Comprehensive Overview of REDD+ in India: Status, Opportunities and Challenges

Climate change is a worldwide issue with detrimental effects on ecosystems and human well-being. Reducing Emissions from Deforestation and Forest Degradation (REDD) is a worldwide policy tool for combating climate change by reducing emissions from the forestry sector and has received widespread attention. Since the program's inception, India has been a strong advocate for REDD+ and its activities. The goal of this research is to evaluate India's current REDD+ readiness. India is the fourth largest CO2 emitter in the world, accounting for 7% of global CO2 emissions. India's emission trajectory shows the country's ever-increasing CO2 emission trend, with an annual average increase rate of 5-6 percent. India has a large geographical area and forest cover, and it holds 7,124.6 million tons of carbon stock. Forests are traditionally managed through a participatory approach, which is similar to REDD+ activities. India has made significant progress toward REDD+ implementation by developing a national REDD+ strategy, enacting consistent laws and regulations, and demonstrating accountability and monitoring of national forest carbon. However, several issues, including forest dependency, community rights, capacity building, policies, and finance, should be carefully addressed to overcome hurdles in REDD+ implementation.

Why Do Households Depend on the Forest for Income? Analysis of Factors Influencing Households’ Decision-Making Behaviors

Using survey information of 150 randomly selected households across 21 villages of the forest-rich district of Swat, Pakistan, this study assessed households’ decision-making behaviors in depending on income from nearby forested land using socio-economic attributes. The evidence from the study may aid in making the existing policies be better targeted toward families that depend on the forest for income. Descriptive statistics and econometric techniques such as logit and tobit were used to analyze the data. Respondent households obtained the highest share of their income from off-farm activities (37%) and least from forest activities (16%). Fuelwood constitutes the biggest share (66%) of forest income, followed by medical plants (20%) and fodder (13%). We found that households with more physical assets, more family members working in off-farm jobs, and households earning more income from off-farm jobs were significantly and negatively associated with households’ decision to depend on forest income and total income obtained. We also found that households with less distance to the market and membership to joint forest management committees (JFMCs) were significantly and negatively associated with households’ total income obtained. However, household size was significantly and positively related to households’ decision of forest dependency. The study recommends the creation of off-farm opportunities and inclusion of local people in the management of forests through establishment of JFMCs, particularly for large and poor families.

Biological Correlates of Extinction Risk in Resident Philippine Avifauna

The majority of the world’s biodiversity occurs in the tropics, but human actions in these regions have precipitated an extinction crisis due to habitat degradation, overexploitation, and climate change. Understanding which ecological, biogeographical, and life-history traits predict extinction risk is critical for conserving species. The Philippines is a hotspot of biodiversity and endemism, but it is a region that also suffers from an extremely high level of deforestation, habitat degradation, and wildlife exploitation. We investigated the biological correlates of extinction risk based on the IUCN Red List threat status among resident Philippine birds using a broad range of ecological, biogeographical, and life history traits previously identified as correlates of extinction risk in birds. We found strong support across competing models for endemism, narrower elevational ranges, high forest dependency, and larger body size as correlates significantly associated with extinction risk. Additionally, we compared observed threat status with threat status fitted by our model, finding fourteen species that are not currently recognized by the IUCN Red List as threatened that may be more threatened than currently believed and therefore warrant heightened conservation focus, and predicted threat statuses for the four Philippine Data Deficient bird species. We also assessed species described in recent taxonomic splits that are recognized by BirdLife International, finding 12 species that have a fitted threat status more severe than their IUCN-designated ones. Our findings provide a framework for avian conservation efforts to identify birds with specific biological correlates that increase a species’ vulnerability to extinction both in the Philippine Archipelago and elsewhere on other tropical islands.

