Economics of Forest Restoration: Forest Landscape Restoration in Selected Districts of Sri Lanka

This study will examine the economics of the carbon dioxide (CO2) reduction potential of different types of forest restoration programmes (both plantation and natural regeneration) as both a nature-based solution and a carbon-mitigation option in South Asia. It will explore the impacts of such restoration on rural livelihoods, including the distributional effects on gender and marginalised communities; assess the effectiveness of some of the financing mechanisms for restoring forests; and propose appropriate institutional arrangements for large-scale forest restoration programmes in South Asia. As such, this study aims to understand the economics of forest restoration as a potential nature-based solutions option, specifically the re-establishment of forest cover in degraded, recently harvested forests (reforestation), marginal or abandoned croplands and pastures (afforestation) in South Asia. The research will be conducted in four South Asian countries – Bangladesh, Nepal, Pakistan and Sri Lanka.