Methodology for assessing carbon stock for REDD+ project in India (COURTESY: Ministry of environment Govt of India)
Introduction
Reducing Emissions from Deforestation and Forest Degradation (REDD) is an international
initiative that was started at CoP-15 (Copenhagen) in 2009. Forests store a great deal
of the world’s carbon; and an estimated 12–18% of global carbon dioxide (CO2) emissions
come from land use change – mainly deforestation and forest degradations. REDD has emerged
as a central strategy in efforts to reduce global greenhouse gases emissions. By
creating financial incentives to reduce forest-sourced greenhouse gases, REDD
projects could generate funding from developed to developing countries. This
can yield significant sustainable development benefits, and may generate a new
financing stream for sustainable forest management in developing countries
such as India. REDD+ goes beyond deforestation and forest degradation,
and includes the role of conservation, sustainable management of forests, and
enhancement of forest carbon stocks (www.un-redd.org).
India’s submissions to the United Nations Framework Convention on
Climate Change (UNFCCC) have consistently reiterated its position to get
recognition and encouragement for conservation, sustainable management of
forests, and increase in forest cover as a potential policy approaches under
REDD+. India has maintained that all countries engaged in efforts to maintain
and increase forest carbon stocks in their broader national policy framework of
conservation and sustainable management of forests should be rewarded. The
REDD+ approach incorporates important benefits for improving livelihoods,
biodiversity conservation, and food security services. Recently, India submitted
the methodological guidance for a REDD+ project to the UNFCCC, where
it states that stratification of forest areas, Tree-outside-Forest (ToF), crown
density classes, sampling design, precision of estimates, protocols for collecting
sample data, and models and equations used in computing forest carbon stocks
will form an essential part of accounting the report. All equations, growth,
and biomass yield models used in the computation of forest carbon stocks
will be based on published records, and freely and readily accessible to all
for evaluation. Developing countries will have the option to choose all or any
of the pools of forest carbon stocks. Indigenous peoples, local communities,
civil societies and other interested entities will be fully involved and informed
about the technological, methodological, policy, and financial aspects of the
Measuring, Reporting, and Verification (MRV) processes and procedures. The
objective of this paper is to examine the methodological issues such as scale,
baseline reference, measuring, monitoring, and verifications of the REDD+
project in context to India. India has maintained that all countries engaged in efforts to
maintain and increase forest carbon stocks in their broader national policy framework
of conservation and sustainable management of forests should be rewarded. 4
Methodological issues
Scale
Scale is one of the most critical policy issues of REDD+ project in the
country since other important parameters such as base line reference level,
permanence, leakages, monitoring, and investment all depends on it. While
implementing the REDD+ project, a key question that arises is at what scale
(level) should the project be implemented in the country? Should it be at the
national level, or subnational level (project level) or mix of both (nested or
hybrid approach). There are various arguments in favour and against for all
these options. At the national level, favourable points are it allows broad set
of policies and creates country ownership. National approach acknowledges
tackling deforestation and forest degradation more, effectively which would
require policy amendments in the country.
However, there are various serious constrains while implementing the
REDD+ project at the national level, such as the lack of strong federal central
government systems in many developing and under developed countries.
Management of the project at a national level would be another constrain in
larger countries such as India. It requires large number of skilled and trained
forestry professionals across the nation. There would be higher transaction cost
due to complex bureaucratic procedures and various complex processes at a
nation-level approach.
In case of a sub-national approach, which is more suitable for a large country
like India, individuals, communities, NGOs, civil societies, private companies,
and national or local governments can implement REDD+ activities in a
defined geographical area or at a project scale. Smaller projects can help in
building capacity at the grassroots level, and spread knowledge and awareness.
Smaller projects can clearly define project stakeholders and distribute the
benefits more efficiently, and there are good possibilities of attracting private
investors due to simple processes and well-defined stakeholders.
There are some negative arguments that smaller projects might not fulfil
the emission reduction targets at a national or global level. Sometimes, it is
difficult to monitor leakages on a small scale, and the cost of monitoring would
be relatively higher than a bigger project.
A hybrid, or nested, approach tries to include positives from both the abovementioned approaches. The hybrid approach suggests implementing REDD+
policy at the project level first and then extending it at a national level.
