ITC Project Aids Poor, Tackles Climate Change

Source from:  Tobacco Reporter 06/15/2009

The United Nations Framework Convention on Climate Change has confirmed the registration of an ITC-initiated, large-scale social forestry project. The primary objectives of the project are to create a long term secure source of income for the rural poor in the area where it is being carried out and to enable the sequestration of CO2 through reforestation activities. The Clean Development Mechanism (CDM) project, which is the first of its kind in India and which has been initiated on private degraded wastelands owned by tribals and the rural poor, will contribute to the livelihoods of these disadvantaged people living in 193 villages in the Khammam district of Andhra Pradesh. The benefits of the project, which will earn 57,792 Certified Emission Reductions, will be passed on to the tribals, less the expenses incurred. ITC described the project as a major step forward in climate change mitigation and one that would ensure that poor tribals in rural India benefited from carbon credits traded across the world. The project made a significant contribution also by creating a carbon sink of 3070.19 ha, which not only helped in sequestration of greenhouse gases such as CO2, but also created multiple benefits including a large green cover, groundwater recharge, in-situ moisture conservation and soil fertility improvement. The project, titled 'Reforestation of severely degraded landmass in Khammam district of Andhra Pradesh', is being implemented through Non Governmental Organizations in close partnership with local communities, with ITC providing farmers with financial and technical assistance. This, ITC's eighth registered CDM project, contributes to the company's achievement of being the only company in the world to attain the major global environmental milestones of being carbon positive, water positive and solid waste recycling positive. Enditem