Plan Vivo
Project Portfolio
Plan
Vivo
Improving livelihoods, restoring ecosystems
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CONTENTS
People and livelihoods
Ethical climate services
Ecosystems
Watersheds
PES
Native species
Biodiversity
Adaptation
Poverty Reduction
Community Rights
Participation
Transparency
Introduction
The Plan Vivo Standardp.2
Plan Vivo Key Figuresp.4
Why support Plan Vivo?p.5
Latin America:
Scolel’te - Mexicop.8
CommuniTree Carbon Project - Nicaragua
p.10
ArBolivia - Boliviap.12
Africa:
Trees for Global Benefits - Uganda
p.16
Emiti Nibwo Bulora - Tanzaniap.18
Trees of Hope - Malawip.20
REDD+ in the Yaeda Valley - Tanzania
p.22
Mikoko Pamoja - Kenyap.24
Sofala - Mozambique p.26
Asia:
Hiniduma Bio-Link Project - Sri Lanka Khasi Hills Community REDD+ Project - India
Himalayan Community Carbon Project - Nepal
Projects at validation stage in 2015p.36
Project Pipelinep.37
p.30
p.32
p.34
Habitats
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The Plan Vivo Standard
What is the Plan Vivo Standard?
What would your support mean?
The Plan Vivo Foundation has created a set of requirements for smallholders and
communities wishing to manage their land more sustainably. This is achieved through
a diverse range of project interventions that enhance and quantify ecosystem services,
such as carbon sequestration, biodiversity or watershed protection. These requirements
are designed to ensure that projects contribute to climate change mitigation, biodiversity
conservation, serve local needs and alleviate poverty in rural communities.
Purchasing Plan Vivo Certificates in order to offset
your organisation’s emissions, invest in your supply
chain or strengthen your CSR, means you will be
investing in community-led projects.
These proactively involve marginalised members
of communities and boost livelihoods with direct
income and investment in sustainable enterprises.
You will help equip at-risk communities with the tools
to shape their own sustainable futures.
Plan Vivo Certificates
Plan Vivo projects generate Plan Vivo Certificates. Each certificate represents the
sequestration or avoided emission of 1 tonne CO2e with additional co-benefits achieved
through the project design, with local needs at its heart.
Validation & Verification
Improving livelihoods, restoring ecosystems, protecting biodiversity
Plan Vivo projects are independently validated by both
internal and external reviewers, and verified periodically
by trusted third parties such as the Rainforest Alliance,
ESI, AENOR and EPIC Sustainability. The promotion
of community-based monitoring reduces the need
for costly external technical support and strengthens
communities’ capacity, ownership and commitment
to projects.
The integrated co-benefits delivered by projects is where Plan Vivo stands out from
the crowd. Plan Vivo is the only Standard to require direct payments to communities;
the only Standard stipulating the planting of native or naturalised species; and the only
Standard (2013 version) where projects ensure a minimum of 60% of revenues goes
to communities.
Flexible and innovative approach
Plan Vivo promotes the development of sustainable livelihoods, thus addressing the root
causes of deforestation and degradation, such as encroachment, timber, fuelwood and
charcoal extraction, which require innovative solutions. Plan Vivo develops and utilizes
new approaches tailored to the realities and needs of local people, as well as delivering
long-term verified carbon offsets and ecosystem services for the buyers of Plan Vivo
Certificates.
Recognition
As one of the pioneers in the voluntary carbon market, the Plan Vivo network has received widespread recognition and generous
support from the likes of the UK’s DFID, World Bank, UNDP, UNCCD, Carbon Trust, Clinton Foundation, Hunter Foundation,
Waterloo Foundation, International Union for Conservation of Nature (IUCN), Wildlife Conservation Society, Fauna & Flora Intl. and
National Geographic, among many others.
Present & Past Supporters:
The first ever ‘Plan Vivo’ (living plan) dating
back to the Scolel’te project in 1998.
The Plan Vivo Standard provides a framework for rural communities to manage their natural resources more
sustainably, with a view to generating climate, livelihood & ecosystem benefits.
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Plan Vivo key figures
Why support Plan Vivo?
Ample Experience
Thanks to its ample experience, the Plan Vivo standard has been tried and tested. The
standard is continuously evolving to adapt to the needs of projects and to generate high
environmental, social and economic benefits for communities.
Community-led Projects
All Plan Vivo projects are community-owned
rather than just community-focused. On the
one hand, this means that Plan Vivo projects
are highly additional by working primarily with
communities that would otherwise lack the
financial, organisational or technical capacity
to develop sustainable land-use systems.
Moreover, communities directly benefit from
PES payments administered by their project
coordinators. As such, the standard has a
strong participatory bottom-up approach,
which allows communities to socially benefit
from the Plan Vivo standard.
Plan Vivo is the longest-standing voluntary standard for forest carbon.
The first certificates were generated in 1997 after the development of
a DFID-funded research project in Chiapas, Mexico.
Long-term sustainability
Plan Vivo projects are located in over 11 different
countries across Latin America, Asia and Africa, and
include projects that combine carbon sequestration
activities with livelihood and ecosystem benefits.
Plan Vivo projects are based on the idea
that carbon payments should function as an
enabler for communities to generate income
from improved and sustainable ecosystem
management beyond PES payments.
Therefore, the standard has a strong focus on
supporting projects that have a full spectrum
of generating social and environmental cobenefits as well as reducing poverty.
Smallholders in rural communities benefit from Plan
Vivo’s flexible and simple approach which allows
them to implement activities that enable income
diversification and other livelihood benefits.
Growing Demand
From 2012 onwards, there has been a sharp increase in demand for certification by
Plan Vivo. There are 44 projects at some stage of development, of which 12 are already
registered. These span 30 different countries. Nearly 2 million certificates have been
issued to date, which has resulted in almost $9 million being channelled into rural
communities.
Reselling Partners
Plan Vivo Certificates for the projects showcased in this brochure can be purchased directly from the projects or through trusted
third parties. A selection of these is detailed below. If you would like to become more involved with this inspiring network of
projects, please get in touch with us at the Plan Vivo Foundation.
Plan Vivo projects extend training and capacitybuilding to smallholders and local communities,
supporting them to efficiently switch to sustainable
land management tecniques.
Plan Vivo-certified projects have directly channelled
funds to smallholders and communities, and have
thereby contributed directly to poverty alleviation
and local employment opportunities.
www.clevel.co.uk
www.prima-klima-weltweit.de
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www.cotap.org
www.unitedbankofcarbon.com
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www.myclimate.org
www.zeromission.se
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People and livelihoods
Ethical climate services
Ecosystems
Watersheds
LATIN AMERICA
PES
Native species
Scolel’te - Mexico
CommuniTree Carbon Project - Nicaragua
ArBolivia - Bolivia
Biodiversity
Adaptation
Poverty Reduction
Community Rights
Participation
Transparency
Habitats
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Scolel’te - Mexico
Scolel’te is an ecosystem services programme focused on reforestation and forest management.
Scolel’te is the longest-running ecosystem services project on the Voluntary Carbon Market across the
globe. It has served as a benchmark and formed the basis for the development of the Plan Vivo system.
Location
• Central & Northern Chiapas, Mexico
Project Coordinator
• Cooperativa Ambio S.C. de R.L.
