How forest producers and rural farmers can benefit from the Clean Development Mechanism

摘要

This paper outlines how the Clean Development Mechanism in the context of Land Use, Land-Use Change and Forestry (LULUCF) of the Kyoto Protocol (UNFCCC) benefits forest producers and rural communities in enhancing their livelihoods. It examines the potential of afforestation and reforestation activities to mitigate climate change. Forests play important roles both positively as "sinks" for carbon and negatively as a "source" of carbon. The emergence of new opportunities for developing, and attracting foreign investment into carbon mitigation projects is of importance to developing countries, particularly in the Asia-Pacific region. When the Kyoto Protocol becomes fully operational, it is anticipated that the "carbon credits" will be bought and sold in a new environmental carbon trading market with the global potential of LULUCF activities estimated at 50 MtC annually at $10 per tonne of carbon. The paper illustrates some pilot projects undertaken in various parts of the world so that the developing countries in the Asia-Pacific region can learn from experiences elsewhere. An account is given of various steps involved in the development of a CDM project and the strategy for operationalizing CDM in forestry sector. The paper also underlines the limitations and identifies the issues to be addressed, and recommends a holistic approach to integrate carbon sequestration objectives with improving livelihoods to achieve the ultimate goal of sustainable development coupled with poverty eradication.