Client:- Department of Environment, Forests and Climate Change, Government of Mizoram

Department of Environment, Forests and Climate Change, Government of Mizoram commissioned a vulnerability assessment of the forestry sector in the state. The overall goal of the project is to safeguard the forest and biodiversity sectors of Mizoram from the impacts of climate change. Carried out across eight districts of Mizoram, the vulnerability assessment identified and prioritised the most vulnerable zones in the state using an indicator-based approach. It also assessed the future vulnerability impacts across the districts. A combination of top down and bottom up approaches using IPCC and UNDP guidelines were used to develop a sector specific climate change resilience action plan for Mizoram. The findings were validated with stakeholders and officials from line departments and detailed interventions for vulnerability reduction were proposed. The interventions were designed such that they can be easily taken up in Mizoram’s forest and developmental plans, helping policy makers in prioritising climate smart adaptation actions.

Client:- Global Green Growth Institute (GGGI)

The Global Green Growth Institute (GGGI) engaged IORA to estimate GHG emissions in Small Tea Growers (STG) tea gardens. We supported in carrying out a Carbon Footprint Analysis of tea value chain in Small tea growers (STG) of Assam and West Bengal, and identified the relevant mitigation strategies for a low-carbon tea production system. Package of Practices (PoP) amongst small tea growers providing an estimation of emissions from the tea production process, was also mapped. We identified relevant mitigation strategies for a low carbon tea-production system giving due considerations to socio-economic parameters including gender roles. Our work contributes to India’s Nationally Determined Contributions (NDCs) and highlights the need to develop financially viable, bankable, climate resilient & sustainable tea-cultivation business models.

Client:- UNIQUE Forestry and Land Use GmbH

The main objective of the project was to address vulnerability factors like biophysical and socio-economic factors, forestry & biodiversity conservation and food security. It improved sustainable forest management in Tripura and allowed beneficiaries (mainly people with rights over forest lands given under Recognition of Forests Rights, 2006 – commonly called patta land) to develop and introduce a climate resilient forest ecosystem management. Outcomes included: i)Restoration of the degraded ecological environment in the intervention area; ii) Protection of the catchment area of the rivers- points-of-origin; iii) Enhanced income generation opportunities for families from natural resources iv) Setting up of a decentralized, bottom-up planning process for communities to be directly linked with industry and thus, assured sustainable income from locally available natural resources would be established

Client:- Wildlife Research and Conservation Society

Dodamarg is an Ecologically Sensitive Area (ESA), part of the Western Ghats (a biodiversity hotspot) and a wildlife corridor. This study aimed to prioritize financial mechanisms for conservation activities in the area, like REDD+ feasibility to reduce the pressure generated from various drivers of deforestation. IORA generated a Land use/cover change matrix by analysing the Landsat satellite data from 2005 to 2015. The satellite datasets were classified using a hybrid approach. IORA used both leaf on and leaf off datasets to delineate the forest cover. Total area under study was 1350.21 square kilometres.