Operational since
• 1997
PVCs issued to date
• 468,090
Area of land under management
• 7,641.75 ha
Project Interventions
• Afforestation
• Agroforestry
• Reforestation
• Forest Restoration
• Avoided Deforestation
Participants
• 2,735 smallholders (of which 1,235 with PES
agreements) and 7 community groups
Project Milestones
• Pilot programme: 1994
• Registration & Validation: 1997
• Independent review: 2000
• 1st Verification: 2002 (SGS)
• 2nd Verification: 2006 (Rainforest Alliance)
• 3rd Verification: 2008 (Rainforest Alliance)
• 4th Verification: 2013 (Rainforest Alliance)
Long-term sustainability drivers
• Protects more than 7,500 ha of forest buffer
zones in Chiapas
• High-value sustainable timber
• Capacity-building for sustainable forest
management
• Territorial planning
• Environmental awareness
• Restoration of endangered tropical cloud forest
Examples of past & present buyers
• FIA Foundation
• World Bank
• HSBC Reforestamos Mexico
• Mexico President’s Office
• U&We (Ekobanken, Absolut Vodka)
• IUCN
Photo credits: Britt Basel
Climate Services and Land Management
Land-use management plans are in place for the long-term sequestration of more
than 459,060 tonnes of CO2e, which are monitored by local and regional technicians
and reported annually. The project has the capacity to generate 30,000 Plan Vivo
Certificates (PVCs) per year, each representing the sequestration or reduction of one
tonne of CO2e plus additional co-benefits.
Scolel’te forest management activities include forest restoration and enrichment
(improved fallows), trees planted with food crops (taungya), shade-grown coffee,
forest boundaries (live fences), and protection of natural forest to avoid land-use
change.
Ecosystem & Biodiversity Benefits
Image: freevectormaps.com
The project area encompasses a number of important ecological regions, including
buffer zones of natural protected areas, such as Montes Azules, El Triunfo, La
Sepultura and Selva El Ocote Biosphere Reserves; the Protected Area for Flora and
Fauna of Naha-Metzabok (Ramsar site) and the Protected Area for Natural Resources
of La Frailescana.
• Scolel’te has protected and conserved more than 7,500 ha of forest
in Chiapas and Oaxaca.
• Restoration of degraded pine oak forest in upland areas.
• Restoration of tropical rainforests.
• Protection and restoration of endangered Tropical Mountain Cloud
Forest.
• Watersheds protection.
• Habitat for North American migratory birds.
Scolel’te (“the tree that grows” in Mayan Tzeltal language) is the longeststanding project in the Plan Vivo network, dating back to a pilot programme in
1994. It was officially operational three years later.
• Reforestation with 25 local species.
Livelihood Benefits
It has been running on a commercially self-sufficient basis since 2002 under
the leadership of AMBIO, a Mexican environmental non-profit cooperative
that coordinates the project and organises field activities in cooperation with
various community groups, smallholder farmers and social organisations.
• The Scolel’te programme supports more than 1,200 smallholders of
Mayan and Mestizo farmers, organized into around 90 communities.
• Multiple indigenous groups are benefited, including the Tzeltal,
Lacandon and Chol communities in the rainforest, Tojolabales in
the southern border, as well as Tsotsil and Zoque people in western
Chiapas.
The Scolel’te programme supports more than 2,735 producers and 7
community groups, benefitting approximately 2,450 families. In March 2011,
Scolel’te was recognised by Initiativa Mexico Awards. Scolel’te was chosen as
a national finalist from hundreds of local initiatives and showcased on national
television, as an outstanding local environmental initiative. In 2013, AMBIO
also received the Mexican National Forest Merit Award.
• Scolel’te carries out regular meetings with forest technicians,
community representatives and local authorities aimed at promoting
social participation and community-based organization.
• Creation of local employment for sustainable forest management
resulting in income diversification.
• Increased environmental awareness and climate change adaptation
in rural communities.
• A strong framework for parallel projects: fuel-efficient stoves,
wildfire prevention, low-emissions livestock farming and agriculture,
beekeeping, non-timber forest products.
Contact details:
www.ambio.org.mx
Email: info@ambio.org.mx
Phone: +52 967 6788409
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CommuniTree Carbon Project - Nicaragua
The CommuniTree Carbon Program is a smallholder reforestation initiative in Nicaragua financed through
the sale of carbon offsets. The program encourages smallholder farmers to establish mixed native
species forest plantations on the underutilized portions of their farms in order to mitigate climate change.
Climate Services and Land Management
Between 2010 and 2014, the program has collaborated with 280 smallholder
families to plant 1,183,000 native trees, sequestering 256,604 tCO2e, and has
contributed $974,316 to a community fund that provides direct payments to
smallholders.
Location
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Municipalities San Juan de Limay, Esteli and
Somoto, Madriz in Nicaragua
Based on forestry best practices, Taking Root’s internal verification (i.e. monitoring)
procedure takes place annually using a custom-built Smallholder Carbon Project
Information Management System (SCPIMS). Through the SCPIMS, 10% of the
land of every farm reforested is randomly verified and every tree within that area is
measured.
Project Coordinator
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Taking Root
Operational since
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2010
PVCs issued to date
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256,604
Ecosystem & Biodiversity Benefits
Area of land under management
•
• The program is located on a critically important watershed that feeds directly into the Real Estuary, recognized by the Ramsar
Convention as a wetland of international priority due its abundance of biodiversity.
866 ha
Project Interventions
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Image: freevectormaps.com
Agroforestry
Afforestation
Reforestation
• The program promotes the natural regeneration of other tree species within the planted stands where 71 unique tree species
have been recorded. Tree species are selected in part due to their contributions to wildlife habitat.
280
Project Milestones
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• Planting design allows for heterogeneous multi-function tree stands in terms of species, age and canopy structure, which
favours wildlife habitat, soil fertility, while increasing forest productivity and providing harvests of valuable forest products.
Registered in 2011
Validation in 2011
1st verification in 2015
• An emphasis is also placed on working with nitrogen fixing trees (NFTs). Based on conversion factors obtained from scientific
literature on Gliricidia sepium, one of the NFTs used in the program, Taking Root estimates that the trees contribute 9,990 kg
of naturally produced nitrogen annually.
Long-term sustainability drivers
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Wide variety of native tree species well
adapted to future climate scenarios.
Development of markets for sustainably
produced forest products.
Strong focus on data collection and adaptive
management.
Strong community presence and
responsiveness to evolving local priorities.
Examples of past & present buyers
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• The trees help retain humidity in the dry season and minimize flooding and landslides in the rainy season.
• Intentional design of native tree species including the re-introduction of two high-value at-risk tree species (Swietenia humilis
and Bombacopsis quinata. See: iucn.org) .
Participants
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This information serves to determine the amount of carbon sequestered by the
trees and also informs management decisions tailored to the needs of each site.
The results are made publicly available in our annual reports posted on the Plan
Vivo website.
Inter-American Development Bank
Tuff Gong Worldwide
Arivd Nordquist
Jack Wolfskin
Photo credits: Taking Root
Taking Root is a pioneer in leveraging the forest carbon offset industry for
economic development amongst smallholder farmers in Central America. This
is achieved by encouraging smallholder farming families to reforest the underutilized parts of their farms in exchange for direct payments over time as the
trees sequester carbon from the atmosphere.
