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SUB-NATIONAL INITIATIVES TO INCREASE CARBON SINKS AND

IMPROVE ADAPTIVE CAPACITIES OF

VULNERABLE FOREST COMMUNITIES”, IN

The Central Indian State of Chhattisgarh

Presentation at GIZ Side Event @ India Pavilion, UNFCCC CoP23

Climate Change Adaptation and State Actions

Bonn, 15 November 2017

Dr Arvind Anil Boaz

Head of Forest Force and Chief Executive, Chhattisgarh State Climate Centre

Chhattisgarh, INDIA -at a Glance

10th largest state in India -Area of 135,191sq.kms

THREE AGROCLIMATIC ZONES-

Northern Hills

Central Mahanadi Plains

Baster Plateau

Forests occupy nearly half geographical area in

Chhattisgarh State, nearly 46.07% of the total area (FSI Report, 2015)

Total Population 25.55 million, 30.62% Scheduled Tribes

living in and around forest areas (Census of India, 2011)

First Herbal State of India

Tree Cover = 3629sq.km = 2.68% of geographical area

Conserving Now, Preserving the Future

Major Climate Change issues in Chhattisgarh

Conserving Now, Preserving Future

Chhattisgarh has tropical climate. It is

hot and humid due to its proximity to

Tropic of Cancer and its dependence

on the monsoon for rains.

Extremes in temperature can be

observed with scales falling to less

than 0°C to 49°C.

The rainfall variability during past

century in Chhattisgarh studied using

rainfall statistics of 100 years i.e.

1901-2000.

About 40 rain gauge stations located

in different districts of Chhattisgarh

shows a decline in average rainfall

during 1900-1950 and 1951-2000.

Chhattisgarh Forests


recorded forest area in the state is 59,772 km2, - 46.07 percent of

its geographi al area a d . % of I dia s Forest Area. Reserved, Protected and Unclassed Forests constitute 43.13%,

40.21 %, and 16.65 % of the total forest area respectively

Forest Types

2015

Assessment

(sq.km)

Very Dense Forest 4152

Moderately Dense

Forest 34846

Open Forest 16588

Total 2015 55586

Tree Cover 3629

Total Forest & Tree

Cover 59215

Source: India State of Forest Report, 2015

Chhattisgarh Forests for People and People for Forests

Large Coverage of Climate Adaptation through JFM activities:

• with 7887 Joint Forest Management Committees covering over 33,190 Sq. Km and over

27.63 lakh members from forest/forest fringe dwelling communities.

Benefit Sharing mechanism under Convention of Biological Diversity well

established under Revenue sharing mechanism with JFM Committees and NTFP

collectors as incentives for their role in forest Protection, development and climate

adaptation.

By improving the management of forests and allocating adequate rights at the local level, the

adaptive capacity of forest- dependent people has been greatly improved and include:

• Clarifying and strengthening forest land ownership and use rights;

• Reducing and simplifying resource access procedures;

• Maintaining a stable policy and regulatory environment;

• Strengthening sustainable production of, and access to markets for forest- based products;

• Applying best practices in Joint forest law enforcement through JFM and initiating policies

to turn the forest Bureaucracy into facilitators rather than enforcers of Law.


State of Forests & Carbon Stocks in Chhattisgarh

Total growing stock – 404.45 million cubic meter

Carbon Stocks : Tropical Dry Forests type stratum - >I dia s a erages-

Very Dense 169.77 ton/ha (151.41)

Moderately Dense 154.41 ton/ha (136.26)

Open Forests 42.13 ton/ha (48.30).

Tropical Moist Forests - significantly lower carbon densities than the country Av

VDF 108.25 ton/ha (124.99),

MDF 90.93 ton/ha (95.39) and

OF 50.48 ton/ha (65.25) (FSI 2012).

Above Ground Biomass in total forest carbon stock in the state is much higher 36.48%

(31.03%) but way below Andaman & Nicobar (49.83%), J&K (45.17%) and Himachal

(44.15%).

Below Ground Biomass is also a healthier 12.11% (9.79%) but below Jharkhand (14.11) and

Andhra (13.74%) besides being understandably below Andaman & Nicobar (15.12%).


Initiatives of the State towards increasing carbon sinks

Conservation has always been the focus area of Chhattisgarh forest department.

