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Considering their vast geographic area and the documented carbon (C)
sequestration effects of a variety of rangeland management practices, there is
considerable interest in the potential of C finance in rangelands, where it is
still very much in its early stages. Pilot projects are essential to exploring this
potential in practice. Ex ante assessments at the project level show areas of
positive potential, but have identified several areas where documentation is
insufficient, and critical constraints that exist in some contexts. This chapter
summarizes these potentials and constraints, and then discusses opportunities
and challenges in view of the major options currently being considered for a
post-Kyoto agreement that includes agricultural land use: project, programmatic
and sectoral approaches (including unilateral mitigation actions, supported
mitigation actions and sectoral crediting approaches). The paper describes
this emerging architecture for future mitigation options, and analyses the
requirements for developing project, programmatic and sectoral approaches. It
concludes by highlighting key actions required to promote the development of
project, programmatic and sectoral approaches to rangeland-based mitigation.
(source: abstract)