• Most of the tree species planted are deciduous, meaning they shed their leaves in the dry season, contributing large quantities
of biomass to rebuild the soil.
Livelihood and Gender Equality Benefits (between 2010-2014):
• $579,198 (equivalent to 527 annual salaries) has been paid to the
community in the form of payments for ecosystem services, advance
payments and salaries;
To ensure that these benefits are long-lived, the program is specifically
designed so that the forest plantations provide ongoing livelihood benefits to
participating smallholder farmers in the following ways:
• An additional $395,118 has been earmarked for future ecosystem
service payments provided that smallholders meet carbon
sequestration targets;
Participants receive direct payments for ecosystem services (PES) over a 10year period, which amount to 60% of the carbon credit sale price. As the densely
planted trees start to crowd each other out, they are selectively harvested to
allow the plantation as a whole to continue to grow, thus optimizing longrun carbon sequestration while providing sustainably produced merchantable
timber.
• In 2014, 991 seasonal and 15 full time jobs are created every year.
207 of these employees are women, 235 of them are landless
farmers;
• Women and women’s groups are particularly targeted in the program’s
ongoing community consultations and workshops so that the project
design can be adapted to their specific needs. $17,000 worth of
seeds is purchased for the nurseries annually from additional women
in the region who collect them from their trees.
Participants’ livelihoods are better adapted to climate change because trees
are more resilient to droughts and flooding than traditional agricultural crops
so their livelihoods are partially hedged against the risk of extreme weather
events caused by climate change. Moreover, forest plantations are additional
to agricultural activities and the income that they provide is designed to be
counter-cyclical to the agricultural season, thus helping to distribute livelihood
activities to the times of the year when they are the most needed.
Contact details:
http://www.takingroot.org
Email: info@takingroot.org
Phone: +1 514 418 1408
Taking Root is currently working with international development organizations
to extend the successful CommuniTree Carbon Program to Guatemala, Haiti,
and El Salvador.
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ArBolivia - Bolivia
The ArBolivia project started as a portfolio of small-scale reforestation activities within the Clean
Development Mechanism of UNFCCC, but has shifted to voluntary carbon markets. The project seeks
to implement reforestation through an association between local smallholders and ethical investors.
Climate Services and Land Management
Smallholders under the Plan Vivo system maintain 195 hectares of tree lots for sustainable
wood production. The project has the capacity to generate 60,000 Plan Vivo certificates per
year, each representing the equivalent of 1 tonne of CO2e. Participating farmers are trained
and encouraged to cultivate both food crops and timber on the same plot of land, whilst trees
are used to improve soil conditions through nitrogen fixation, combat soil compaction, prevent
erosion and reduce flooding. Interplanting is adopted to increase the number of crops in one
area. Different crop varieties are recommended according to individual site conditions, leading
to enhanced yields.
Location
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Cochabamba Tropics, Bolivia
Project Coordinator
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SICIREC Bolivia Ltd.
Operational since
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The project also emphasizes the use of native species, using 18 native hardwoods, grown
from local seeds. The project provides training on a wide range of subjects with the aim
of providing knowledge on “climate smart agriculture”, including the production and use of
organic fertilisers, biogas production, fire prevention and many other topics.
2007
PVCs issued to date
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34,766
Area of land under management
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195.75 ha
Ecosystem & Biodiversity Benefits
Project Interventions
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Image: freevectormaps.com
Afforestation
• Hydrographical watershed protection and regulation.
Participants
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• Reduction in annual burning of crop residues.
152 smallholders
• Some tree species (e.g. Tapirira guianensis) provide fodder for wildlife.
Project Milestones
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Registered in 2011
1st verification in 2016
Long-term sustainability drivers
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The project uses 18 different native species
grown from local seeds
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Strong Focus on Education and Capacity
Building
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Establishment of conservation areas
Examples of past & present buyers
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• Improved soil protection and soil improvement through reforestation.
ForestFinance
Sydney Convention and Exhibition Centre
Clearway Sustainability Resources Ltd
Photo credits: ArBolivia
The ArBolivia project is being implemented in the Cochabamba tropics, Santa
Cruz (Ichilo Province), Northern La Paz and Western Beni. The project includes
around 900 smallholders, belonging to around 50 different community groups.
Plan Vivo certificates have so far been issued on behalf of 152 familiies.
• Some species (e.g. Calophyllum brasiliensis & Tapirira guianensis) can survive
extended periods submerged under water and are used to protect against erosion as
a result of flooding.
• Training in fire prevention and control, establishing local volunteer brigades and
providing public broadcast services of fire risks.
• Training on production and use of organic fertilisers reduces the use and resultant
impact of harmful chemicals.
The lack of capital to invest in more efficient and sustainable agricultural
practices has traditionally forced many smallholders to employ slash and burn
techniques, which continue to threaten the western fringes of the Amazon.
With the help of investment capital provided mainly by the UK not-for-profit
sector, The Cochabamba Project is reforesting affected areas together with
communities, providing households with the prospect of substantial, ongoing,
additional revenues.
• Leguminous species help to fix nitrogen in the soil and improve fertility.
Carbon credit revenues help to fund additional activities in the short-term
aimed at increasing crop yields for families, whilst also saving one of the most
unique and precious ecosystems on the planet – the Amazon rainforest.
• Enhanced yields as a result of the use of leguminous cover crops to improve soil
fertility
The project enables purchasers of carbon credits to link directly to individual
farmers, making it possible to demonstrate its social and environmental
impacts.
• Optimum plant spacing is recommended to ensure that fruits grow to their full potential
In January 2010, ArBolivia, was the first and only foreign plantation forestry
project to received the “Green Status” from the Dutch government and
therefore now qualifies for loans from the “Green Funds” of Dutch investment
banks.
• Training on the production and use of organic fertilisers mean that farmers do not
need to buy expensive chemical products
19 forestry committees have been established to ensure ongoing stakeholder
dialogue and community-focused development. In the indigenous territories
the work of the forestry committee is conducted within the pre-existing
community structures.
Livelihood Benefits
Smallholders receive training in improved agricultural techniques and how to evaluate and
assess agricultural and afforestation activities. Incomes increase as a result of improved
agricultural production including:
• Shade trees planted to protect delicate cash crops and regulate soil water
• New cash crops such as peanuts, chia, stevia and moringa are being developed that
have much higher value than traditional crops
• Training on fire prevention reduces the risk of losing crops to wildfires
• Recommendations for appropriate grasses, silvo-pastural planting
including leguminous tree species leads to improved pasture and
allows for higher stocking rates.
Contact details:
http://www.arbolivia.org
Email: info@arbolivia.org
Phone: +591 4 4485119
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People and livelihoods
Ethical climate services
Ecosystems
Watersheds
AFRICA
Trees for Global Benefits - Uganda
PES
Native species
Emiti Nibwo Bulora - Tanzania
Trees of Hope - Malawi
REDD+ in the Yaeda Valley - Tanzania
Biodiversity
Mikoko Pamoja - Kenya
Sofala - Mozambique Adaptation
Poverty Reduction
Community Rights
Participation
Transparency
Habitats
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Trees for Global Benefits - Uganda
Trees for Global Benefit (TGB) is a cooperative carbon offsetting scheme which combines communityled activities to increase carbon sequestration with performance-based payments for farmers.
