India Ecosystems Service Improvement Project

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The development objective of the Ecosystem Services Improvement Project for India is to improve forest quality, land management and non-timber forest produce (NTFP) benefits for forest dependent communities in selected landscapes in Madhya Pradesh and Chhattisgarh. The proposed Global Environment Facility (GEF) project will be implemented in close coordination with Green India Mission (GIM) on three components: (1) capacity building (training and technical assistance); (2) enhancement of forest carbon stocks through forest quality improvement approaches and improved livelihoods for forest dependent communities (interventions); and (3) reversal of land degradation on private land holdings and common property resource lands through development of models and capacity for scaling up of sustainable land management practices (interventions). Forest and private land holdings and Common Property Resources (CPR) lands for project support and intervention will be identified within a defined landscape planning approach to facilitate ecological connectivity between ecologically important habitats and biologically richareas. A fourth component will provide project management coordination. 1) The objective of the first component is to enhance the capacity and skills of the State Forest Departments, the Forest Development Agencies, and local communities for improving management of forest and land resources and ensuring the delivery of sustainable benefits to local communities that depend on these resources. 2) The objective of the second component is to improve the quality and productivity of the existing forests so as to ensure sustained flows of ecosystem services and carbon sequestration, and to ensure the sustainable harvesting and value addition of NTFP to provide economic benefits to forest dependent communities that promote conservation and improve ecological connectivity between critical biodiversity areas. 3) The main objectives of the third component are to prevent land degradation and desertification and to increase above‐ground forest carbon stock through a combination of activities to implement and scaleup tried‐and‐tested Sustainable Land and Ecosystem Management (SLEM) best practices, to increase national capacity for monitoring land degradation and to track associated indicators and generate knowledge exchange on SLEM approaches. 4) A modest Project Management Unit (PMU) will be established as a fourth component tocoordinate and monitor project implementation and progress towards the envisaged development objective