On the Potential of Cost-Efficient Forest-Climate Projects on Agricultural Lands in the Russian Federation

Abstract

The creation of protective forest shelter belts (agroforestry) is one of the main ways to prevent the degradation of agricultural lands. The potential of economically viable forest climate projects for field-protective agroforestry in the Russian Federation from the point of view of afforestation area, carbon credit (СС) yield, and their cost and economic efficiency is assessed. The presented results are of great importance for the development of feasibility studies (FS) for capital-intensive forest climate projects in the Russian Federation. The maximal area for establishing new and reconstructing existing protective forest plantations within the framework of protective agroforestry could be approximately 2.7 million hectares and 550 000 hectares on the lands of the 20 largest agricultural holdings. The mean expected output of carbon units from an afforestation project in the case of the creation of multi-species forest shelter belts in the steppe zone of European Russia is 15–18 t CO₂ e/ha/year, depending on the credit period. The mean annual output of carbon units of projects over a 50-year crediting period on the lands of the 20 largest agricultural holdings in the Russian Federation is approximately 9.9 million CU/year. The target cost of the unit of agroforestry in the Russian Federation is in the range of $6–9 per CU. An agroforestry project covering an area of 1000 hectares, will be attractive for investment if the price of CU is at least three times higher than the cost price within the project crediting period. The results of the study are of practical significance and are applicable to projects in the forest-steppe, steppe, and dry steppe zones.