Climate Smart Management of Grassland Ecosystems

active

Prospective

The objective of the Climate Smart Management of Grassland Ecosystems for China is to pilot climate smart grassland management practices in Qilian County of Qinghai Province. The project has four components. (1) Grassland Management Pilots component will first support selected herders in Mole/Qilian to adopt a suite of climate-smart grassland management practices. Interventions to restore productivity of natural grasslands include (a) no-till grass seeding/fertilization for 530 ha of degraded natural grasslands to restore grassland productivity, (b) no-grazing in spring for about 50 days on 3,200 ha of winter/spring pasture to allow initial grass growth, and (c) enhancement of cultivated grasslands of 167 ha. (2) Policy and Strategy Development component will first support MARA to distill lessons learned from Component 1 activities into policy recommendations that may influence future grassland conservation policies and programs at the county, provincial, and national levels. This component will support a study on the valuation of ecosystem services provided by grasslands under the project. This study is deemed necessary because it will help monetize such ecosystem services and thus help stakeholders understand better benefits from grassland conservation. Its results will also help refine the payment levels to be considered in future grassland PES schemes. The component will also examine actions needed to include carbon credits generated from improved grassland management practices into China’s national carbon trading system. Currently, the national carbon trading system is in the process of including forest carbon to provide carbon market incentives for forest conservation. (3) Knowledge Management component will support first the creation of a project website and information dissemination through this web platform. It will also support MOARA to develop a knowledge management and capacity building strategy through broad consultations. (4) Project Management component will support MARA to properly manage project implementation in closely collaboration with Qinghai Department of Agriculture and Rural Development (QDARA), Qilian Agriculture, Water Resources, Science and Technology Bureau (AWRSTB), and the Mole Township Government.

FY17 - Agriculture, Fishing and Forestry

World Bank

Project

Water Supply and Storage, Raw Materials, Forest Products and Packaging, Commercial, Government