Competing Demands on Land: Implications for Carbon Sink Enhancement and Potential of Forest Sector in Karnataka to Contribute to the INDC Forest Goal of India

The land is a critical resource that provides food for a burgeoning population of about 7 billion supports livelihoods and is important for sustainable development Growing demands for food feed fuel fiber and raw materials create local as well as remote pressures for land-use change Lambin and Meyfroidt 2011 The cascade of outcomes resulting from these demands is complicated by urbanization and globalization Barles 2010 Kissinger and Rees 2010 Climate change is an additional stress that will exacerbate the pressure on land as there is a conflict between goals related to production and those related to conservation and climate change mitigation In light of this the Sustainable Development Goals of the United Nations UNDP 2015 have recognized the need for integration of human development and the environment as mutually reinforcing development goal

Accelerating circular economy solutions to achieve the 2030 agenda for sustainable development goals

Circular economy seems a vital enabler for sustainable use of natural resources which is also important for achieving the 2030 agenda for sustainable development goals. Therefore, a special session addressing issues of "sustainable solutions and remarkable practices in circular economy focusing materials downstream" was held at the 16th International Conference on Waste Management and Technology, where researchers and attendees worldwide were convened to share their experiences and visions. Presentations focusing on many key points such as new strategies, innovative technologies, management methods, and practical cases were discussed during the session. Accordingly, this article compiled all these distinctive presentations and gave insights into the pathway of circular economy towards the sustainable development goals. We summarized that the transition to circular economy can keep the value of resources and products at a high level and minimize waste production; the focus of governmental policies and plans with the involvement of public-private-partnership on 3Rs (reduce, reuse, and recycle) helps to improve the use of natural resources and take a step ahead to approach or achieve the sustainability

Mitigation co-benefits of carbon sequestration from MGNREGS in India.

Mahatma Gandhi Rural Employment Guarantee Scheme a large social security programme being implemented in India, with an average annual investment of US$ 7 billion. The bulk of the activities under this programme are focused on natural resources such as land, water and trees, which provide adaptation benefits. In this study an attempt is made to estimate the carbon sequestration achieved and future potential, as a co-benefit, from MGNREGS. The total mean carbon sequestered at the national level, considering the cumulative number of natural resource based activities, for the year 2017-18 was estimated to be 102 MtCO2. The annual mean carbon sequestration is projected to increase to about 132 MtCO2 by 2020 and 249 MtCO2 by 2030. Drought proofing is one of the activities implemented under MGNREGS and it includes tree planting, relevant to achieving the NDC carbon sink target. The cumulative carbon sink created by drought proofing activities is projected to be 56 MtCO2 in 2020, 281 MtCO2 in 2025 and 561 MtCO2 in 2030. This study demonstrates the significant carbon sink potential of MGNREGS and highlights the importance of estimation and reporting climate mitigation co-benefits of adaptation actions such as MGNREGS under the Paris Agreement

International Review for Environmental Strategies Sustainable Community Forest Management Systems: A Study on Community Forest Management and Joint Forest Management Institutions from India

Our study covered 25 villages in India, comparing the functioning of forest protection groups founded under state initiatives, including institutions under the Joint Forest Management program and community forest management systems formed by communities on a voluntary basis. The study revealed that the length of time for which the forest has been protected has a lot of influence over biodiversity and regeneration of species. Further, voluntary forest protection groups have strong rules, complaints mechanisms, and respect for the rules. Therefore, despite higher population pressures per unit of forest land, voluntary forest protection groups have demonstrated stringency in resource use and sustainable harvesting mechanisms. This paper examines the impacts of different forms of forest management on protection mechanisms and forest regeneration. It also discusses the implications of the findings for policymaking

A comparative analysis of regeneration in natural forests and joint forest management plantations in Uttara Kannada district, Western Ghats

Five villages undertaking joint forest management (JFM) were chosen in Uttara Kannada district, Karnataka for assessing regeneration in plantations and nearby natural forests of the village. Species number, stem density, diversity index, similarity in species composition in less disturbed and disturbed forests and plantations in the village were compared. Stem density was low in all the disturbed forests; however, the species number was low in disturbed forests of three villages and high in two villages. Plantations showed lower diversity values compared to the adjacent natural forests. Regeneration in all less disturbed forests was better compared to the disturbed counterparts. Villages were ranked based on number of landless families, per, capita forest available and number of cut stems. Assessment of village forests using ranks indicates that parameters such as per capita availability, cut stems in the forests may determine the success of JFM

Multi-scale vulnerability assessment for adaptation planning

Vulnerability of communities and natural ecosystems, to potential impacts of climate change in developing countries like India, and the need for adaptation are rapidly emerging as central issues in the debate around policy responses to climate change. The present study presents an approach to identify and prioritize the most vulnerable districts, villages and households in Karnataka State, through a multi-scale assessment of inherent vulnerability to current climate variability. It also identifies the drivers of inherent vulnerability, thereby providing a tool for developing and mainstreaming adaptation strategies, in ongoing developmental or dedicated adaptation programmes. The multi-scale assessment was made for all 30 districts at the state level in Karnataka, about 1220 villages in Chikballapur district, and at the household level for two villages - Gundlapalli and Saddapalli - in Bagepalli taluk of Chikballapur district. At the district, village and household levels, low levels of education and skills are the dominant factors contributing to vulnerability. At the village and household level, the lack of income diversification and livelihood support institutions are key drivers of vulnerability. The approach of multi-scale vulnerability assessment facilitates identification and prioritization of the drivers of vulnerability at different scales, to focus adaptation interventions to address these drivers