State Forest Department initiative towards vulnerability reduction of forest and

dependent communities through:-

Afforestation

Joint Forest Management

Bamboo regeneration

Wetland Management through Watershed Approach

Implementation of Various Acts, Schemes and Constitutional Provisions :-

• The Provisions of Panchayat Extension to Scheduled Areas (PESA), 1996

• The Biological Diversity Act, 2002

• The Scheduled Tribes and Other Traditional Forest Dwellers (Recognition

of Forest Rights) Act, 2006


Current and future mean annual temp

Current and future mean annual precipitation

Vulnerability assessed on the basis of factors that affect agriculture

• Vulnerability = sensitivity + adaptation capacity

• Estimated keeping agriculture in focus (CSAPCC page 24) taking into account significant biophysical, socio-economic and technological factors that influence agriculture

• Biophysical factors are soil depth and quality and ground water availability

• Socioeconomic factors – levels of human and social capital and alternative economic activities

• Technological factors – irrigation and quality of infrastructure

• None of these have the same criticality in forestry as in agriculture

• Vulnerability mapping needs to be redone from forestry point of view

Climate vulnerability map as a composite of sensitivity and adaptive capacity to CC

UNDP 4 Vul erability Assess e t of Chhattisgarh towards Cli ate Cha ge

• Ravindranath et al - vulnerability by analyzing present state of forests using five broad indicators biological richness, disturbance index, canopy cover, forest dependence of rural communities, and slope with weightages of 0.507, 0.25, 0.137, 0.071 and 0.035 respectively as in Africa

• Dynamic Global Vegetation Models (DGVM) used to obtain future vegetation projections and Impact assessment using IBIS and LPJ models.

• Surguja and Jashpur come out most vulnerable under both models in short term

• A good first attempt but has serious flaws - most serious is the very low weightage given to forest dependence of communities.

• Vulnerability in Chhattisgarh forests arises primarily due to very high dependence of communities on forests

• Also, exposure to increased incidences of forest fires, disease and pest attacks, and sharply lowered regeneration of a range of species should form direct indicators rather than a small part of the disturbance index

Carbon stock in different pools in Chhattisgarh and India (right)

Forest Rights Act

• No. of claims filed at Gram Sabha level 860364

• No. of claims recommended by Gram Sabha to SDLC 506394

• No. of claims recommended by SDLC to DLC 420135

• No. of claims approved by DLC for title 352457

• No. of titles distributed 347789

• Extent for which title deeds issued (in ha) 300001

• Chhattisgarh considered highly successful having settled almost all the claims

and distributed about 0.3 Mha of forest lands

• FRA enacted to remove historical injustices to the tribal people and reduce

their sense of alienation and thereby address left wing extremism

• As of now there is little evidence of any progress in that direction

Wetlands cover 337960 ha (2.5%)

7711 larger wetlands and 27823 smaller wetlands of sizes smaller than 2.25 ha

Distribution across the state fairly even except in southern forested districts

CSCCAP vision

• CSCCAP vision: (a) mainstreaming of climate concerns into all aspects of development policy and implementation, and (b) ensuring complementarity with and contributing to the national agenda on climate change

• The overall motto of the CSAPCC – I lusi e Gro th for I pro ed Resilie e – captures the state vision well enough

• After Paris Agreement ensuring complementarity with the national agenda on climate change and contributing to it has assumed high importance

• I dia s INDC has o i trodu ed a e tirely differe t s ale of commitment in forestry sector not envisaged at the time of drafting the CSCCAP

Improving Adaptive Capacities of Vulnerable Forest Communities


Abhuj Maria tribe of Chhattisgarh



State Action Plan on Climate Change identifies adaptation efforts to be undertaken in the following sectors: -

Forestry:-

Conservation has always been the focus area of Chhattisgarh forest department. Over the last decade, there has

been improvement in the area under tree and forest cover in the state. The forest area is over 46 percent of the

total geographical area of the state.

Several programs initiated by Forest Department in the state to improve the adaptive capacities of vulnerable

forest communities viz: Nursery development, JFM, Sustainable harvest of NTFP, wetland management and

bamboo regeneration.

Agriculture:-

S all a d argi al far ers ulti ate per e t of the ropped area ut o stitute 5 per e t of the State s cultivators.

State has 14.4 million cattle and 14.2 million poultry birds and will promote better veterinary research and

customized technical support for breed, feed and productivity improvement. Preference is being given to landless and

marginal women farmers in the distribution of cattle and poultry units.

Currently, no comprehensive analyses of possible impacts of climate change to agriculture in Chhattisgarh are

available, nor are systematically documented anecdotal references to impacts from farmers.



