10. Participation in a CDM Afforestation/Reforestation Project in Himachal Pradesh: Success Stories and Shortcomings

This study reflects on the processes of participation in an afforestation/reforestation (A/R) Clean Development Mechanism (CDM) project in Himachal Pradesh, India. The objective of this Himachal Pradesh Reforestation Project is to sequester greenhouse gases by planting trees on degraded lands in selected panchayats in Himachal Pradesh, and earn credits from the carbon sequestered. Community participation is mentioned as an important theme in the project design documents and manuals. The concept of participation and its practical applications have been criticized in many ways which could be summarized by the notion that ideals of community participation are not easily met in ground reality. The concept is often used only as a label to make projects more appealing, without actually empowering the concerned population. To have a desired effect, participation ought to be thoroughly considered throughout the project. In this project, the possibility to participate in a genuine, active, and informed way was found to be diminished by three factors. Firstly, flows of information consisted mostly of one-way communication from the project staff to the local villagers. Secondly, some crucial information, such as the purpose of the project as a CDM-project, remained obscure to most villagers. Thirdly, in some cases, the project staff’s responsiveness to participants’ feedback was very low.