Building the capacity of various sub-national stakeholders would be helpful in
implementing the policy at national level. Credits generated could be shared
between the project proponent and the central authority.
There are various other options suggested by researchers from time to time.
In one case, it might be possible to sub-divide one national project into a
number of small projects and then implement them with the participation of
local communities and private entities. However, a more feasible scale for the
country would be at the subnational level, keeping in view the various positive
points of the project-level approach. Initially, some projects could be started
at the project level, in order to build the capacities of various stakeholders –
including the Forest staff at grass root level – and then implement it at the
It requires large number of skilled and trained forestry professionals
across the nation. There would be higher transaction cost due to complex bureaucratic
procedures and various complex processes at a nation-level approach.5
defined geographical area. From the Indian context, village forests, community
forest resources, forest areas assigned to JFM and other areas of a similar
nature may be undertaken as a unit for implementing the REDD+ project.
Since there is no mechanism to transfer the money generated from carbon
trading to the community, it would be appropriate to have smaller project
areas, so that the fund would reach the community smoothly and efficiently.
Baseline reference level
Baseline refers to the forest cover of an area at a certain period against which
progress of the REDD+ project interventions can be measured. Baseline
reference level is another key parameter for implementing the REDD+ project,
and assessing its overall impact in terms of reduced GHGs and tradable carbon
credits. There are various arguments in setting up the baseline reference level
for the REDD+ project. In this case, if a baseline were established based on
data from recent years only, it would discourage countries who have already
made efforts for checking the deforestation rates. Such baseline will not
yield any significant credits for them, hence would demotivate countries to
participate in the process. India favours a baseline reference level of 1990,
while countries such as Brazil and Latin America favour average of historical
10 years period. Baseline reference level should depend upon the availability
of the data. India favours the 1990 baseline due to availability of GIS, RS, and
Forestry data for the entire country. India has one of the most advanced forest
mapping programmes in the world, the Forest Survey of India (FSI) conducts
a biennial cycle of forest and tree cover assessments throughout the nation. In
addition, larger activities under the gamut of Sustainable Forest Management
(SFM) started during the 1990s within the country.
Monitoring
Regular monitoring of the carbon stock is very important for the REDD+
project. However, there are various issues in monitoring and verifying the
REDD+ project; such as, there is no uniform defining of various terms like
forests, deforestation, and degradation, across the globe. There is a lack of
uniformly agreed density classification, which makes it difficult to monitor the
progress and effectiveness of REDD+ projects across the nations. There is a
lack of historical data, technical skills for field measurements, carbon stock
calculations, and interpretation of satellite imageries in most of the world’s
developing and under-developed nations. Besides, monitoring and verification
requires huge expense. In India, there is an urgent need to organize capacity
building programmes of local communities and forest staff at the project level
on methodologies for assessing carbon, in order to ensure minimal transaction
cost for the preparation of REDD+ projects.
Leakages
Leakages are defined as changes in GHG emissions outside the project boundary due
to project interventions. Leakages can reduce the impact of the project
significantly, hence it should be addressed properly while implementing the
REDD+ project. In India, the primary sources for leakages from the forest
are fuel wood, fodder, and timber extraction. Fuel wood leakages can be reduced
by deploying energy-efficient mechanisms, such as renewable energy In India, there
is an urgent need to organize capacity-building programmes of local communities and
forest staff at the project level on methodologies for assessing carbon, in order to
ensure minimal transaction cost for the preparation of REDD+ projects.6 Fuel wood
requirements could be tackled through the installation of improved cooking stoves,
biogas plants,
LPG, and various other means at the village level. Sources – especially solar energy
sources – and providing alternate employment to the people who were dependant on fuel
wood extraction for their livelihood.
Fuel wood requirements could be tackled through the installation of improved cooking
stoves, bio-gas plants, LPG, and various other means at the village level. Leakages
in the forms of fuel wood and fodder can be managed through properly implementing
the management prescriptions provided in the working
plans and various other forestry documents, and cultivating nutritive grass
species such as Barseem and Napier at private farms. Tree species of fodder
grass such as Bhimal, Oak, Neem, and Bauhinia should be encouraged. The
leakage of timber could be managed through the proper implementation of
silviculture and the management techniques provided in the working plans
of the respective forest divisions. In addition, conservation practices and
sustainable harvesting would be encouraged.
