Identifying the stakeholders and exploring the carbon sequestration potential of an afforestation project
Student name: Ms Aishwarya K.S.
Guide: Dr Suresh Jain
Year of completion: 2014
Host Organisation: Centre for Environmental Research and Education
Supervisor (Host Organisation): Ms Janjri Jasani and Ms Meghna Laghate Daver
Abstract: The significance of trees in maintaining the balance in the ecosystem is well known. They provide
a myriad of services ranging from providing food and oxygen to acting as carbon sinks. In spite
of initiatives to reduce carbon dioxide and other GHG emissions, CO2 levels in Earth’s
atmosphere has exceeded the acceptable concentration of 350 ppm. As global warming and
climate change is directly related to the CO2 concentration, it is an issue which requires
immediate attention. Nations have realised the importance of forests as major carbon sinks and
have devised policies to maintain and increase the existing forest cover. Though government
schemes in India such as the Green India Mission with the sole aim of increasing the nations’
forest cover is in place, the past decade has seen a decline in the same. A new model is required
which would involve stakeholders apart from the government in an afforestation programme. To
measure the amount of carbon sequestered from afforestation programmes, the rate of carbon
sequestered by the tree species should be known. The studies already conducted in this field only
measure the carbon stored in standing biomass. This study suggests a model of afforestation in
rural and urban areas and also aims to provide values of rate of carbon sequestered for some
native species of trees.
Key words: Afforestation, agroforestry, stakeholders, carbon sequestration, native trees.