State Action Plan on Climate Change identifies adaptation efforts to be undertaken in the following sectors: -

Water Resources

Chhattisgarh faces a range of issues related to its water resources and their management.

A comprehensive master plan for the state, for optimum use of water resources is under preparation. The state is

moving ahead towards a more integrated and sustainable approach to water resources management.

Health

The State had developed its own health targets that were more ambitious that the Millennium Development Goals.

These were to reduce malnutrition by 33 percent, IMR by 66 percent and MMR by 75 percent, but Chhattisgarh still

has a long way to go.

The local food model for supplementary nutrition under ICDS has helped reduce malnutrition and will be further

strengthened. Efforts to improve nutritional security of the most vulnerable have improved access to food grains,

iodised salt, and pulses under CM Khadyaan Sahayata and Amrit Vitran schemes and will be continued.


Nursery development and afforestation through JFM committees in last 10 yrs

Year

Targeted Afforestation

(ha) Achieved (ha)

2006 - 07 12055 12768

2007 - 08 17768 17345

2008 - 09 21262 21262

2009 - 10 16696 16696

2010 - 11 8800 8715

2011 - 12 1177 1127

2012 - 13 8370 7730

2013 - 14 2934 2655

2014 - 15 5491 5491

2015 - 16 4699 4519

2016 - 17 4475 4475

Total 103727 102783

Sustainable harvest of NTFP for supporting local livelihood and forest conservation


Forest produces collected are certified

by Village Forest Committees and

marketed through Gram Sabha and

Forest Department and village forest

committees are also engaged in

spreading awareness on medicinal

plant conservation

Year

Share of bonus on sale of tendu

leaves

to village forest committees

(Million INR

2006 315.9

2007 1173.2

2008 659.6

2009 924.1

2010 1358.8

2011 1568.7

2012 3104.2

2013 1004

2014 743.5

2015 880.6

2016 2760

Wetland Management through Watershed Approach

The State Centre for Climate Change has been able to garner extensive support

from the National Adaptation fund on Climate Change of Government of India.

A four year pilot project on Cli ate Adaptation in Wetlands along the Mahanadi

River Catchment Area in Chhattisgarh , sanctioned from MoEFCC, GoI under

National Adaptation Fund on Climate Change (NAFCC)

Wetlands occupy special importance in life of people of Chhattisgarh

Based on the success of this project, upscaling at the state level (covering 35534

wetlands) will be done, to develop proper strategy/model for climate change

adaptation among the wetland dependent communities.


Climate Resilient Agriculture


To reduce vulnerability and improve adaptability of agriculture to climate change, the All India

Coordinated Research Project on Agro-meteorology (AICRPAM) -National initiative on climate

resilient agriculture (NICRA) project funded by ICAR is being implemented in Chhattisgarh. The

Indira Gandhi Krishi Vishwavidhyala, Raipur and Department of Agriculture, Government of

Chhattisgarh has also established Gramin Krishi Mausam Seva (GKMS) an Agro meteorology

Advisory service to farmers.

Water Resources planning and management for climate adaptation


The Government of Chhattisgarh is implementing various water resources management

programmes through State and Central schemes and also through multilateral agencies such

as the World Bank and Ministry of Water Resources funded Hydrology Project, ADB supported

irrigation project.

Some of the best practices on water resources monitoring, conservation and management are

being established in Chhattisgarh Micro irrigation efforts through canals and check dams for

water resource management & Success models of world bank funded hydrology projects such

as Decision Support System for the Sheonath Basin.

Renewable Energy


The Chhattisgarh State Renewable Energy Development Agency (CREDA) has been promoting renewable

energy production through solar, biomass gasifiers, wind, micro hydro power etc.

Remote villages in Chhattisgarh where on grid electricity is not feasible are now connected with off grid

renewable energy.

Solar water pumps, roof top solar panels are other notable achievements under CREDA.

From Left to Right: 1 MW solar plant in Naya Raipur, Solar Powered Drinking Water pump, Biomass gasifier plant,

Keeping forests young and vigorous • Adaptation best possible in younger tree crops - greater resistance to diseases and pest attacks, less

vulnerable to fires

• At present harvestable girth for in Selection-cum-Improvement Working Circles is 120 cm - Site Quality II/III -100 years - dbh 38.1 cm, average height 24.99 meters and average MAI 05.04 cubic meter/ha

• harvested at 70 years, average dbh 30.2 cm - good price in market, growth just begins to taper

• At 70 years Sal trees are, by general consensus, affected by Sal borer attack only when epidemic is full blown

• Sound health of the Sal trees up to 70 years age is a good insurance against this pest

• Significant reduction in rotation age across species will favour adaptation

• Also enable faster carbon sequestration and increased production of wood

• And intensive thinning, all pending mechanical/silvi thinning to be completed within 2/3 yrs

• Also emphasis on hygienic thinning in forests prone to insect and pests

• Marking trees for felling becomes a highly technical job requiring approval at senior levels – CF?