Location
• Bushenyi, Hoima, Masindi and Kasese districts,
Uganda
Project Coordinator
• Ecotrust
Operational since
• 2003
PVCs issued to date
• 734,816
Area of land under management
• 4,064 ha
Project Interventions
• Afforestation
• Reforestation
• Agroforestry
Participants
• 3,278 smallholders
Project Milestones
Image: freevectormaps.com
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Embassy of Ireland in Uganda
Uganda Carbon Bureau: Royal Danish Embassy
Climate Path Ecologic Fund
Shepherd Building Group
Max Hamburgerrestauranger AB
Bartlett Foundation
Photo credits: Trees for Global Benefits
TGB has been verified by the Rainforest Alliance in 2009 and in 2013
which involved an assessment of the project’s monitoring as well as the
sustainability of project activities.
Ecosystem & Biodiversity Benefits
• Further expansion of indigenous tree species, native islands and corridors.
• Restoration, protection and management of degraded and threatened
ecosystems.
• Increased provision of alternative sources of wood.
Registered and operational since 2003
1st Verification: 2009 (Rainforest Alliance)
2nd Verification: 2013 (Rainforest Alliance)
Long-term sustainability drivers
Collaborative Natural Resource Management
Groups.
• Sustainable Timber Production.
• Capacity-building for Farmers to Improve their
Livelihoods,
• Community-based monitoring.
• Carbon Bank – a type of revolving fund that
supports the matching of supply with demand.
• The structure of payments allows farmers
to consider long-term investment horizons,
that seeks to use tree planting as a livelihood
strategy.
Examples of past & present buyers
Through its activities, the long-term carbon sequestration of the project
is 649,711 tonnes of CO2e. TGB enables communities to gain skills
and knowledge to manage land sustainably in three different aspects:
afforestation, improved forest management and assisted regeneration. The
project has the capacity to generate 100,000 Plan Vivo Certificates (PVCs)
with each certificate representing the sequestration or reduction of one tonne
of CO2e, as well as other co-benefits. The project is active in the districts
of Bushenyi, Hoima Kasese, Masindi, Gulu, Adjumani, Mbale, Manafwa and
Bududa, and encompasses about 4,064 ha of land.
The TGB model has been adopted and promoted by UNDP as an
effective model for promoting Ecosystem-Based Adaptation (EBA)
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Climate Services and Land Management
• Regulation of micro-climates.
Trees for Global Benefits is designed as a cooperative community–based
carbon offset scheme with livelihood components emphasising sustainable
land-use practices. It operates as a market solution that reduces unsustainable
exploitation of forest resources and the decline of ecosystem quality, while
diversifying and increasing incomes for rural farmers and their families.
• Improved water purification.
• Soil stabilisation and improved moisture retention on slopes.
Livelihood Benefits
• TGB supports more than 3,278 smallholder farmers and their families.
TGB combines carbon sequestration with rural livelihood improvements
through small-scale, farmer-led, agroforestry projects and ecosystem services
by linking rural farmers to the international ecosystem markets. The TGB
scheme operates as a Programme of Activities to enable scaling up through
the design of new activities and the recruitment of new farming communities.
• The structure of payments allows farmers to consider long-term
investment horizons, using part of their land to develop assets which
not only provide short-term cash and needed livelihood inputs but also
long-term benefits from materials and income that can be enjoyed in
the future.
In addition to farmers’ direct payments for planting trees and sequestering
carbon, the project aims to contribute to income stability, food security, and
fuel security at community level.
• The project has supported two communities in acquiring titles of
communal ownership for the improved management of the community
forests in their area.
• Carbon farmers have the ability to join local village banks through the
purchase of shares, thus helping to capitalise the village banks.
Ecotrust also requires that participating farmers open bank accounts in
which to deposit their earnings, which helps project participants to improve
their financial planning at household level. Ecotrust supports and facilitates
the opening of bank accounts for farmers who do not yet have them. With
the project, village banks are growing and becoming more sustainable as a
growing number of participating farmers steadily adopt the practice of saving.
TGB won the Low Carbon SEED award in October 2013. The award
was presented to TGB by UNEP, UNDP and IUCN in recognition of
the project’s focus on integrating social, environmental and economic
benefits into its business models.
Like most Plan Vivo projects, TGB is a community-led project, meaning that
participating smallholders and communities have a significant and direct role
in project deisgn. Specifically, project participants are involved in tree species
selection, seed gathering, seedling nursery building, tree planting, and
overseeing tree protection.
Contact details:
www.ecotrust.or.ug
Email: support@ecotrust.or.ug
Phone: +256 312 266419
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Emiti Nibwo Bulora - Tanzania
Emiti Nibwo Bulora a climate change mitigation project that enables small-scale farmers in the Kagera
region in western Tanzania to improve their land management methods through tree planting, by giving
them access to carbon revenue streams through the adoption of sustainable agroforestry techniques.
Climate Services and Land Management
The primary objective is to involve farmers in the Kagera region of Tanzania in
diversifying their agricultural production, and therefore their income streams,
using sustainable agroforestry management techniques. The overall carbon
sequestration potential of the project is 65,000 tCO2e, based on four project
activities, including boundary planting, the set-up of fruit orchards, dispersed interplanting and woodlot establishment for improved soil fertility. The project has an
annual capacity to generate between 6,000 - 10,000 Plan Vivo Certificates per
year.
Location
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Kagera region, Tanzania
Project Coordinator
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Vi Agroforestry
Operational since
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The Kagera Region has in the past been heavily deforested due to local use of
biomass as the main source of energy. The project intervention does not only
result in more sustainable land use, but also allows to further protect the Kagera
river, a main inflow to Lake Victoria, in terms of siltation and eutrophication.
2008
PVCs issued to date
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56,992
The project was validated in 2009 and will receive its first verification visit in 2015.
Area of land under management
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373.33 ha + 91.3 km
Ecosystem & Biodiversity Benefits
Project Interventions
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Agroforestry
Image: freevectormaps.com
Participants
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• Increase of tree cover resulting in better shading for crops and shelter for
wildlife.
• Re-utilization of abandoned or bare, degraded land through reforestation.
669 smallholders
• Increase in biodiversity thanks to newly created micro climates.
29 community groups, e.g. schools
• Enhanced soil fertility through the establishment of nitrogen-fixing trees.
Project Milestones
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Verification in 2015
• Wildlife protection thanks to increased forest cover.
Registered in 2010
• Some farmers have invested in solar systems, further alleviating pressure on
natural resources.
Validation in 2009
Long-term sustainability drivers
•
•
Sustainable Timber
•
Positive knock-on effect on soil and water
quality
Agroforestry for improved soil quality and
agricultural yields
Examples of past & present buyers
•
•
•
•
•
•
Hotel Oden
Folksam
Naturratan
BioGaia
Billogram
CCAFS
The Emiti Nibwo Bulora project directly involves small-scale farmers from the
Kagera region in western Tanzania in the mitigation of climate change, whilst
delivering livelihood benefits to communities. The project is an Afforestation/
Reforestation (A/R) project which trains farmers in sustainable land use
management techniques that result in carbon sequestration and deliver
economic and social benefits.
• Improved land management systems decrease soil erosion.
