IS INDIA REDD READY??

Group Members : Amrapali Singh(11) Anant Chauhan(12) Anitha B(13) Anjana Pradeep(14) Ankush Bahri(15)

Introduction
REDD stands for Reducing Emissions from

Deforestation and Forest Degradation . It is a set of steps designed to use market/financial incentives in order to reduce the emissions of greenhouse gases from deforestation and forest degradation. It is claimed that it can deliver "co-benefits" such as biodiversity conservation and poverty alleviation.

Historical Perspective
In 2005, at the 11th Conference of the Parties (COP-11), the Coalition of Rainforest Nations

initiated a request to consider 'reducing emissions from deforestation in developing countries. In 2007, at the Conference of the Parties to the UNFCCC in Bali (COP-13) an agreement was reached called the Bali Action Plan In 2009, at COP-15 in Copenhagen, the Copenhagen Accord of 18 December 2009 was reached according to which developed countries will approach 30bn USD between 2010-2012.

What is REDD?
Video: Introduction to REDD - YouTube.flv

An example of deforestation in India

Mangroves
Mangue (Portuguese) +Grove (English) Salt tolerant tropical, sub-tropical and intertidal plants. Highly productive but extremely sensitive and fragile. Largest ecosystems in India:
Sundarban Mangroves

Andaman & Nicobar

Gujarat Gulf of Kutch

Economic value added to costal communities through

fishing, tourism and environmental protection is $1.6 billion a year.

Biodiversity and Uses of Mangroves

More than1600 plant and 3700 animal species are

identified in India from these areas. Mangroves sequester approximately 25.5 million tones of carbon every year. Mangrove forest is the 2nd largest repository of carbon sequestration after tropical forests. Natural defense against natural disasters like tsunami.

Threat to Mangroves
Anthropological pressures and natural calamities. Growing industrial areas along coastline, pollution and

waste discharge. According to recent studies one in 6 mangrove species are in danger of extinction. In Mumbai more than 10000 hectares around 40% of the mangroves are lost in the past. Environmental Protection Act (1986) is for guarding the costal areas against pollution and waste discharge but still they continue to happen. No strict regulations in India to protect environment.

Aviation Dilemma
Navi Mumbai airport is expected to absorb a

minimum of 20 million passengers by 2020. About 90% of the proposed area is covered by forest and 170 hectares are dense mangroves. Environmental activists complain of vested interests of parties involved as they didnt consider the other option of barren land in Kasara.

Future of Mangroves
Eye wash in the name of recreating

mangroves. Even if the government can re-afforest the mangroves how can they rebuild the rich biodiversity? Considering our current political atmosphere, is it a better option to go for REDD to conserve our mangroves?

Advantages of REDD
It has opened avenues to get compensation for the

efforts of pro-conservation and sustainable management of forests This will result in further increase of forest cover and consequently forest carbon stocks. Benefits to be passed to local communities involved in forest conservation.
estimated that India could provide capture of more than 1

billion tonnes of additional CO2 over the next 30 years and will gain US$ 3 billion as carbon service incentives

 India is committed to the fact that monetary benefits from REDD+ will flow to local, forest

dependent, forest-dwelling and tribal communities

REDD+ is intended to be an additional co-benefit to the

goods and services already accruing to and being enjoyed by the local communities Indian Government additionally ensures that REDD+ will not adversely impact the traditional and legal rights of the local communities over forests REDD+ recognizes and respects national legislations relating to safeguards for the rights of indigenous peoples and local communities

Indias Stand
India has started an ambitious Green India

Mission under the National Action Plan on Climate Change with a budget of Rs 46,000 crore over a period of 10 years. India has made a submission to the United Nations Framework Convention on Climate Change (UNFCCC) on REDD, sustainable management of forest and afforestation and reforestation in December 2008

 A technical group has been set up to develop

methodologies and procedures to assess and monitor contribution of REDD+ actions

A National REDD+ Coordinating Agency

A National Forest Carbon Accounting Programme has

been institutionalized India is hosting the Conference of Parties (COP-11) of the Convention on Biological Diversity in 2012, to coincide with 20 years of Rio

IFA(1927)
Indian Forest act(1927) recognizes three types of

forests: A protected forest is a specific term to denote forests with some amount of legal, protection In reserved forests, rights to activities like hunting and grazing are sometimes given to communities living in them. Village forests or panchayat forests, reflect the fact that the administration and resource utilization of the forest occurs at the village levels.

FCA(1980)
Forest Conversation act was passed in 1980

as a protection against deforestation. The approval of the central government is required for diversion of forest land above 1 hectare. The user has to pay a compensatory allowance for the same.

NFP(1988)
National Forest Policy 1988 emphasised

peoples needs thus involving them in the management of forests. Meeting the subsistent needs of the local communities and restoration of ecological balance is a major objective.est protection c 100000 forest protection communities were set up for the same.

NAPCC(2008)
National

Action Plan on Climate Change(2008) advocates bringing one-third of the geographic area of the country under forest cover. Serious afforestation measures were undertaken on these forests.

Some initiatives taken by the government

No to REDD+ !
REDD+ is bad for Forests!
1. REDD will benefit logging companies, forest destroyers and the drivers of deforestation:
In many countries, benefits from REDD+ projects

will flow to the government and the private project developers instead of to the communities who have managed the land for generations. This benefits the industries responsible for deforestation in the first place, including logging companies

2. REDD+ fails to stop forest destroyers and

the drivers of deforestation:

REDD+ does not regard industrial tree and agriculture plantation interests, loggers, fossil fuel companies, the paper industry, dam builders, etc. as a problem and has no provisions for challenging them. Such actors are likely to use REDD+ to obtain control over natural old growth forests and proceed to cut them down for industry. This includes mining, oil and gas interests, as well as companies promoting monocultures including tree plantation and export crops

3. REDD+ sets a precedent for using other environmental services as offsets:

Future

projects to commodify watersheds, wetlands or dunes could be fast-tracked if forest carbon commodification becomes profitable through REDD+. Biodiversity would almost certainly suffer as a result.

REDD+ is bad for the Climate!

1. REDD+ Science is flawed! :

Even on their own terms, the scientific methodologies being used to measure the hypothetical carbon saved by forest conservation are not up to the job. The carbon stored in forests (largely in soils) is part of a natural cycle between the atmosphere, the oceans and the biosphere whose dynamics are difficult to predict and quantify and differ from location to location.
In addition, there is the question of permanence: it is impossible to predict how long the trees will remain living (i.e. strong carbon) in one place.

2. REDD+ cannot address leakage :

There exists no science for predicting the carbon

emissions that occur when deforestation is stopped in one area but increases elsewhere as a result (known as leakage in the climate jargon).

REDD+ is bad for People!

1. REDD+ creates a structure for increased land

grabs:
It fuels land grabs. The REDD+ negotiating text

does not protect Indigenous Peoples rights. The safeguards are only annexed and are not mandatory, nor do they include the right to free, prior and informed consent, let alone implement United Nations Declaration on the Rights of Indigenous People.

2. It is also bad for people in industrialized societies:

People living close to polluting industries in the

North and South have to endure industrial pollution in their communities, causing long-term health problems such as asthma, birth defects, cancer and depression. REDD prolongs these impacts by making offsets available to these polluting companies, allowing them to avoid reducing their polluting emissions.

3. REDD+ uses public money to make climate change worse:

Both the World Bank and Northern governments

have set up funds to start up REDD+ projects with little or no public consultation and use public money to jump-start REDD+ for the carbon market.

THANK YOU