Restoring Landscapes in India for Climate and Communities

The report identifies that 76% of Sidhi district's land area (over 363,000 hectares) has potential for landscape restoration through eight specific tree-based interventions. These include assisted natural regeneration, agri-horti-forestry (wadi), and trees on boundaries. Implementation could generate 3.75 million person-days of wage employment, resulting in INR 710 million in income, and sequester 7 million metric tons of carbon over 10–20 years. However, significant barriers exist, including insecure land tenure, poor market access, and a lack of technical knowledge. The authors recommend establishing 'accelerators' in policy, knowledge, technology, and business to coordinate stakeholders and scale restoration efforts.

• Over 363,000 hectares in Sidhi district, representing 76 percent of its total area, are suitable for landscape restoration.
• Eight specific tree-based interventions were identified as suitable for the district: assisted natural regeneration, mixed-species plantations, bamboo plantations, farmer-managed natural regeneration, riverbank plantation, trees on boundaries, agri-horti-forestry (wadi), and pastureland development.
• Restoring Sidhi's forests could increase forest carbon stock by 37 percent and sequester more than 7 million metric tons of carbon over a period of 10 to 20 years.
• Implementation of restoration could create 3.75 million person-days of wage employment over two years, generating INR 710 million (US$10 million) in wage income and an additional INR 592.3 million (US$8.46 million) from sapling sales.
• Developing value chains for six key tree species—aonla, bamboo, jackfruit, mahua, moringa, and palash—could create informal jobs for approximately 30,000 people, including women, landless people, and unemployed youth.
• The total estimated cost to implement the identified restoration interventions in Sidhi is between INR 4.37 billion (US$65 million) and INR 7.46 billion (US$111 million) over 5 to 10 years.
• A significant barrier to restoration is the lack of tenurial clarity, particularly regarding the Forest Rights Act of 2006; for example, no claims have been recognized under community forest resource rights in the district.
• There is a distinct divide in ecosystem service preferences: privileged upper-caste men prioritize regulatory services like water recharge and erosion control, while poor scheduled caste (SC) and scheduled tribe (ST) individuals prioritize provisioning services such as fuelwood, fodder, and food.
• The district's social network for restoration is large but lacks diversity and coordination, with key actors including the divisional forest officer, the district collector, and the president of the zilla panchayat.

APA

Singh, R., Shelar, K., Chaturvedi, R., Duraisami, M., & Gautam, R. S. (2020). Restoring Landscapes in India for Climate and Communities. World Resources Institute. https://files.wri.org/s3fs-public/restoring-landscapes-india-climate-and-communities.pdf?rIg0UOEFJYEf9KGd7WJrMrjL3CKxHnUn

Chicago

Singh, Ruchika, Karishma Shelar, Rohini Chaturvedi, Marie Duraisami, and Rajendra Singh Gautam. Restoring Landscapes in India for Climate and Communities. World Resources Institute, 2020. https://files.wri.org/s3fs-public/restoring-landscapes-india-climate-and-communities.pdf?rIg0UOEFJYEf9KGd7WJrMrjL3CKxHnUn.

Wikipedia

{{cite report |last1=Singh |first1=Ruchika |last2=Shelar |first2=Karishma |last3=Chaturvedi |first3=Rohini |last4=Duraisami |first4=Marie |last5=Gautam |first5=Rajendra Singh |title=Restoring Landscapes in India for Climate and Communities |publisher=World Resources Institute |date=2020 |url=https://files.wri.org/s3fs-public/restoring-landscapes-india-climate-and-communities.pdf?rIg0UOEFJYEf9KGd7WJrMrjL3CKxHnUn |access-date=23 October 2026 |via=Climate Insights Directory}}

BibTeX

@techreport{singh2020restoring, author = {Singh, Ruchika and Shelar, Karishma and Chaturvedi, Rohini and Duraisami, Marie and Gautam, Rajendra Singh}, title = {{Restoring Landscapes in India for Climate and Communities}}, institution = {World Resources Institute}, year = {2020}, url = {https://files.wri.org/s3fs-public/restoring-landscapes-india-climate-and-communities.pdf?rIg0UOEFJYEf9KGd7WJrMrjL3CKxHnUn}, urldate = {2026-10-23}, note = {Indexed by Climate Insights Directory} }