Will it be an economically viable option to implement REDD+ in Andhra Pradesh?: assessing the economic costs and benefits associated with conserving forests
Student name: Ms Sakshi Gupta
Guide: Dr Kavita Sardana
Year of completion: 2013
Host Organisation: TERI University
Abstract: In this paper, I seek to find the economic viability of implementing REDD+, a voluntary market
mechanism which involves incentivizing developing countries to stop deforestation and forest
degradation in exchange of payment by the developed countries, who wish to achieve their
greenhouse gas concentration targets. Andhra Pradesh, the state with the highest deforestation
rate in the country has been chosen for the study. The net revenues to the farmers from
undertaking the REDD+ program and from the next best uses of forest land i.e. using the land
for Rice plantation and Timber have been calculated. It was found that REDD+ comes out to be
the most profitable option for the farmers of Andhra Pradesh, followed by Timber. The effect of
uncertainty was also taken into account by doing a sensitivity analysis of the results. The fact
that REDD+ still came out to be highly profitable ensures that the model is efficient and robust
even in case of uncertainty.
