Source: India State of Forest Report 2017
Total Area available for restoration: 0.66 MHa
Kerala has the potential to sequester between 13.03 to 16.90 million tons (MT) of additional above-ground carbon through the improvement of tree cover. The chart and map represents potential for increase in above-ground carbon sequestration where maximum tree cover in cultivated areas is capped at 20%.
The study on past and on-going initiatives found that Kerala has 4 projects that involve at least five types of interventions.
These interventions cover 11,000 hectares and have been implemented by government agencies, the private sector as well civil society organisations.
Between 2011-16, INR 544,843.5 crore was allocated to Kerala under different programs and schemes, for improvements in forest and tree cover.
In 2018, Kerala’s share of the Compensatory Afforestation Fund, which was created to compensate the ecosystems services lost as a result of forest land diversion, was INR 112.91 crore.
No data available for the number of districts in Kerala partially covered under the Panchayat (Extension to Scheduled Areas) Act of 1996. Joint Forest Management Committees covering 78,501 households are present in 18% of the state. The potential for recognition of Community Forest Resources Rights (CFRs) under the Scheduled Tribes and Other Traditional Forest Dwellers (Recognition of Forest Rights) Act, 2006 is 0.90 Mha.
There are four major risks that can adversely impact improvements in forest and tree cover in Kerala:
Disclaimer: Maps in the page are not to scale