Roadmap for Scaling Trees Outside Forests in India: Learnings on Policy Incentives from Six Indian States

Nature-based solutions like landscape restoration and interventions like agroforestry and expansion of Trees outside Forests (ToF) can be cost-effective to meet the triple challenge of recovery of nature, providing for people’s needs, and mitigating climate risks. Restoring lands can bring economic prosperity to nearly 700 million people in rural India while protecting the environment and conserving biodiversity.

WATCH THE FULL EVENT HERE

India’s policies and schemes on promoting ToF, such as National Agroforestry Policy, at both national and state levels, and their implementation across the states provide an opportunity for learning and scaling up best practices for ToF. As a step towards this, WRI India studied the policy incentives, opportunities, and barriers to ToF in six Indian states – Gujarat, Karnataka, Maharashtra, Odisha, Punjab, and Telangana. The paper highlights key monetary and non-monetary incentives crucial for scaling agroforestry and recommends key actions for building a practical roadmap to scale ToF in India.

WRI India is organizing a virtual event to launch this Working Paper titled Roadmap for Scaling Trees Outside Forests in India: Learnings from the Select States on Policy Incentives, Enabling Conditions, and Barriers and deliberate on building an effective roadmap scaling ToF in India. This one-hour webinar will include:

• Launch of the working paper by Dr Rajiv Kumar, Vice Chairman, NITI Aayog followed by his keynote address
• Presentation on key findings and recommendations based on the research paper
• Panel discussion on scaling agroforestry and other ToF systems in India for achieving its development and climate goals

SPEAKERS

• Dr. Rajiv Kumar, Vice Chairman, NITI Aayog
• Dr. OP Agarwal, CEO, WRI India
• Dr. A Arunachalam, Director, Central Agroforestry Research Institute
• Mr. CSR Murthy, Chief General Manager, NABARD
• Dr. Arshiya Bose, Founder, Black Baza Coffee Co.
• Dr. Joanaa Dawson, Rural Futures – Anthropological Visioner, Balipara Foundation
• Dr. Ruchika Singh, Executive Director, Food, Land and Water, WRI India
• Marie Duraisami, Former Manager, WRI India
• AM Annaiah, IFS, Additional Principle, Chief Conservator of Forests (Retd)