ĐÁNH GIÁ HIỆN TRẠNG VÀ BIẾN ĐỘNG TRONG SĂN BẮT TRÁI PHÉP ĐỘNG VẬT HOANG DÃ TẠI KHU BẢO TỒN SAO LA THỪA THIÊN HUẾ

Mặc dù đã có rất nhiều hỗ trợ từ nhà nước và chính quyền địa phương để giảm bớt mức độ phụ thuộc vào tài nguyên rừng. Nhưng thực trạng về săn bắt động vật hoang dã làm thức ăn và bán lấy tiền để tăng thu nhập vẫn khá phổ biến ở các cộng đồng ở vùng sâu vùng xa của tỉnh Thừa Thiên Huế. Nghiên cứu này nhằm đánh giá hiện trạng và biến động trong săn bắt động vật hoang dã tại Khu Bảo tồn Sao la Thừa Thiên Huế. Nghiên cứu sử dụng kết hợp hoạt động phỏng vấn hộ gia đình, thảo luận nhóm, phỏng vấn chuyên gia, kế thừa kết quả điều tra giám sát đa dạng sinh học, dữ liệu từ hệ thống bẫy ảnh… để đánh giá đánh giá mức độ phụ thuộc vào tài nguyên rừng, sự thay đổi trong hoạt động săn bắt động vật hoang dã, mối tương quan giữa các khu vực giàu tài nguyên động vật hoang dã và hệ thống bẫy bắt động vật hoang dã của người dân địa phương các xã vùng đệm của Khu Bảo tồn Sao la Thừa Thiên Huế, ở 2 huyện Nam Đông và A Lưới, tỉnh Thừa Thiên Huế. Nghiên cứu chỉ ra mức độ phụ thuộc giảm dần đối với tài nguyên rừng của người dân địa phương, các khu vực họ thường đặt bẫy để săn bắt động vật hoang dã và sự thay đổi theo thời gian của tiến trình này. Nghiên cứu cũng chỉ ra được các khu vực cần ưu tiên trong hoạt động bảo vệ, quản lý tài nguyên động vật hoang dã, các vấn đề cần lưu tâm trong việc tuyên truyền, giáo dục nâng cao nhận thức cho cộng đồng cũng như sự cần thiết phải có các mô hình phát triển sinh kế cho người dân địa phương nhằm giảm mức độ phụ thuộc vào tài nguyên rừng và khai thác động vật hoang dã. ABSTRACT Although there have been a lot of supports from the government and local authorities to reduce the dependency on forest resources, the fact of hunting wildlife for food and selling is still common in the remote and mountainous areas of Thua Thien Hue province. This study aimed to assess the current situation and fluctuations in hunting wildlife in Thua Thien Hue Sao la Nature Reserve. The study used household interviews, key informant interviews, group discussions, expert interviews, inheriting the results of biodiversity monitoring surveys, wildlife data from camera trap systems …, to assess changes in their hunting activities, and correlation between the area that is rich in wildlife and the system of wildlife trap of local people in the buffer zone of Thua Thien Hue Sao la Nature Reserve in Thua Thien Hue province. The result showed that forest dependency is reducing. There are certain areas that local people used to put the wildlife trap and changes in the process. The study also indicated the areas that need to be prioritized in the protection and management of wildlife resources. The measures such as raising the local people’s awareness and livelihood development models are recommended to reduce forest dependency and wildlife hunting.

Differential responses of amphibians and reptiles to land-use change in the biodiversity hotspot of north-eastern Madagascar

Large expanses of tropical rainforest have been converted into agricultural landscapes cultivated by smallholder farmers. This is also the case in north-eastern Madagascar; a region that retains a significant proportions of forest cover despite shifting hill rice cultivation and vanilla agroforestry. The region is also a global hotspot for herpetofauna diversity, but how this diversity is affected by land-use change remains largely unknown. Using a space-for-time study design to uncover land-use effects, we compared species diversity and community composition in seven prevalent land uses: unburned (old-growth forest, forest fragment, and forest-derived vanilla agroforest) and burned (fallow-derived vanilla agroforest, woody fallow, herbaceous fallow) land-use types, and rice paddy. We conducted six comprehensives, time-standardized searches across at least ten replicates of each land-use type and applied genetic barcoding to confirm species identification. We documented an outstanding diversity of endemic herpetofauna (119 species): amphibian species richness at the plot level was highest in old-growth forest and significantly lower in all other land-use types. Plot-level reptile species richness was significantly higher in the unburned land-use types than burned land-use types. For both amphibians and reptiles, the less-disturbed land-use types showed more uneven communities and particularly in old-growth forest, the species composition differed significantly from all other land-use types. Amphibians showed a higher level of forest dependency compared to reptiles (38% versus 28% of species exclusively occurred in old-growth forest). Our analyses thus revealed that the two groups respond differently to land-use change: we found less pronounced losses of reptile species richness especially in unburned agricultural habitats, suggesting that reptiles are less susceptible to land-use change than amphibians. Overall, old-growth forest harboured a unique diversity, but some species also thrived in agroforestry systems, especially if these were forest-derived. This highlights the importance of conserving old-growth forests and non-burned land-use types within the agricultural landscape.

