Commissioned by JICA, we have undertaken an assessment of forest carbon stocks under the Tripura SCATFORM Project towards building the capacity of forest department staff and community holders. We will be conducting field exercises for forest department staff on mapping forest carbon stock. This will aid the forest department officials to plan and implement carbon stock individually in the future. Towards the end, a comprehensive report on carbon stock mapping with results on carbon analysis based on the forest types, canopy density classes, JFMC wise, and overall stock of forests will be shared.

IORA is currently engaged by the Assam Climate Change Management Society to update and review the current SAPCC and prepare a Vulnerability Action Plan for 6 Agro-Climatic Zones of Assam. We endeavor to review the ASAPCC document and align it with the SDGs, NDCs, missions and national, international commitments of India, keeping in view the state government’s priorities to boost up the climate resilience of Assam. A brief report on gaps and recommendations along with Table of Contents of the revised SAPPC will be shared by IORA. The revised SAPCC will also involve incorporation of inputs form Nodal Department, State Steering Committee and MoEFCC. A Vulnerability Assessment report will also be submitted, along with listing of available and best suited climate projection for Assam, selected indicators for the study, vulnerability indices for the 6 zones and drivers of vulnerability for adaptation planning.

IORA assessed the trends of floods and erosion in Majuli under this project. We also evaluated climate change impacts on these Hazards, ascertained escalated hazard risks on communities through FGDs (64 villages across 20 Gram Panchayats in Majuli); determined community adaptive capacities; and designed climate resilient adaptation actions with budgets and probable source of funding to ensure long term preparedness.

IORA conceptualized and designed a carbon neutrality roadmap for Majuli. Majuli aims to be India’s first Carbon neutral district. We identified 19 interventions in key sectors, such as energy, water, transportation, agriculture, waste management and carbon sequestration, and proposed a tentative budget (~1200 Cr over a period of 3 years), as well as mapped the sources for financing the suggested actions.

USAID initiated the Innovations in Ecosystem Management and Conservation (IEMaC) project under it’s InFORM (Innovations in Forest Resource Management) program. IORA led the deployment of IEMaC in collaboration with MART and Bioversity International. Implemented in two landscapes- Sirsi (Karnataka) and Mandla (Madhya Pradesh), IEMaC aimed at reducing pressure on forests through development of innovative gender sensitive tools for improved fuelwood management, community-centric NTFP value chains and community based forest-monitoring tools. They were trained on gendered value-chain development and assessment of its impact at household and enterprise level. We developed NTFP enterprises as an alternative livelihood strategy for the forest dependent communities. This involved developing sustainable NTFP harvesting techniques, community-based entrepreneurs, Farmer Producer Company (FPC), organic certification and value addition at processing hubs and market linkages leading to a 30% increased income for forest dependent communities. 50 women farmers were trained under the program. The program resulted in certification of 27 wild harvested produce, 20000 Ha of forest land & 400 farmers as organic under USDA-NOP, NPOP & EU 847/2007 organic standards. The project led to the development of iFoReST (India’s Forest Resource Decision Support Tool), an innovative decision support system (DSS) that scientifically guides investments aimed at addressing unsustainable extraction of fuelwood from forests. The iFoReST was deployed in both the landscapes with the Karnataka Forest Department and Madhya Pradesh Forest Department, respectively. Several clean technology installations targeting domestic, commercial and institutional users of fuelwood were carried out by clean technology entrepreneurs trained under the project. The project resulted in 1,000 tonnes of reduced CO2 emissions, through increased community plantations, installation of fuel-efficient water heaters, dryers, cookstoves and jaggery processing units along with household biogas plants.

IORA collaborated with TERI, to develop a community-based forest conservation REDD+ project with emphasis on livelihood benefits from sustainable land use practices in the PKR (Phenstunyu Khenyupj Rumesinyu) Reserve in Nagaland. The project aimed to improve rural livelihood through sustainable management of forests, forest conservation, enhancement of forest carbon stock and production of long-term verifiable voluntary emission reductions by carbon sequestration. The interventions have resulted in reduced pressure on natural resources in the community forest land. IORA also studied potential markets for carbon and other ecosystems services to benefit Nagaland’s communities.