The Carbon Sequestration Potential of Forestry Sector: Bangladesh Context

Forests potentially contribute to global climate change through their influence on the global carbon (C) cycle. The Kyoto Protocol provides for the involvement of developing countries in an atmospheric greenhouse gas reduction regime under its Clean Development Mechanism (CDM). Carbon credits are gained from reforestation and afforestation activities in developing countries. Bangladesh, a densely populated tropical country in South Asia, has a huge degraded forestland, which can be reforested by CDM projects. To realize the potential of the forestry sector in developing countries like Bangladesh for full-scale emission mitigation, the carbon sequestration potential should be integrated with the carbon trading system under the CDM of the Kyoto Protocol. This paper discusses the prospects of carbon trading in Bangladesh, in relation to the CDM, in the context of global warming.