• Will require changes in working plan norms, Chhattisgarh Working Plan Revision Manual, 2012, Page 201

The FUTURE APPROACH THE WAY AHEAD


Changing Planting techniques in open forests

• Currently a large number of trees which are eligible for harvesting are not felled for fear it would create openings

• Heavy removal of dead and dying required to reduce vulnerability to pests and fires

• 28% Open forests remain without much intervention because planting small seedlings does not succeed

• Tall sturdy saplings 2-3 m tall of desired species should be planted in small openings as in China and many other countries

• Costs are higher but that should become affordable now

THE WAY AHEAD


Experimenting with different silvicultural systems

• A silviculture system no longer in vogue, Coppice with Standards, could be adopted in Sal forests heavily infested with Sal borer on a small scale on experimental basis

• Standard Sal trees left should be those found unaffected by the borer attack amidst heavy infestation

• All healthy non-Sal species, particularly Terminalia spp with high NTFP value, should be retained in higher % as standards so that the post-coppice crop veer more towards a mix of non-Sal species

THE WAY AHEAD


Renewed emphasis on soil and moisture conservation measures

• Trend towards lower precipitation and higher temperatures - reducing surface runoff and increasing soil moisture are crucial for increasing productivity

• A wide range of locally suited soil moisture conservation measures should be adopted including stone and vegetative check-dams and contour trenches on slopes

• Already practiced in watershed areas but now investment in soil and moisture conservation measures would have to be significantly higher

• Mulching top soil around young plants and on severely exposed sites should also become an important part of these measures even though mulching may lead to increased CO2 and CH4 emissions

THE WAY AHEAD


Weed eradication with aggressive replanting • Weed infestation by lantana and several other species has been noted as a serious

problem in the CSAPCC

• Past attempts to reduce infestation have not succeeded primarily because the aggressive rebound of the weeds was not taken into account

• Arresting this rebound should be at the core of weed removal strategy and this would include deciding on the time of removal before seeding combined with dense planting of very tall well established plants of rapidly growing big leaf species that cast dense shadow on the ground.

• Intense maintenance work requiring large manpower is needed to ensure success of these efforts for atleast 5 years after the planting.

• The weed biomass removed should also find use as fuel or manure to reduce its greenhouse gas emission potential.

THE WAY AHEAD


Adapting to increased fire incidences • Fire information system is technologically quite advanced but both the field response

mechanism and preventive measures require massive investment

• Working Plan Manual prescribes 3 tier classification for fire protection - First Class forests afforded highest protection with emphasis on prevention - fire lines ranging from 30 meters wide old fire lines to merely 3 meters wide along roads/boundaries

• This class includes plantations for 10 years after planting, watershed areas for ten years after soil conservation work, felling cycles for ten years after harvesting, bamboo flowering areas for ten years after the flowering is over besides nurseries and seed orchards that are to be afforded complete protection against fires on permanent basis.

• Second Class forests are those worked regularly but not classified under First Class and given forest fire prevention treatment subject to availability of adequate funds after the implementation of preventive measures in forests under the First Class

• Third Class forests are remaining forests and no preventive measures are undertaken and are only subjected to fire extinguishment

THE WAY AHEAD


A far more intensive fire management • Increased forest fire risks with increased temps and lowered precipitation, very difficult to

douse fires once they begin- necessary to extend prevention measures to all forests

• Massive addition to fire lines of adequate width in fire prone areas with high quality and regular maintenance.

• Efficacy of different widths of fire lines requires re-examination in the light of the fire incidences that occurred in the past ten years

• Ability to respond to the fire incidences is generally modest across the state and relies too heavily on legal duty cast on people living closeby. This no longer works

• This is a work which ought to be paid in full to be able to draw people to undertake this extremely arduous and risky task.

• Quick response teams with members drawn from local communities with adequate mobility and equipment to douse fires need to be set up across the state.

