Dr. A. Ramachandran, IFS, Proposed policy reforms to remove the barriers to CDM A/R Projects – 14 th & 15 th Sep Dr. A. Ramachandran, IFS., Forest Utilization Officer, Tamil Nadu Forest Department, Chennai Carbon Management – A prime agenda of 21 st century in Indian Forestry

Dr. A. Ramachandran, IFS, Proposed policy reforms to remove the barriers to CDM A/R Projects – 14 th & 15 th Sep Carbon occupies a central position, whether it is a simple sugar, starch, amino acid, protein, lipids and complex alkaloids DNA

Dr. A. Ramachandran, IFS, Proposed policy reforms to remove the barriers to CDM A/R Projects – 14 th & 15 th Sep Significance of Carbon in Plants Greek philosopher Aristotle period – Plants being fed by soil Joseph Priestly (1772) – Plants take CO 2 and release O 2 Melvin Calvin (1954) - Calvin cycle or C3 cycle Hatch and Slack (1964) – Hatch -Slack cycle or the C4 cycle Late 20th Century – C sequestration by plants - well established Kyoto Protocol (1997) – C sequestration – Low cost emission reduction tool

Dr. A. Ramachandran, IFS, Proposed policy reforms to remove the barriers to CDM A/R Projects – 14 th & 15 th Sep Carbon sequestration

Dr. A. Ramachandran, IFS, Proposed policy reforms to remove the barriers to CDM A/R Projects – 14 th & 15 th Sep Kyoto Protocol (KP) – 1997 at Kyoto Japan KP proposes legally binding commitments for emission reduction to the developed countries to levels relative to their 1990 level. 1.Joint in implementation 2.Clean Development Mechanism (CDM) 3. Emission trading (carbon trading) 1.Joint in implementation 2.Clean Development Mechanism (CDM) 3. Emission trading (carbon trading) KP identifies three possible mechanisms

Dr. A. Ramachandran, IFS, Proposed policy reforms to remove the barriers to CDM A/R Projects – 14 th & 15 th Sep Clean Development Mechanism (CDM) Facilitate carbon sequestration and storage investments in Afforestation Reforestation Afforestation Reforestation The concept is that it does not matter where the emission reduction occur in the world for the global benefit Low cost emission reduction tool

Dr. A. Ramachandran, IFS, Proposed policy reforms to remove the barriers to CDM A/R Projects – 14 th & 15 th Sep – N – E A Pilot study

Dr. A. Ramachandran, IFS, Proposed policy reforms to remove the barriers to CDM A/R Projects – 14 th & 15 th Sep Sl. No. Forest cover types Area in hectares 1 Very dense Semi- Evergreen Dense Semi- Evergreen Open Semi- Evergreen Degraded Semi- Evergreen Very dense Deciduous Dense Deciduous Open Deciduous Secondary Deciduous Southern thorn Euphorbia scrub Barren rocky515.8 Total Area occupied by different forest cover types in Kolli hill

Dr. A. Ramachandran, IFS, Proposed policy reforms to remove the barriers to CDM A/R Projects – 14 th & 15 th Sep BIOMASS CARBON

Dr. A. Ramachandran, IFS, Proposed policy reforms to remove the barriers to CDM A/R Projects – 14 th & 15 th Sep x 20 m – Trees and lianas 5 x 5 m – Shrubs 1 x 1 m – Herbs 20 m 5 m 1 m 1m1m 5 m Dimension of Nested quadrate No. of quadrates studied Semi-evergreen – 50 Dry deciduous – 25 Secondary Dry deciduous – 25 Southern thorn– 25 Euphorbia scrub – 12 Total No. of Quadrates - 137

Dr. A. Ramachandran, IFS, Proposed policy reforms to remove the barriers to CDM A/R Projects – 14 th & 15 th Sep BIOMASS CARBON ESTIMATION - METHODS 1.Smalian’s Formula is used to estimate merchantable timber volume 2.Applied a regression equation that directly converts physical measurement (GBH and Height) to total tree timber biomass 3.Biomass expansion factor (BEF) is applied to calculate the Foliar, Root and Stump biomass 4.Wood density for individual species – calculated 5.Conversion factor of 49.1% is applied for calculating carbon content

Dr. A. Ramachandran, IFS, Proposed policy reforms to remove the barriers to CDM A/R Projects – 14 th & 15 th Sep Forest types Volume (m 3 /ha) Timber Bioma ss (Tons/ ha) Branch and Foliage (Tons/h a) Stumps and Root (Tons/ha ) Biomas s (Tons/h a) Area of each forest (ha) Total Biomas s (M Tons) TOC A/G (Tg) Semi- Evergreen forest Deciduous forest Sec. deciduous Southern thorn Euphorbia scrub Growing stock, biomass and biomass carbon in Kolli hill

Dr. A. Ramachandran, IFS, Proposed policy reforms to remove the barriers to CDM A/R Projects – 14 th & 15 th Sep SOIL ORGANIC CARBON SOC

Dr. A. Ramachandran, IFS, Proposed policy reforms to remove the barriers to CDM A/R Projects – 14 th & 15 th Sep SOC Soil aggregationWater holding capacity Liberates minerals Increases auxin content SOIL ORGANIC CARBON (SOC) Fulvic Fumic Provides Microbial inoculums to sub-soil Root prolifereatio n

Dr. A. Ramachandran, IFS, Proposed policy reforms to remove the barriers to CDM A/R Projects – 14 th & 15 th Sep ORGANIC CARBON SAMPLE GRID – KOLLI HILL Total No of pits-145 EG-42, Dec-29, S.dec-19, ST-44, SE-11