Food security and livelihoods of post-resettlement households around Kanha National Park

Globally, conservation efforts have moved millions of people out of protected areas since the 1970s, yet quantitative studies on post-resettlement well-being remain a challenge due to poor documentation. Since 2008, the Indian forest department records demographic and financial details at the household level under standardized guidelines for resettlement. Here, we examine the food security of approximately 600 households’ post-resettlement from Kanha National Park (KNP) in central India between 2009 and 2014. We compare food security of resettled households with host community households with a total of 3519 household surveys, conducted over three seasons within one year. We measure food security using food consumption scores (FCSs), coping strategies index (CSI) and household hunger scale (HHS). Food insecurity is widespread in the landscape, with over 80% of households reporting poor or borderline FCSs year-round. Additionally, we recorded food insecurity increases in monsoon for all households regardless of resettlement status. Results indicate that resettled households are comparable to their host community neighbors in FCS and all households use mild coping strategies to combat food insecurity. While widespread, food insecurity in the KNP landscape is not acute with very few (<10) reports of severe hunger (as measured by the HHS). Almost all foods are market bought (>90%) and sometimes supplemented by gathering locally prevalent greens or from kitchen gardens (forest dependency for food was negligible). Accruing assets and diversifying incomes from non-labor avenues would alleviate food insecurity for all households. The patterns of market dependence and food security associated with diversified stable incomes around protected areas is in contrast with many studies but is likely to occur in similar human-dominated landscapes.

Impacts of Forest Resource Use Conflicts on Conservation Efforts within Enderit Forest Block in Mau Forest Complex, Kenya

This paper examined the relationship between forest resource use conflicts and conservation, which are contemporary issues in the field of environment conservation. The study was carried out in Enderit forest block, Mau forest Complex. The study findings indicate that the forest block has lost considerable vegetation cover in the recent past due to resource use conflict which in turn attracted conservation efforts from various stakeholders. The identified conflicts not only threaten the sustainability of these efforts but also community livelihoods that depend on this vital resource in the long term. The study therefore sought to establish the types of forest resource use conflicts, identify the stakeholders and their areas of focus and examine how the forest resource conflicts are affecting forest conservation efforts. Both quantitative and qualitative research methods were used. The results indicate that there exist various forms of conflicts within the forest block while various actors are involved in the forest conservation efforts. However, despite the concerted conservation efforts, there existing forest resource use conflicts that frustrate these efforts and slow the implementation of conservation programs. Based on the findings, the study recommends that for sustainable conservation of the forest block, the Government and the stakeholders should put in place policy measures aiming at increasing income and generating off-farm employment activities for the forest adjacent communities. This will reduce forest dependency and consequently enhance biodiversity conservation and sustainable use of the forest resources.

Differences in Forest Use Strategies for Cash Income between Households Living outside and inside Selectively Logged Production Forests in Myanmar

In many tropical regions, rural households often depend on forests for cash income, but there is still little knowledge on how forest use strategies differ among people living in different locations. This study aimed to detect differences in forest use strategies and forest cash income dependency between households living outside and inside selectively logged production forests, known as Reserved Forests (RFs), in Bago Township, Myanmar. A questionnaire survey was conducted with 146 and 48 households living outside and inside the RFs, respectively. The inside-households (encroachers) had a much higher forest cash income dependency (83%), with charcoal production as the main forest use activity, than the outside-households (32%), with bamboo cutting as the main activity. Higher forest dependency was found for outside-households that had less farmland, better accessibility to forest and more recognition of prohibited access to RFs in forest law. This study revealed evidence of substantial forest use for commercial purposes in RFs by households living both inside and outside the RFs, despite local recognition of the illegality of the use. Implementing community forestry practices for local communities may be a better option to reduce illegal dependence on selectively logged production forests.

Socioeconomic Factors of Forest Dependency in Developing Countries: Lessons Learned from the Bandarban Hill District of Bangladesh

Forests provide direct and indirect economic benefits to forest-dependent communities in the world, especially in the developing countries contributing to the national economy. The present study aims with the socioeconomic status and factors favoring forest conservation and influencing people’s dependency on forest resources in the Bandarban hill district of Bangladesh. The study was based on Focus Group Discussion (FGD) and socioeconomic survey through a semi-structured questionnaire. The study revealed that peoples’ income from the forest and forest-related occupations were positively related to their forest dependency. However, respondent’s education level significantly reduced their dependency on forest resources. Thus, educating the forest-dependent people and supporting alternative livelihoods may be an option for effective forest management and conservation. This study represents an important pioneer step in taking a holistic view of the peoples’ dependency on forest resources which might be helpful for policymakers in the future to ensure sustainable forest management and conservation in developing countries like Bangladesh.