Selling carbon credits from afforestation – But you can sell something only when you have it !

Carbon Credits can be obtained for growing of trees as trees absorb a lot of CO2. A single tree can absorb about 30 kg of CO2 every year.

Farmers who own degraded lands do not have the means to plant and upkeep trees as:

1. There is no revenue from trees – unless there is a paper factory or wood-based industry nearby – which are usually set up near forests!!
2. Cost of making degraded land productive is prohibitive
3. Risks of failure is high. Entire investment can be lost and hence project is a No-go.
4. Revival of such lands requires time – a lot of time – which they cant afford as they have to make a living

Why has this happened

Farming in large parts of India has become unviable and these farms are being left vacant. These lands were cleared many decades back for agriculture which was either rain-fed or irrigated. With changing climate rain fed agriculture is no longer possible due to the changes in rainfall patterns which at times can be extreme.

Due to the widespread clearing of forests for agriculture and tree cover lost for prolonged period the eco-system for trees to survive is no longer there. The natural methods of water storage and conservation have been lost.

The farmers who own these lands are quite impoverished as they have been living on subsistence farming with no surplus accumulated.

Restoring the eco-system

Such land can be reclaimed by (and for) growing carbon sequestering trees. Reclamation is a complex process and requires suitable methodologies which are implemented over a period of time for these projects to be successful and meet the desired objectives.

But how…

While the Govt intends to reclaim these lands. There are many challenges in implementation of these schemes. Even if they are started they could end up not actually reclaiming anything.

On of the solutions is to obtain finance through selling of carbon credits from the trees grown. But you can sell something only when you have it – but in this case you want to sell something (CO2 reduction by trees) which will happen over time.

So how will the gap be bridged?  This is where organisations like Naavi come in: Provide credibility to the whole process. We intend to use carbon finance to meet the expenses of restoration of degraded land.