includes bibliographical references and index.

The clean development mechanism (CDM), a framework created by the Kyoto Prtotocol, was an attempt to link the carbon market and sustainable deveopment objectives in developing countries. Consequently, sequested carbon is now a globally traded commodity with a huge potential to provide economic returns to land manager. Unlike traditional development models based on deferred and diffused benefit streams, the new carbon-market model offers an opportunity to directly link land management and natural resource conversation with specific and immediate market incentives. Analysis shows that carbon markets can serve a catalytic function in stimulating increased tree planting and improved forest management, thus helping to realize the multiple benefits of forestry and agro-forestry systems