The principal objective of the proposed action is to establish an expert network on forest plantation planning and management between leading universities and research institutes in densely populated countries (India, Germany, and The Netherlands). This network will facilitate the development of methodologies and tools for assessing and optimising ecosystem services provided by plantations on community lands and other intensively managed forests in India, Germany and in Netherlands. The focus is on using local people's perceptions for assessing, quantifying, and improving the benefits (tangible and intangible) that are provided to various sections of the communities/society by different types of plantations on community, public, and private lands in India, Germany and Netherlands.

        The proposal draws on the European expertise in quantifying and using modelling approaches for ecosystems services at the stand and landscape levels and the Indian experience in the socio economic and participatory aspects forest management.  The proposed action consists of (i) developmental activities, and (ii) comparative research studies. The knowledge and experience gained in sustainable management of land resources will be disseminated to the public, students, and land use planners and managers. In correspondence to all this following objectives are proposed to be addressed during the project period:

a. Assess the various benefits and services (Fuel wood, fodder, grazing, water, minor forest products, indigenous medicines, carbon sequestration, recreation, employment, salinity and soil erosion control) by the plantations on public, community and private lands as perceived by the various sections of the society (local people, forest departments, and scientist) through comparative studies in a developing country (India) and developed countries (Germany and Netherlands).

b. Quantify the socio-economic impacts of these various ecosystem services provided by the forested lands on rural development and poverty alleviation in the rural areas of northern India under various plantation programmes involving participatory management programmes in hills that are relatively well forested and compare with that in plains that are dominated by the irrigated agricultural lands.

c. Evaluate silvicultural treatment in manipulating the ecosystem services from the plantations on public and community lands using comparative studies in India, Germany and Netherlands.

a. Establish a network on the planning and management of forest plantation with a focus on ecosystem services.

b. Explore and learn from comparative case studies on diverse and changing nature of community involvement in public and community land use management in the target countries.

c. Develop a joint knowledge based management system that will form the basis for developing university courses on ecosystem services and their management for Environment and Forestry curricula.

a. Analyse ecosystem services management at landscape level and develop prescriptions/ tools to optimise them based on landscape position.

b. Develop and suggest guidelines to incorporate the knowledge gained through theses studies in management plans for sustainable management of plantation areas to address sustainable utilisation of land resource and their development to improve the net social benefit through participatory management.