Livelihood Benefits
• Further to its carbon reduction potential, the project is focused on poverty
alleviation by offering smallholders training and capacity building to increase
and diversify their agricultural yields.
After community-led project design, farmers benefit from capacity-building
and enhanced skills in sustainable resource management. Through Plan Vivo
certification, farmers are able to access carbon payments to enable them
to cover costs at farm and household level. These payments for ecosystem
service do not only contribute to immediate biodiversity and ecosystems
benefits, but also have knock-on effects regarding poverty reduction and
capacity development.
• The project has linked environmental education to general education of
children of the communities, therefore focusing on the sustainability of the
project.
• Communities within the project have set up loan associations and village
saving banks giving smallholders access to microloans.
Photo credits: Emiti Nibwo Bulora
• Payment received apart from being used to manage the farm it also serves for
family matters like school fees, paying medical bills, contribution to community
development activities like building of secondary schools etc.
• Many project participants have been able to install improved and more
efficient cook stoves.
• Many farmers were enabled to set up small enterprises enabling them to
increase their income.
Contact details:
www.viskogen.se
Email: info@viskogen.se
Phone: +46 8 120 371 00
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Trees of Hope - Malawi
The Trees of Hope project aims to improve the livelihoods of rural farmers in the Dowa and Neno
districts of Malawi. The project coordinates community-led efforts in climate change mitigation
and adaptation through agroforestry and reforestation activities, reducing the local community’s
vulnerability to climate change through benefits derived from tree-based land use systems.
Climate Services and Land Management
Farmers with Payments for Ecosystem Service (PES) agreements under the Plan Vivo
certification are active on more than 914 hectares (woodlots, mango orchards, citrus
orchards and dispersed systematic interplanting), as well as just over 16 km of boundary
planting. The project has delivered more than $60,000 USD in additional income to
project participants with PES agreements. Each certificate sold represents one tonne of
CO2e plus additional co-benefits..
Location
•
Neno and Dowa, Malawi
Project Coordinator
•
Clinton Development Initiative
Reforestation and afforestation interventions mainly include the establishment of
indigenous and naturalized tree species, including Albizia lebbek, Melia azedarach,
Senna siamea and Senna spectabilis, at a density of 2,500 trees per hectare.
Operational since
•
2007
PVCs issued to date
•
Upon joining the Trees of Hope project, farmers are trained and equipped with new
knowledge and skills, providing them the opportunity to enhance their lives, ecosystems,
and incomes. These training sessions teach them how to establish nurseries, grow
seedlings, transplant them, and care for the trees during their lifetime.
42,550
Area of land under management
•
914 ha and 16,111 x 100m segments of
boundary planting
Image: freevectormaps.com
Project Interventions
•
•
•
Afforestation
Reforestation
Agroforestry
• Dispersed systematic interplanting involves the deliberate planting of
trees, such as Faidherbia albida, which improve soil quality and fertility
by producing nitrogen compounds in their roots and increased organic
matter.
Participants
•
294 farmers and farmer groups (239 of which
were signed up in 2014)
Project Milestones
•
•
Registered in 2011
1st verification in 2015
Long-term sustainability drivers
•
•
•
Solar Drying Techniques
Diversification of income
Apiculture
Examples of past & present buyers
•
•
•
•
•
United Bank of Carbon
COZero Pty Ltd
World Wide Web Hosting LLC
AECOM
Tuff Gong Worldwide/Ziggy Marley
Ecosystem & Biodiversity Benefits
The Clinton Development Initiative established the Trees of Hope Project in
2007 in the Dowa and Neno districts of Malawi to reverse deforestation,
mitigate the harmful effects of climate change, and bolster a self-sustaining
marketplace by making tree farming profitable and attractive for smallholder
farmers.
The Trees of Hope project helps decrease the community’s vulnerability to
climate change by implementing tree-based land use systems, while also
providing farmers with increased income from the sale of Plan Vivo certified
carbon credits. Plan Vivo supports communities in managing their natural
resources by quantifying ecosystem services.
• Improvement of ground water recharge systems through enhanced water
filtration.
• Reduction of unexpected forest fires in the region.
• Preserved or increased biodiversity.
• Soil conservation, limiting erosion and water retention.
Livelihood Benefits
• Income from sale of NTFPs, such as medicine and food products
(honey).
• Increased availability of livestock fodder.
Through the Trees of Hope project, rural farmers in Malawi decide how they
can best address threats to their local ecosystems by choosing one of five
land-use systems that addresses threats to their local ecosystem. These
systems represent responsible land management strategies that benefit the
environment by reducing soil erosion and increasing soil fertility.
• Sustainable charcoal production.
• Improved food and nutritional security through introducing grafted fruit
trees, which fruit faster than local varieties and often produce larger,
more fleshy fruit.
• Afforestation and sustainable harvesting techniques ease pressure on
women, who previously had to travel long distances to collect firewood.
Photo credits: Trees of Hope
• Solar drying techniques to dry fruits such as mangoes that would have
otherwise been wasted due to limited market access.
• Local Program Monitors (LPMs) coordinate farmers and training
sessions at community level in order to deliver programs more
effectively, allowing communities to take ownership of their natural
resource management systems.
Contact details:
www.clintonfoundation.org
Email: info@clintonfoundation.org
Phone: +1 212 348 8882
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REDD+ in the Yaeda Valley - Tanzania
The Yaeda Valley REDD+ project strengthens land tenure, management capacity and
local natural resource management in two Hadzabe hunter-gatherer communities in
Northern Tanzania, thereby contributing to local and international conservation aims.
Climate Services and Land Management
The project area covers 20,790 ha of Acacia-Commiphora woodland
collectively owned by the Hadza of Mongo Wa Mono and Domanga. After years
of encroachment and displacement, village members created a land use plan
designating the project area as protected for the utilization and cultural livelihoods
of the Hadza. The Hadza are one of Tanzania’s most unique and threatened
human cultures, with a deep reservoir of indigenous knowledge pertaining to
natural resource use. The project is currently expanding to include another
13,000 ha under land management.
Location
•
Mongo wa Mono and Domanga villages,
Northern Tanzania
Project Coordinator
•
Carbon Tanzania
The project is aiming to preserve Acacia-Commiphora woodland, and has the
capacity to generate 16,011 Plan Vivo certificates a year, each representing one
tonne of CO2e.
Operational since
•
2012
PVCs issued to date
•
Ecosystem & Biodiversity Benefits
32,022
Area of land under management
•
Project Interventions
•
Image: freevectormaps.com
• Protection of megafauna is a socio-economic benefit to the
Hadza who hunt large and medium size mammals sustainably;
the process of hunting is an intrinsic cultural element of their
society.
Avoided deforestation with the Hadzabe
hunter-gatherer communities by implementing
land use plans within the greater landscape,
creating protected zones, pastoralist zand
agricultural zones. Community customary
rights of occupancy (CCRO) ensure the
communities own the land through titled
deeds.
This project works with hunter-gatherer Hadza (or
Hadzabe) and pastoralist communities in Mongo
Wa Mono and Domanga villages. By working in
conjunction with traditional leaders, elected village
governments and a team of community members,
Carbon Tanzania (CT) has established a resultsbased PES system through the sale of ex-post
Plan Vivo Certificates (PVCs).