Dr. A. Ramachandran, IFS, Proposed policy reforms to remove the barriers to CDM A/R Projects – 14 th & 15 th Sep ORGANIC CARBON ESTIMATION – (Walky & Black) method

Dr. A. Ramachandran, IFS, Proposed policy reforms to remove the barriers to CDM A/R Projects – 14 th & 15 th Sep Soil organic carbon content (%) of different forest types of Kolli hill Forest typesArea (ha) Soil Organic Carbon content (%) Confidence Interval (%) (  =0.05) Surface (0 to 30 cm) Middle (30 to 60 cm) Bottom (60 to 90 cm) Surface (0 to 30 cm) Middle (30 to 60 cm) Bottom (60 to 90 cm) FromToFromToFromTo Very Dense Semi - Evergreen (2.73) 2.21 (1.64) 1.82 (1.68) Dense Semi - Evergreen (2.91) 1.62 (1.49) 1.39 (1.45) Medium Semi - Evergreen (0.76) 1.13 (0.36) 0.76 (0.45) Degraded Semi - Evergreen (1.04) 1.10 (0.50) 0.91 (0.33) Total Evergreen (2.21) 1.58 (1.24) 1.27 (1.23) Very Dense Deciduous (0.52) 1.31 (0.48) 0.98 (0.50) Dense Deciduous (0.73) 0.89 (0.41) 0.66 (0.32) Medium Deciduous (0.85) 0.66 (0.57) 0.42 (0.48) Total Deciduous (0.74) 0.93 (0.52) 0.67 (0.45) Secondary Deciduous (0.49) 0.60 (0.36) 0.39 (0.29) Southern Thorn (0.54) 0.55 (0.43) 0.44 (0.34) Euphorbia Scrub (0.67) 0.40 (0.38) 0.37 (0.24) Total Kolli Hills (1.38) 0.86 (0.78) 0.66 (0.71) Value within the parenthesis is standard deviation of respective layers

Dr. A. Ramachandran, IFS, Proposed policy reforms to remove the barriers to CDM A/R Projects – 14 th & 15 th Sep Percentage of organic carbon distribution in surface layer of Kolli hill < – – – – – – – – – 5.0 < 5.0 Barren rocky Tank Non-forest Hamlets River Road LEGEND

Dr. A. Ramachandran, IFS, Proposed policy reforms to remove the barriers to CDM A/R Projects – 14 th & 15 th Sep Soil organic carbon distribution in Kolli hill Minimum threshold – Surface carbon content = 1.2% Degradation – Surface to middle carbon ratio = 1.66 Gap between SOC and potential SOC = 0.16 Tg

Dr. A. Ramachandran, IFS, Proposed policy reforms to remove the barriers to CDM A/R Projects – 14 th & 15 th Sep Area below minimum threshold (SOC) Area less than minimum threshold = ha

Dr. A. Ramachandran, IFS, Proposed policy reforms to remove the barriers to CDM A/R Projects – 14 th & 15 th Sep Fertility status of different forest types in Kolli hill Fertility status of different forest types in Kolli hill Forest types Soil Carbon (t/ha) Available N (t/ha) Available P (t/ha) Available K (t/ha) Semi- Evergreen Deciduous Secondary deciduous Southern thorn Euphorbia scrub

Dr. A. Ramachandran, IFS, Proposed policy reforms to remove the barriers to CDM A/R Projects – 14 th & 15 th Sep Estimates of biomass and soil carbon in different forest types in Kolli hill Estimates of biomass and soil carbon in different forest types in Kolli hill Forest types Area (ha) TOC A/G (Tg) SOC stock (Tg) Semi- Evergreen Deciduous Secondary deciduous Southern thorn Euphorbia scrub Total

Dr. A. Ramachandran, IFS, Proposed policy reforms to remove the barriers to CDM A/R Projects – 14 th & 15 th Sep Present status of Carbon stock The total biomass carbon is 2.74 Tg and total SOC is 3.48 Tg. The ratio between biomass carbon and SOC is 1 : 1.3 The normal tropical forests have the ratio of 1: 2.5 to 3 times more SOC The lesser ratio in SOC stock indicates heavy degradation of forest and soil due to anthropogenic interferences such as Past management practices Heavy grazing Man made fire The lesser ratio in SOC stock indicates heavy degradation of forest and soil due to anthropogenic interferences such as Past management practices Heavy grazing Man made fire

Dr. A. Ramachandran, IFS, Proposed policy reforms to remove the barriers to CDM A/R Projects – 14 th & 15 th Sep Remedial measures To enhance SOC status Import fertile soil Addition of organic manure to 1/4 th of the pit size Addition of biofertilizers to enhance N Planting N fixer tree species sequester 0.05 – 0.12 kg/m 2- y C than non-nitrogen fixers Planting C 4 plant species Indigenous deciduous species are preferable

Dr. A. Ramachandran, IFS, Proposed policy reforms to remove the barriers to CDM A/R Projects – 14 th & 15 th Sep Conclusion Carbon inventories and data bank at National level Temporal carbon stock – to enhance biodiversity and soil health An exclusive National Carbon Directorate (NCD) to monitor Urgent Need of a.Carbon sequestration potential in forest and agriculture b. Controlling carbon investments and credits, etc. a.Carbon sequestration potential in forest and agriculture b. Controlling carbon investments and credits, etc.

Dr. A. Ramachandran, IFS, Proposed policy reforms to remove the barriers to CDM A/R Projects – 14 th & 15 th Sep. 2006