The Ministry of Environment, Forest and Climate Change has launched a programme called Forest-Plus 2.0: forests for water and prosperity in association with the US Agency for International Development (USAID).

Under the joint programme, USAID will provide technical assistance to MoEFCC to improve management of forested landscapes in Bihar, Kerala and Telangana.

The programme will focus on developing tools and techniques to strengthen ecosystem-based management and the inclusion of ecosystem services in forest landscape management, and to enhance the inclusive economic opportunities that emerge from improved landscape management.

Background

The Partnership for Land Use Science (Forest-Plus) is a joint programme by the USAID and MoEFCC to strengthen capacity for REDD (Reducing Emissions from Deforestation and Forest Degradation) implementation in India.

The programme brings together experts from India and the US to develop technologies, tools and methods of forest management to meet the technical challenges of managing forests for the health of ecosystem, carbon stocks, biodiversity and livelihood.

Forest-Plus 2.0 was launched in December 2018, and it will improve the management of targeted forest landscapes in three states to enhance ecosystem services and increase economic opportunities, building on the success of Forest-Plus 1.0 (2012-17).

It comprises pilot project in three landscapes - Gaya in Bihar, Thiruvananthapuram in Kerala and Medak in Telangana.

What is the purpose of USAID?

USAID leads the US government’s international development and disaster assistance through partnerships and investments that save lives, reduce poverty, strengthen democratic governance, help people emerge from humanitarian crises and progress beyond assistance. President John F. Kennedy recognised the need to unite development into a single agency responsible for administering aid to foreign countries to promote social and economic development. On November 3, 1961, USAID was born and with it a spirit of progress and innovation.

Focus points of Forest-Plus 2.0

Developing tools for managing forests for multiple services: Forest-Plus 2.0 will help respond to increasing recognition of the need to manage forested watersheds to enhance water flow and quality, and improve the livelihood opportunities and resilience of forest-dependent communities. The project will develop forestry management tools to enhance the flow of ecosystem services (water, in particular) and also develop model forest management plans based on an established ecosystem approach.

Market-based instruments for leveraging finance: The programme will develop tools to better monitor and value ecosystem services, and will also demonstrate market-based mechanisms for efficient delivery of these services. For example, a municipality or industry would make payments to upstream forest communities for using water flowing down from the forests because of improved forest management.

Unlocking economic opportunities with conservation: USAID will focus on modelling and setting up conservation enterprises to provide viable economic opportunities to forest-dependent people (rather than subsistence-scale livelihoods) and will leverage considerable investment by the private sector.

How will the programme benefit India?

Siddhanta Das, director-general of forests & special secretary, MoEFCC, outlined the paradigm shift for management of forests from past for timber production to (a) conservation, (b) carbon sequestration and (c) livelihood of forest dependent communities.

He stressed on the role of forest for water security, soil moisture conservation and catchment area treatment. Highlighting the importance of ecosystem services and the role that trees outside forests, he flagged India’s commitment for achieving Nationally Determined Contributions (NDCs) targets and Land Degradation Neutrality (LDN) targets.

He said that making rivers perennial and rejuvenating of springs can be best indicator to monitor the progress in the long run. Accordingly, there is a great need to incorporate such things in Working Plan Code for management of forests for water security. Automation of working plan will ease the works and bring a new dimension to field functionaries of forest department.

Das also remarked on the importance of this programme to the ministry and how the models being piloted in the landscapes of Bihar, Kerala and Telangana will contribute to a paradigm shift in India’s forest management.