Avoided Deforestation through Carbon trading in Buffer Zones of Protected Areas in Northern Lao PDR Pilot Activities and Research in the Lao-German Program Rural Development in Mountainous Areas (RDMA)

MSc Research Projects Fabian Noeske University of Applied Sciences, (Forestry) Rottenburg, Germany Evaluation of secondary forest succession biomass following shifting cultivation Barbara Dannemann, University of Hohenheim, Stuttgart, Germany (Supervisor: Prof. J.Müller) Assessment of secondary succession bamboo biomass after shifting cultivation

Major Threads for Protected Areas Shifting cultivation and forest fires in the bufferzones Unplanned and illegal extension of rubber cultivation ( up to ha expected during the next decade) Illegal logging Hunting and non sustainable extraction of NTFP‘s

Shifting cultivation landscape

Clearing by fire for rubber cultivation

Bamboo dominated regeneration

Major constraints for development Remoteness, limited road infrastructure Limited market access Average cash income levels between $ US per family per year Limited access to health and education facilities Weak extension services

Quelle: Schellnhuber, 2007

Potential of Carbon trading in the context of rural development High ratio (5-15 ha) of forest area per capita Carbon fixation potential 20 to 60 tons per person or tons per family /year Potential income levels through carbon trading regimes $ US per year and per family

Issues of Carbon Trading Mechanism Government‘s willingness to accept rural population as an actor in the forest protection and carbon trading mechanism Percentage share of carbon credits on national and provincial level Transaction costs (monitoring) Absorption capacity for carbon payments on village level (productive investments, micro finance, baseline payments per person, social security fund)

Elements of a Biodiversity Protection/Carbon Trading RDMA Component Support dialogue on C-trading on national forest policy level Definition of bufferzones in District Development Plans Village land use plans and land /forest allocation Forest protection and sustainable utilization Fire protection strategies on village level Development of a Carbon monitoring system Strengthening micro-finance components Productive investments in alternative land development (irrigation, livestock, timber, NTFPs) Industrial level utilization of bamboo resources

Forest Carbon Sample Plot (15 years)

Forest Carbon Sample Plot Results of first plot measurements Secondary forest at age 15 years Number of Stems : 5497 /ha Total volume of live trees: 84.5 m³/ha Total volume dead trees: 78.5 m³/ha Total volume (solid) live bamboo: 80.5m³/ha Present annual carbon stored in live tree biomass: 1.7 t /ha/year Potential carbon storage (?) 5.0 t/ha/year

Diameters and Biomass of 15 Year Forest Plot (0.15 ha)

Bamboo Sample Plot Results of plot measurements in 15 year secondary bamboo succession Number of bamboo clumps: 1332 /ha Total biomass of live bamboo: 76 t/ha Dead biomass: 140 t/ha

Micro finance RDMA operates some 150 village levels banks in target provinces Capital on average $US per bank Development of District and Province level second tier organizations Linkages to private sector micro finance institutions Successfull implementation of project activities on loan basis ( livestock, agricultural processing)

Bamboo management Bamboo biomass dominates succesional processes where multiple shifting cultivation cycles have taken place or cycles have become shorter then 5 years Bamboo prevents establishment of tree succession Bambbo creates an unmanageable fire danger ( fuel loads up to 200 t/ha) due to flowering/dyback in years cycles

BambooTransport in Relation to Skidding System & Distances

Rafting of Bamboo Construction time for a 3 ton bamboo raft is estimated at 3 man- days. Transport distances of about 50 km will result in costs of about 6.5 $ US per ton.