Carbon stock assessment
India has more than 70 million hectares under forest cover and added around
3 million hectares of forest cover and ToF over the last decade. India has
a good set of historical data of its forest area and thus, may propose the
methodology, which is based on the Remote Sensing (RS) and Geographic
Information System (GIS) followed by ground trothing. The benchmark year
may be considered as 1990 or 1991 depending upon the availability of the
satellite imageries and other forestry data set. Forest cover map of 1990 and
2012 (Project year) may be prepared using Landsat satellite data. The area
would be divided into homogenous strata based on forest types (or species
composition) and canopy density through interpretation of satellite imageries.
It is proposed to classify the satellite image into three density-classes viz.,
“D 1” with tree canopy density between 10 to 40%, “D 2” with tree canopy
density between 40 to 70%, and “D 3” with tree canopy density of more
than 70%. Species composition, if not discernible from satellite data, can be
determined from ground trothing. Field inventory data would be collected
based on appropriate sampling design. A combination of systematic and
stratified random sampling may be proposed based on methodology of the
Forest Survey of India (FSI, 2011). In case of the project based approach,
where average project size area is small (approximately 100 to 1000 ha), the
entire project area may be divided into grids of 100m x 100m (1ha). Each grid
can be assigned a unique ID and classified them according to the stratum it
represents. Sampling intensity and sample plot size would be determined as
per standard statistical tools. Field data such as project area, legal status of
the project area, rights and concessions, topographical details, soil types and
quality, site quality, status, forest types, species composition, number of stems
of each species, girth, height, number of stems in each diameter class, and soil
carbon data would need to be collected. Above ground carbon-stock would be
calculated by taking the local volume equations prepared by FSI. (FSI, 1996).
Below-ground carbon and carbon in the branches would be estimated using
default values provided by IPCC Good Practices Guidelines.
Carbon stock in each grid would be determined based on field data, and
simultaneously, carbon stock per hectare would be estimated for each stratum.
This would help in estimating carbon stock in the site for the benchmark
year. The grids where an increase in canopy density is observed with respect 7
to benchmark year will indicate additionality due to Sustainable Forest
Management (SFM) initiatives (or other effective management practices).
Similarly, a decrease in density over the years would indicate leakage of carbon
from the area due to unsustainable management practices and/or anthropogenic
pressures. Carbon estimation from soil, woody litter, and decompose material
would be estimated based on the present data, and it can be further compared
in future projects of the same area. Socio-economic data including dependency
on forest produce (firewood, small timber etc.) from the adjoining villages would
be collected through conducting household surveys and group discussions.
Such data would help in understanding the anthropogenic demands and
further improvement of management interventions for SFM.
Remote sensing and GIS based methodology will help in estimating
carbon stock of the benchmark year as well as for future temporal estimation
at periodic intervals. The output generated would help in understanding the
impact of on-going management practices, suggesting improved practices, and
supporting decision-making processes. Annual increment data of the dominant
species from the secondary sources (like Working Plan Document) can be used
to refine the estimate, particularly in grids where there is no change in the
density class over the past few years. Such data is needed as, while remote
sensing data may not show any increase in grids where there is no change in
canopy density, there would certainly be an increase in carbon stock because
of annual increments in the above ground woody volume of the tree.
Carbon estimation from soil, woody litter, and decompose material would be
estimated based on the present data, and it can be further compared in future
projects of the same area. For further details, contact
J V Sharma
Senior Fellow, Forestry and Biodiversity
The Energy and Resources Institute (TERI)
Darbari Seth Block, IHC Complex,
Lodhi Road, New Delhi – 110 003
Tel. 2468 2100 or 4150 4900, Fax 2468 2144 or
2468 2145 India +91 • Delhi (0) 11
E-mail jv.sharma@teri.res.in
Web www.teriin.org
Mr Subhash Chandra, IFS
DIG (Forest Policy)
Ministry of Environment & Forests,
Paryavaran Bhavan
CGO Complex, Lodi Road,
New Delhi 110 003
Telefax: 011-24363974
Email:subhaash.chandra@gmail.com
