Economic Worth of Carbon Stored in Aboveground Biomass of India's Forests

Forests provide a lot of goods and environmental services, which must be properly accounted to evaluate the total economic value of the forests. In this paper, carbon sequestration so far considered to be one of the intangible benefits of the forests, is valued by using replacement cost method. The value of carbon sequestered in forests is evaluated by cost that would be incurred in offsetting by alternative projects, the carbon dioxide released if the forestlands were converted into alternate land use. Accounting for additional aboveground carbon stocks only in the forest yields an annual flow of 433.12 US$/ha. This reflects the immense economic and ecological value that the forests provide by storing carbon despite low productivity of Indian forests.