IN

India


189 ha

Uttar Pradesh Farmer Cooperatives

Afforestation, Reforestation, and Revegetation

Greening wastelands to support local farming communities and revitalize soils.

Overview

Uttar Pradesh Farmer Cooperatives

IN

India


189 ha

Afforestation, Reforestation, and Revegetation

Spanning several districts in Northern India, the project lands were previously degraded and barren, suffering from salt-affected soils and erosion. The Indian Farmers Fertilizer Cooperative has been restoring land for decades and created a non-profit initiative, the Indian Farm Forestry Development Cooperative Limited (IFFDC), to fund the up-front costs of afforestation activities for this carbon project. Forty-five percent of revenue from carbon credits goes to individual farmers, and another 23% goes to cooperative members. The project has a strong community emphasis, focusing heavily on women. 170 female-organized “self-help groups" have been established. They contribute to micro-finance lending within the group, which can significantly improve the financial positions of individuals.

Connect with our team to learn more about this project and how Pachama can support your nature strategy.

Registry

Verra Logo

Registry ID: 1015

Pachama's project evaluation criteriaPachama rigorously evaluates every project listed on our marketplace to ensure that we're surfacing only the highest quality projects. Our Evaluation Criteria includes a series of checks that every project must pass as well as a number of informative insights on project quality. You can see a preview of these checks below.

01

Additional

Does the project have a net additional climate benefit?

  • Net additional climate benefit

    Emissions reductions are calculated based on the difference between baseline, project, and leakage emissions. Pachama analyzes emissions claims to confirm that the project has a net additional climate benefit, and each credit represents at least one metric ton of carbon.

02

Conservative

Is the climate benefit based on sound and conservative claims?

  • Baseline claims

    Pachama analyzes baseline emissions accounting to confirm that the reported baseline emissions are less than what Pachama observes with remote sensing.

  • Project claims

    Pachama assesses the project boundary, project emissions accounting, carbon inventory, and financial and legal additionality.

  • Leakage claims

    Pachama summarizes the project's reported leakage emissions accounting.

03

Durable

Is the climate benefit long-lasting?

  • Ongoing monitoring

    Pachama quantifies emissions since the last verification to ensure the project continues to deliver a climate benefit.

  • Project risks

    Pachama characterizes fire and other natural risks and summarizes buffer pool contributions.

04

Beyond Carbon

Does the project deliver benefits beyond carbon?

  • Social impacts

    If a project occurs on community-owned land, Pachama confirms the community is fully informed of the project activity and impact, consent is given without coercion, and a grievance and redress mechanism is in place.

  • Ecological impacts

    For ARR projects, Pachama analyzes native species planting, species diversity, regional suitability, and reforestation practices.

  • Certifications

    Pachama provides a summary of the project's awarded certifications.

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Project story
Transforming barren land into forests to support farming activities, improve soil health, and increase water.

The project began tree planting on July 15, 2008, across 13 sites in the state of Uttar Pradesh, totaling 189 hectares of land restored. They were either “usar” lands, areas adversely affected by high salinity, or ravines near waterways where topsoil had been washed away. Both types of land need dedicated efforts to become fertile again.

The farmers of IFFDC are poor and cannot afford to plant trees themselves; over 90% of members own less than 2 hectares of land or are landless. The project paid community members to create the optimal environment for the trees, including soil treatments and earthworks depending on the tree species. They selected high-quality seedlings across six tree species to maximize success and continue to maintain the land with activities like irrigation, hoeing, and weeding.

The IFFDC paid for the up-front costs and 23% of project revenue goes back to this entity. Their main goals include livelihood enhancement, poverty reduction, and improving community health fueled by community action. The IFFDC focuses on female farmers, who comprise 30% of the co-operative. As the lands are restored, farmers can use the land for crops, agroforestry, and animal husbandry.

More than 75% of the trees planted across farms are native species.

More than 75% of the trees planted across farms are native species.

Impacts beyond carbon

Measuring what matters: community and biodiversity impacts

The project has a strong community focus, providing a secure revenue stream for farmers through carbon credit sales. They also enable micro-financing activities that expand upward economic mobility, focusing on women in particular. Outside of economic opportunity, the new forest provides landowners and community members with animal feed and agriculture opportunities. Learn more about a few of their key initiatives:

02

Zero Hunger

Increasing fodder availability by 9,325 tons allowing farmers to feed their livestock.

03

Good health and well-being

Empowering women by establishing 170 self-help groups where local women support each other and navigate challenges.

05

Gender Equality

Promoting gender equality with females representing 30% of the farmers in the project.

15

Life on land

Removing 86,672 tons of carbon from that atmosphere through the planting of primarily native species.

 Indian Rosewood image
tree spotlight
Indian Rosewood

A large deciduous tree native to the foothills of the Himalayas, these trees thrive in the conditions found in northern India. While the Indian Rosewood has been used for timber, it was originally used in traditional medicine to tree skin ailments and stomach and blood conditions.

how this project helps

The project focuses on planting native species and species that can thrive in the challenging conditions of the barren land. The Indian Rosewood makes up 23.6% of the trees planted in the project.

Sociable lapwing image
animal spotlight
Sociable lapwing

This critically endangered bird is fully migratory, breeding in central Asia and wintering in the Indian subcontinent. The population has seen a steep decline, and the cause is not fully known, but hunting along migratory flyways is a likely contributor.

how this project helps

The sociable lawing has been spotted in the surrounding region of the project. Reforesting the project area will provide a critical habitat for these endangered species to migrate to.

Public registry documentsApplicable calculation methods are referenced in the reports below. Note that registries do not publicly provide all pertinent data required to reproduce emissions calculations. However, Independent Validation and Verification Bodies have access to the data needed to reproduce and verify emissions calculations.
  • Monitoring Report 2008-2022

    pdf

  • Project Description Document

    pdf

  • Validation Report 2013

    pdf

  • Verification Report 2008-2022

    pdf