Participants
•
2 communities
Project Milestones
•
•
Registration in 2013
Verification due in 2018
Long-term sustainability drivers
•
Reducing encroachment on land inhabited by
pastoral communities
• Strengthening of culturally unique Hadzabe
livelihoods and land-rights
• Reduction of illegal logging and poaching
Examples of past & present buyers
•
•
•
•
• Protection of Acacica-commiphora woodland maintains
habitat for megafauna such as Elephant, Wild Dog, Lion and
Cheetah as well as migratory and resident avifauna.
20,790 ha
Natural Geographic Expeditions
The Map’s Edge
Braeburn School Arusha
Fairtravel Tanzania
• Protection of interior spring systems for both pastoral
communities and the Hadza.
• Increases in and sustainability of flowering plants, an important
resource for the Hadza who are highly dependent on both
volume and quality of honey.
The Hadzabe are one of the world’s oldest human cultures. This unique project uses
innovative conservation to protect and ensure the survival of the ‘last of the first’.
Livelihood Benefits
• PES payments are directly transferred into Hadza community accounts,
one for each village, known as the Jamii fund and two village accounts.
This REDD+ project strengthens land tenure, management capacity and local
natural resource management, and diversifies local incomes. Successful
avoided deforestation is achieved through a series of interventions including
reinforcing the implementation of the approved village land use plan and
associated village by-laws, improving forest conservation and management
activities and addressing the primary driver of deforestation, slash and burn
agriculture.
• Payments are also used for legal services beyond the scope of the
project that may be required for land use enforcement.
• Capacity-building in patrolling and monitoring to reduce illegal poaching
and logging.
• Supporting the Hadzabe to maintain their livelihoods and indigenous
knowledge pertaining to natural resource use in a challenging
environment.
The community members are trained to patrol and report any land use change
and / or poaching activities which contribute to tackling illegal land intrusion
and resulting land conversion at both local and district level.
• Transformative changes in the reduction of risk felt by the Hadza
communities has empowered the communities and strengthened
village, ward and district governance structures. From being seen as a
‘backward’ group, the value of the Hadza is being formally recognised.
Photo credits: REDD+ Yaeda Valley
• Creation of a dedicated Hadza medical fund reduces stress on the
most vulnerable members and especially serves to reduce infant
mortality.
Contact details:
www.carbontanzania.com
Email: info@carbontanzania.com
Phone: +255 762 970 536
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Mikoko Pamoja - Kenya
Mikoko Pamoja is a community-led mangrove conservation and restoration project based
in southern Kenya. Its aim is to provide long-term incentives for mangrove protection and
restoration through community involvement and benefit.
Climate Services and Land Management
The project will protect 107 ha of natural mangrove forest and 10 hectares
of plantation. Moreover, the project plants about 4,000 additional trees
per year, over a period of 20 years. The accounted carbon on 117 ha
consists of both above and below ground carbon pools.
Location
•
The carbon benefits are conservatively estimated at 2,500 tonnes CO2e
per year derived from avoided deforestation, prevented forest degradation
and new planting. Apart from avoided deforestation and reforestation, the
project also seeks to establish and maintain tree nurseries.
Gazi Bay, Kenya
Project Coordinator
•
Association for Coastal Ecosystem Services
(ACES)
The project has started small, to establish feasibility and credibility, but
intends to expand the protected area to ensure increased income.
Operational since
•
2010
PVCs issued to date
•
Ecosystem & Biodiversity Benefits
2,125
Area of land under management
•
Project Interventions
•
•
• Improved protection from coastal erosion through expanded
forest cover.
117 ha
Image: freevectormaps.com
Avoided Deforestation
Reforestation
• New Plantations help to stabilize beaches.
Participants
•
Registration in 2014
Verification due in 2018
Long-term sustainability drivers
•
•
•
Improvement of coastal ecosystems
Sustainable Management of NTFP
Additional income streams apart from
mangrove products
Examples of past & present buyers
•
•
•
• Habitat for wildlife species including crustaceans and commercial
fish.
2 village groups (498 households)
Project Milestones
•
•
• Increased fauna and flora due to habitat provision and sediment
capture, resulting in higher water quality.
Earthwatch Institute
Paolo Merlini
MSc Conservation Science Students 2015
Photo credits: Mikoko Pamoja
Mikoko Pamoja is a community-led mangrove conservation and restoration
project in Gazi Bay, Kenya. It involves community-based policing of illegal
mangrove harvesting, as well as the application of local expertise in mangrove
planting. Mangroves provide a wide range of ecosystem services, including
coastal protection, nursery habitat for fish and water purification.
Along with a wide range of associated ecological benefits including improved
fisheries wildlife habitat and coastal protection, the project seeks to raise
income from forest resources, including carbon credits and other income
generating activities such as beekeeping and ecotourism, for community
benefit.
• Examples of fauna benefiting from mangroves include: primates
such as the Kenya Coast Galago, Rondo Bushbaby, Tana River
Crested Mangabey and Baboons; charismatic bird species such
as the African fish Eagle, African spoon bill, and the Fischer’s
turaco; reptiles such as Green sea turtles, Loggerhead sea turtles
and Hawksbill sea turtles; numerous commercial fish species
and larger charismatic fishes such as Bull Shark.
Livelihood Benefits
The project is managed by three groups: The Mikoko Pamoja Community
Organization (MPCO) consists of representatives of Gazi Bay, specifically Gazi
and Makongeni villages; The Mikoko Pamoja Steering Group (MPSG) which
provides technical support to the MPCO; and the project coordinator, The
Association for Coastal Ecosystem Services (ACES), a charity registered in
Scotland.
• Minimum of 40% representation by
women in the Mikoko Pamoja Community
Organization.
• Reduced illegal extraction of wood in the
project intervention area.
• Training and capacity-building in monitoring,
nursery and woodlot maintenance.
• Sustainable forest harvesting that eases
pressures on mangroves.
Contact details:
http://www.aces-org.co.uk/
Email: m.huxham@napier.ac.uk
Phone: +44 131 4552514
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Sofala Community Carbon - Mozambique
The Sofala Community Carbon project is an innovative sustainability project working with forest
communities in the buffer zones of Gorongosa and Marromeu National Parks in central Mozambique
to improve rural livelihoods, habitat restoration, forest management and conservation of biodiversity.
Climate Services and Land Management
The Sofala Community Carbon project foresees the long-term
sequestration of 909,857 tonnes of CO2e through the project
interventions of agroforestry and avoided deforestation. Local
technicians monitor the carbon potential of the project annually.
Location
•
Gorongosa and Marromeu Park, Mozambique
The various community-led agroforestry techniques that the project is
using include boundary planting, dispersed inter-planting, the planting
of cashew and mango orchards, as well as homestead planting
and the establishment of woodlots of native tree species. Moreover,
the project runs a REDD+ conservation programme, which rewards
communities for protecting blocks of standing forest from deforestation
and degradation.
Project Coordinator
•
Envirotrade Sofala Limitada
Operational since
•
2003
PVCs issued to date
•
431,063
The project has the capacity to generate 100,000 tonnes of CO2e
per year. Beyond carbon payments, the project delivers many cobenefits, which positively impact the livelihoods of communities within
the project intervention area.
Area of land under management
•
12,000 ha
Project Interventions
•
•
Agroforestry
Image: freevectormaps.com
Avoided Deforestation
Ecosystem & Biodiversity Benefits
Participants
•
•
• The project contributes to the conservation of ecosystems in the
buffer zones of the Gorongosa and Marromeu national parks which
have the highest rate of biodiversity in Mozambique.
