Research article - Peer-reviewed, 2021
Limited effects of tree planting on forest canopy cover and rural livelihoods in Northern India
Coleman, Eric A.; Schultz, Bill; Ramprasad, Vijay; Fischer, Harry; Rana, Pushpendra; Filippi, Anthony M.; Guneralp, Burak; Ma, Andong; Rodriguez Solorzano, Claudia; Guleria, Vijay; Rana, Rajesh; Fleischman, ForrestAbstract
Many countries have adopted large-scale tree planting programmes as a climate mitigation strategy and to support local livelihoods. We evaluate a series of large-scale tree planting programmes using data collected from historical Landsat imagery in the state of Himachal Pradesh in Northern India. Using this panel dataset, we use an event study design to estimate the socioeconomic and biophysical impacts over decades of these programmes. We find that tree plantings have not, on average, increased the proportion of forest canopy cover and have modestly shifted forest composition away from the broadleaf varieties valued by local people. Further cross-sectional analysis, from a household livelihood survey, shows that tree planting supports little direct use by local people. We conclude that decades of expensive tree planting programmes in this region have not proved effective. This result suggests that large-scale tree planting may sometimes fail to achieve its climate mitigation and livelihood goals.Large-scale tree planting programmes have been implemented or planned for areas around the world suffering from deforestation, but this study presents evidence that such efforts may not necessarily deliver the desired environmental and economic outcomes.Published in
Nature sustainability2021, volume: 4, number: 11, pages: 997-1004
Authors' information
Coleman, Eric A.
State University System of Florida
Schultz, Bill
University of Chicago
Ramprasad, Vijay
Centre for Ecology, Development and Research (CEDAR)
Fischer, Harry (Fischer, Harry)
Swedish University of Agricultural Sciences, Department of Urban and Rural Development
Rana, Pushpendra
Himachal Pradesh Forest Dept
Filippi , Anthony M.
Texas A&M University
Güneralp, Burak
Texas A&M University
Ma, Andong
Texas A&M University
Solorzano, Claudia Rodriguez
University of Minnesota Twin Cities
Guleria, Vijay
Kangra Integrated Sciences and Adaptation Network (KISAN)
Rana, Rajesh
Kangra Integrated Sciences and Adaptation Network (KISAN)
Fleischman, Forrest
University of Minnesota Twin Cities
Sustainable Development Goals
SDG15 Life on land
UKÄ Subject classification
Forest Science
Publication Identifiers
DOI: https://doi.org/10.1038/s41893-021-00761-z
URI (permanent link to this page)
https://res.slu.se/id/publ/113552