JIFor

Agriculture Forestry and Other Land Use (AFOLU), specifically forestry, has been identified as an instrument that could be used for project-based flexibility mechanism under the Kyoto Protocol of the UNFCCC. The JI (Joint Implementation) mechanism is available to AFOLU but has not been investigated substantially to date.

JIFor proposes to use projects in Russia and Romania (specifically countries with economies in transition) to investigate the policy, verification and methodological issues and social, environmental and hydrological concerns of these AFOLU project types in a "hands on", practical approach.

This research project, with accompanying demonstrator project (JI), will provide the first scientific basis for forestry-based climate mitigation projects.  It will investigate four different demonstrator project types:

• Afforestation/reforestation
• Biomass energy production
• Forest conservation
• Forest management

Its focus is on carbon, but it will address indicators of socio-economic impacts, other measures (biodiversity, water). A key output will be Kyoto-compliant operational documents.