2,799 participants
28 community groups
Project Milestones
•
•
•
Registered in 2007
1st verification: 2010
2nd verification: 2015
Long-term sustainability drivers
•
Dispersed inter-planting to improve
sustainability
•
•
Strong focus on capacity-building and training
Established channels for knowledge transfer
and skill sharing
Examples of past & present buyers
•
•
•
•
•
Climate Africa
Associated Engineering
Creative Artists Agency Foundation
World Wide Web Hosting LLC
The Carbon Neutral Company
Photo credits: Sofala Communnity Carbon project
The Sofala Community Carbon Project is developing sustainable land use and
rural development activities in communities around and within the buffer zones
of the Gorongosa and Marromeu National Parks in central Mozambique. The
project has implemented agroforestry activities as well as interventions that
result in avoided deforestation.
The project enables individuals and companies to effectively invest in new
forests and agroforestry. By becoming trained crop farmers, local people
contribute significantly to their own environments whilst securing regular
income and stable sustainable food supply. The revival of agroforestry among
impoverished communities is generating crops that enrich rather than exhaust
fragile forest soils.
• The Sofala Community Carbon project supports the systematic
rehabilitation of community land bordering national parks.
• The project involves altering land use patterns in mashambas (areas
of land “slashed and burned“ for crop planting) with indigenous
Miombo woodland trees, primarily local fruit and bee-fodder
species, fruit trees and other selected species along riverbanks to
help stabilise the watersheds.
Livelihood Benefits
• PES payments for carbon benefits on 12,000 hectares have
enabled the local community to self-fund a local school providing
indoor education to children within the project boundaries.
The project seeks to link the establishment and protection of carbon stocks
to sustainable development by using some of the carbon revenues to kickstart small commercial enterprises. Moreover, the project offers protection to
African wildlife.
• Communities have been trained to use better construction
methods. Tin roofs were installed on houses, giving communities
improved shelter and protection during the rainy season.
• Since the project’s inception, a saw mill, a carpentry shop and a
clinic have been built within the project area.
Furthermore, the Sofala project extends farming and capacity-building to
project participants, and has a strong focus on diversifying farmers’ income
streams. The project trains smallholders in the sustainable farming of important
cash crops which most farmers then incorporate into their plantings. This not
only contributes to improving food security for themselves, but also enables
them to access additional income streams. A popular Sofala cash crop option
is the cashew tree which tolerates poor soils, produces edible fruits and, at
maturity, can annually yield 50 pounds of cashews per tree.
• Inclusion of cash crops into farming systems to generate additional
income.
Contact details:
www.envirotrade.net
Email: mail@envirotrade.net
Phone: +44 77 6969 0047
By generating crops that enrich rather than exhaust the fragile forest soils
and managing fire within the portions of the woodlands inhabited by rural
communities, the project is giving a new lifeline to endangered plant and
animal species.
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People and livelihoods
Ethical climate services
Ecosystems
Watersheds
ASIA
PES
Native species
Hiniduma Bio-Link Project - Sri Lanka
Khasi Hills REDD+ Project - India
Himalayan Community Carbon Project - Nepal
Biodiversity
Adaptation
Poverty Reduction
Community Rights
Participation
Transparency
Habitats
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Hiniduma Bio-Link Project - Sri Lanka
The Hiniduma Bio-Link Project aims to conserve Sri Lanka’s last remaining rainforests, whilst addressing
the pressing issues of rural poverty and climate change in a developing country. In addition to creating
new employment opportunities and increased revenues for smallholders, the project delivers new jobs
directly linked to the project, as well as ecosystem services, such as improved water, soil, and air quality.
Climate Services and Land Management
The smallholdings are predominantly made up of tea plantations, with the
remaining land cover being home gardens and remnant rainforest patches.
The project has involved the planting of 94 tree species of both economic and
biodiversity value. The project area for the initial phase was 18 hectares in total,
which formed a contiguous corridor between Polgahakanda and Kanneliya,
two patches of rainforest.
Location
•
Galle District, SE Sri Lanka
Project Coordinator
•
Carbon quantification is based on conservative estimates of the expected
average increase in carbon stocks in above and below-ground woody biomass
over 20 years. The expected sequestration potential per hectare is 152.1
tCO2e/ha after deducting a 20% risk buffer.
Carbon Consulting Company
Operational since
•
2010
PVCs issued to date
•
The ecosystem services provided by the project are sold as Plan Vivo
Certificates, which represent long-term carbon sequestration. The crediting
period of the project is 20 years, with future expansions of the project expected
to be funded through the sale of Plan Vivo certificates.
2,767
Area of land under management
•
18.8 ha
Project Interventions
•
Mixed Species Reforestation with Local
Smallholders to Create Biodiversity Corridor
Participants
•
32 smallholders
Project Milestones
•
•
Registered in 2012
Validation in 2012
Long-term sustainability drivers
•
Establishment of a Biodiversity corridor
between isolated forest patches
•
•
Enhancement of Ecosystem Services
Enhancement of Local Community Livelihoods
Examples of past & present buyers
•
•
•
Marks & Spencer
Steenbergs Organic, UK
Standard Chartered Bank
Image: freevectormaps.com
The ‘Hiniduma Bio-Link’ is a project by the Carbon Consulting
Company to establish a biodiversity corridor between two
large remnant, vastly disturbed rainforest patches – Singharaja
(UNESCO World Heritage Site) & Kanneliya (International Man
and Biosphere Reserve), and to conserve buffer zones around
the forest edges through reforestation.
The primary aim of this project is to reduce the pressure by local communities
in the surrounding areas on the remaining rainforest patches, whilst enhancing
the livelihoods of traditional communities living in close proximity to tracts of
natural forest where the biodiversity is high, but under imminent threat.
The project has been implemented according to Plan Vivo methodologies
and has been certified to the Plan Vivo standard since July 2012. Under this
system, smallholders are supported in home gardening reforestation and
agroforestry using farmer-based participatory approaches. Trees are native and
endemic rainforest species, as well as fruit and medicinal trees, which allow
farmers to generate additional income streams. As well as native species, the
project also introduces new plants to improve and support local ecosystem
services. Promoting eco-friendly livelihood options such as organic farming
and analog forestry, without disturbing their existing livelihood practices are
also key objectives.
Ecosystem & Biodiversity Benefits
• Introduction of 97 different tree species.
• Enhanced wildlife habitat through creation
of a biodiversity link between isolated forest
patches.
• Improvement of microclimate associated
with trees including the provision of shading.
• Introduction of suitable tree species near
watersheds help protect river basins
resulting in enhanced water infiltration.
Livelihood Benefits
• Woodlots provide a sustainable source of
firewood and poles to reduce pressure on
forest resources.
Photo credits: Hiniduma Bio-Link project
• Income diversification through non-timber
forest products, such as medicines, fruit,
livestock feed and shading materials.
• Additional source of income through the
introduction of beekeeping.
Contact details:
www.carbonconsultingcompany.com
Email: info@carbonconsultco.com
Phone: +94 117 208 208
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Khasi Hills Community REDD+ Project - India
Climate Services and Land Management
The Khasi Hills Community REDD+ Project is India’s first community-based REDD+ programme,
and will protect and restore 27,000 ha of cloud forest. The project aims to preserve sacred
groves and other forest areas, including watersheds, and to re-plant surrounding land.
