, household plantations can provide owners more free time, higher income, while industrial plantations provided some employment opportunities. Interviewees’ expectations for the future included receiving financial support and capacity building for household plantations and crops, support to local roads and schools, and higher employment opportunities. Some interviewees suggested that solutions should be implemented for improving degraded water quality, while others suggested reducing forestry operations. Even though being highly context-specific, our findings open up the discussion about the further community development opportunities in the context of plantation forestry. In particular, the potential of value sharing mechanisms between the private sector and the local communities should be further studied.     

Striving for PAR excellence in land use planning: Multi-stakeholder collaboration on customary forest recognition in Bulukumba,South Sulawesi

Decentralization has enlivened new, bottom-up approaches for forestry governance in Southeast Asia. In Indonesia, social forestry and adat (indigenous) rights have come to the fore. The landmark 2013 Constitutional Court decision MK35/2012 allows adat communities greater control over their traditional forest areas. MK35 is the subject of much attention in national debates on forest devolution, but many questions remain about implementation. This paper examines a unique case of MK35 implementation through a local regulation involving the Kajang adat community of Bulukumba, South Sulawesi. We highlight participatory action research (PAR) processes and methods, such as participatory mapping and survey “ground truthing,” which built consensus around vital, contentious policy questions such as the extent of the adat forest. Findings suggest that PAR, albeit time-consuming, is a robust approach for fostering complementarity between stakeholder groups and decision makers in bottom-up land use planning and management.     

Knowing but not knowing: Systematic conservation planning and community conservation in the Sierra Norte of Oaxaca,Mexico

Systematic conservation planning (SCP) seeks to propose new reserves through a scientifically rigorous process using databases and research selection algorithims. However, SCP exercises have been criticized for “knowing but not doing”, i.e. not implementing the proposed reserve. But there is an additional problem that can be called “knowing but not knowing”, knowing things from databases, but not knowing crucial contextual information about community-based social processes that have supported the high forest cover and biodiversity detected. Examined here is how a common property region of the Sierra Norte of Oaxaca, Mexico has maintained high forest cover in the absence of public protected areas, while multiple SCP exercises have advocated for the creation of public protected areas in communal tropical montane cloud forests and pine forests as strategies for biodiversity conservation and resilience to climate change. Methods included archival research, review of community documents, focus group interviews, semi-structured interviews, participant observation, land use transects, and GIS analysis and remote sensing. Conservation in the region originally occurred because of low population densities, steep slopes and a lack of agricultural subsidies, supported by locally adapted agricultural practices. In the 1990s, a transition from passive to active conservation took place with land use zoning plans, community conservation rules, community forestry enterprises and payments for environmental service programs that consolidated a trend towards high, unthreatened forest cover. Today, the study communities have an average of 88.3% forest cover, with 61% of that in informal conservation based on community land use zoning and rules and another 14% governed by forest management plans approved by the Mexican government. We argue that truly systematic conservation plans would seek to understand how communities in the region are already managing forests for conservation. It is pointless and uninformed to advocate for top-down conservation interventions of forests that are already robustly conserved and resilient to climate change due to community action.     

森林碳汇价值与农户林业收入增长的分析

根据福建省顺昌县农户林业收入的调查数据,从林产品收入、林业服务性收入、林地地租收入、生态公益林补偿收入、其他涉林收入等方面对农户林业收入构成进行分析,发现森林生态效益在农户林业收入中的贡献非常小,仅占0.18%;以现有碳汇市场为参考,通过森林蓄积量换算因子法估算出该县的森林碳汇量及其碳汇价值,指出森林碳汇价值的实现可以有效地增加农户林业生态收入、改善农户的林业收入结构;并探讨了农户森林碳汇价值实现的途径。     

Community forest management,gender and fuelwood collection in rural Nepal

This paper investigates how Forest User Group (FUG) management of community forests and household characteristics influence household allocation of male and female labor to fuelwood collection in rural Nepal. FUG collection bans are found to displace both landed and landless female fuelwood collection labor to other forests that are typically further away, but lower restrictions do not. A higher female FUG executive committee share has both conservation and equity enhancing effects by lowering the likelihoods that landless, Dalit, landed and non-Dalit women collect in other forests, and increasing the likelihood landless males collect in the FUG forest.     

福建省生态公益林碳汇经济效益影响因子研究

根据对福建省6个样本县进行样地调查及其农户访谈式问卷调查的资料,首先应用因子分析法对影响福建省生态公益林碳汇效益的主要因子进行分析,然后将碳汇效益与主要因子进行逐步多元回归分析。结果表明:坡度、林龄、树种、蓄积量、碳汇量、重置成本、降水量、碳汇价格是影响福建省生态公益林碳汇效益的主要因子;碳汇价格、蓄积量和重置成本对福建省生态公益林碳汇效益影响显著;碳汇价格、蓄积量与碳汇效益呈正相关,重置成本与碳汇效益呈负相关。     

Reducing Indonesia’s deforestation‐based greenhouse gas emissions*

Indonesia has set the target that by the year 2020 its emissions of greenhouse gases will be reduced by 26 per cent relative to business‐as‐usual conditions. This article analyses the effectiveness of a subsidy to the use of land in forestry as a means of achieving this goal. The analysis uses a general equilibrium model of the Indonesian economy characterised by explicit treatment of land use, disaggregated by industry and by region. The results of the analysis indicate that the subsidy cost of permanently reducing carbon emissions by 26 per cent is a little over US$1 per metric tonne of carbon emissions abated. This cost needs to be compared with that of alternative instruments and with the price of carbon that might be agreed under the proposed Reducing Emissions through Deforestation and Land Degradation (REDD) scheme, to be administered through the World Bank and the United Nations.     

Agents or stewards in community forestry enterprises? Lessons from the Mayan Biosphere Reserve,Guatemala

Community forestry enterprises are increasing participation in forestry activity and have become a favoured approach for reaching goals of conservation, poverty reduction and community development. Much has been written about the importance of supportive policy frameworks, technical assistance, the broader market in which these enterprises operate and the need for more significant control by communities over forests and their benefits through secure resource rights as key points of action. However, there is still a considerable knowledge gap in terms of understanding their organizational behaviour and how it affects the accomplishment of their goals. This paper takes a first step in filling this gap and analyses managerial behaviour in CFEs through the use of theories on principal–agent relationships. Data collected from CFEs in the Mayan Biosphere Reserve in Petén, Guatemala reveal important insights about managerial behaviour in these firms and how embeddedness of the CFE within the wider community plays a major role in managerial decision-making. Several policy implications are derived from these findings.