• All these activities should create very substantive employment

THE WAY AHEAD


Community forestry

• Waning interest in JFM forests in many areas due to low economic returns to the communities

• Problem more serious in forests with limited NTFP

• Rekindling community interest in forests is crucial to adaptation

• Sharp increase in investments to promote the production and harvest of NTFP needed

• Timber harvest is almost non-existent in community forests – can it be increased if accompanied with intensive ANR?

THE WAY AHEAD


Markets and marketing regulations

• Restrictions on felling discourages tree planting both private and also public by departments other than forest department.

• Fundamental changes are required in the way we see forests

• For communities to be able to adopt to changing climate forests must be managed not only in ecologically sound manner but also economically productive.

• Sensible tradeoffs necessary

THE WAY AHEAD


Transformational approach to enable communities to adapt to changing climate

• A big advantage of this approach is that it creates jobs.

• Nair and Rutt, 2009, - in forestry sector annual expenditure of $ 1 million creates between 500 to 1000 full time jobs

• Highest creation of new full time jobs is in afforestation, desertification control, conservation, fire, indigenous forest management, watershed, improvement in productivity of existing planted forests, agro forestry, urban and peri-urban forestry and skill improvement in forestry and wood industry.

• Also in conservation activities like demarcation of boundaries, maintenance of inspection paths and roads and creating and managing nature education centers

• Recreational activities

11/15/2017 Institute of Green Economy, New Delhi Email:

[email protected]

THE WAY AHEAD


How REDD+ could work in tribal areas of Chattisgarh

• 1.7 Mha of open and 3.74 Mha of MDF in which carbon density can be enhanced by fire prevention, pest and disease management, invasives management, gap seeding and planting

• These activities require trained staff for short periods but the department does not have adequate staff

• Effective fire prevention requires 1 forester, 2 FG and 12 workers per 1000 ha in plains and double that in hills for new firelines, old fireline clearance, reducing inflammable material from forest floor for three months period


[email protected]

THE WAY AHEAD


Temporary staff requirement for intensive forest management

•Weed removal requires 1 Forester, 2 FG and 12 workers for two months during rainy season for every 1000 ha

• Pest and disease control tasks also require 1 Forester, 2 FG and 12 workers per 1000 ha for one month in a year

• So for these activities (other than law enforcement) 1 Forester, 2 FG and 12 workers are required per 1000 ha for 5 months in a year


[email protected]

THE WAY AHEAD


• Thus 5445 Foresters , 10890 FG and 65340 Forest workers are needed for 5 different months in a year for carrying out these operations on an intensive scale in Chattisgarh

• The temporary and discontinuous nature of work does not lend itself to regular forest staff

• It suits engaging suitable tribal youths from neighboring communities as Community Forest Officers, and training them under MRV provisions of REDD Plus and using their services for 5 months in a year

• These temporary CFOs shall work under Ranger and get paid from REDD+ funds

• Community will engage directly in forest management and yet the forests shall have the benefit of technical management by forest department

• This would be in addition to some part of REDD funds that will go to the communities directly.


[email protected]

THE WAY AHEAD


Forestry should entail more trade-offs between ecological and economic

requirements for increase adaptation and mitigation • Keeping millions of hectare of forest lands allowing trees to die of age and

disease, creating no employment and little incomes, can not earn people's support for keeping one third of land under forest cover.

• Use forest lands appropriately in both ecological and economical sense

• Enhancing productivity as important as ecologically sound management

• Balance has to be found - may not always be achievable in every bit of forests but possible over larger landscapes

• Need to bring focus back to comprehensive forestry in which economic productivity is not an abusive word.

• Increasing demand for mitigation of climate change through carbon sequestration might perhaps cause the changes needed in our forestry practices


[email protected]

THE WAY AHEAD


Summarizing Role of Forests in CC Adaptation and Mitigation

Immediate and very intensive steps to reduce the vulnerability of forests and forest dependent communities

Increased C sequestration and storage subject to

• Enhanced welfare over time from the forests

• Enhanced levels of consumption of forest goods and services over time

• Constant or increasing stocks of all forest capital (natural+ plantation+ human) over time with natural capital not dipping below critical levels for any ecosystem


[email protected]

THE WAY AHEAD



Thank You

For more information please contact –

Dr. Arvind Boaz, IFS

PCCF & Head of Forest Force (HoFF) and

State Nodal Officer on Climate Change,

Government of Chhattisgarh, INDIA

Email : [email protected]

Visit- http://cgclimatechange.com

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