The project is significant as it is one of the first REDD+ initiatives in Asia to be developed
by indigenous tribal governments on communal and clan land. It is located in the
Umiam River watershed, which, despite abundant rainfall, is affected by drought and
increased temperature largely due to forest loss.
Location
• East Khasi Hills District, Meghalaya, India
The REDD+ component of the project encompasses five activities which are aimed
at protecting and enhancing hydrological aspects and biodiversity, in addition to
storing and sequestering carbon. These include: Advance closure, i.e. mobilizing
communities to restrict access and use of degraded forests, Assisted Natural
Regeneration activities, controlling forest fires, sustainable fuel wood production, and
reduced fuel wood consumption by introducing fuel-efficient cook stoves.
Project Coordinator
• Community Forestry International / Ka Synjuk
Ki Hima Arliang Wah Umiam
Operational since
• 2011
The project has the potential to generate 26,479 Plan Vivo certificates per year, each
representing one tonne of CO2e and additional co-benefits.
PVCs issued to date
• 21,805
Area of land under management
• 15,217 ha
• REDD+: 9,270 ha Dense Forest
• ANR: 5,947 ha. Open Forest
Project Interventions
• REDD+
• Assisted Natural Regeneration
Ecosystem & Biodiversity Benefits
Image: freevectormaps.com
• Establishment of a biodiversity corridor linking remnant
forest patches and therefore providing enhanced shelter for
biodiversity.
Participants
• 62 village groups
Project Milestones
• Registration in 2013
• Verification due in 2018
Long-term sustainability drivers
• Sustainable management of NTFP
• Establishment of home-based tree seedling
nurseries
• Moratorium on surface mines and quarries
• Establishment of community micro-finance
groups
Examples of past & present buyers
• Ceramica Sant’Agostino
• EcoMetrica Edinburgh
• TUI Nordic
• Bridge Partnership
• Ecometrica
Photo credits: Khasi Hills Community REDD+ Project
• Conservation of a unique mixed evergreen cloud forest which
is rich in endangered amphibian species.
• Protecting the Umiam river watershed with forest buffers.
The Khasi Hills Community REDD+ Project is situated in the East Khasi Hills
District of Meghalaya, India. It engages ten indigenous Khasi governments
(hima) with 62 villages. The area was chosen on the grounds of established
Khasi traditions of forest conservation and legal right for natural resource
management.
• Protection of sacred groves.
Livelihood Benefits
• Establishment of home-based tree seedling nurseries.
This REDD+ project aims to slow, halt and reverse the loss of community forests
by providing support, new technologies and financial incentives to conserve
existing forests and regenerate degraded forests. The project intervention area
is a global biodiversity hotspot, providing habitat to many endangered species.
• Establishment of women-run Self-help Groups (SHGs) in charge of
tree nurseries and micro-finance institutions.
• Promotion of eco-tourism to generate income for local farmers and
smallholders.
Another primary objective of the project is to deliver long-term strategies
to address extreme poverty facing rural families and is involved in the
establishment of women-run microfinance institutions.
• Distribution of fuel-efficient
smokeless stoves to reduce
dependency on firewood
and increase health at
household level.
The Khasi Hills Community Carbon project aims to reduce deforestation and
restore forests at the same time. It does so by attacking the area’s root causes
of deforestation. Therefore, the project focuses on reducing the number
and severity of forest fires by establishing firelines which are maintained and
monitored during the fire season by local communities. To reduce fuelwood
collection, fast-growing woodlots are being established near villages to cover
the demand for firewood.
Contact details:
http://communityforestryinternational.org/
Email: tamborlyngdoh70@gmail.com
Phone: +91 9863082456
The project is manufacturing and installing fuel-efficient cook stoves and plans
to subsidize the majority of the 5,000 households in the project area. As a
result of this activity, fuelwood consumption and indoor smoke pollution will be
reduced improving forest and family health.
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Himalayan Community Carbon Project - Nepal
The Himalayan Community Carbon Project (HCCP) is a pilot project in Nepal developed by Rupantaran
Nepal, a local NGO dedicated to assisting rural communities in developing capacities and experience
to sustainably manage forests. It is a registered project with the Government of Nepal’s REDD+ cell.
Climate Services and Land Management
The project area spans 19,122 ha and extends to 94 community forest
groups in 4 districts of Nepal.
Forest in the pilot sites are classified into dense, medium and sparse using
Landsat images. 188 sample plots were then used to calculate actual
growing stock. The total forest area covered in the eight pilot VDCs is about
19,122 ha of which 29.8% is in dense, 50.5% in medium and 19.7% in
sparse condition. The present average carbon stock varies between about
34.71 tonnes/ha in the sparsest forest to about 96 tonnes/ha in the densest
forests.
Location
•
Dhankuta, Rupandehi, Baglung, Dang in Nepal
Project Coordinator
•
Rupantaran Nepal
Operational since
•
The project is expected to generate about 259,619 tonnes of CO2e benefits
over 10 years by enhancing community forest carbon stocks based on five
activities: (1) Forest stock enhancing (seedling production, assisted natural
regeneration, silvicultural operations), (2) Forest Protection (grazing and fire
control), (3) Forest environment enhancement (soil working, erosion control),
(4) livelihoods and community-based activities (support for alternative
livelihoods and communal activities), (5) Capacity-building and awareness
(strengthening group governance and training on forestry-related activities).
2010
PVCs issued to date
•
First issuance request (2015): 20,000
Area of land under management
•
16,159 ha (19,122 ha in total)
Project Interventions
•
Enhanced Forest Carbon Stock
Image:
Participants
•
freevectormaps.com
Ecosystem & Biodiversity Benefits
94 community groups
• Grazing Control resulting in reduced soil erosion and
exposure, therefore improving soil fertility.
Project Milestones
•
•
Registration in 2014
Verification due in 2018
Long-term sustainability drivers
•
•
•
Non-Timber Forest Products (NTFPs)
•
Replicable and extendable to other forest user
groups in Nepal
Conservation of Himalayan watershed
Improves the livelihoods and capacity of the
rural people managing the forest
Examples of past & present buyers
•
First issuance due in mid-2015
Photo credits: HCCP
Rupantaran developed HCCP in 2010 with the aim of supporting rural
communities in Nepal to engage with and benefit from international voluntary
markets for ecosystem services.
HCCP was set-up in line with the Nepal’s Ministry of Forests and Soil
Conservation’s Readiness Preparation Proposal (RPP) which encourages pilot
projects for developing capacities and experience that could be scaled-up in
future for Nepal’s REDD+ strategy.
The project was developed through a transparent and participatory process
involving stakeholders at all levels from central government (REDD+ Cell) to
communities and households in the pilot areas.
The aim of HCCP is to enhance livelihoods and reduce the vulnerability of
rural communities through sustainable forest management and equitable
distribution of benefits.
• Protection of endangered species through increased
forest cover.
• Positive knock-on effects on local water quality.
• Protection of the great Himalayan watershed.
• Natural regeneration management and promotion of
native/local species.
• Minimisation of fire hazards through fire control
mechanisms.
Livelihood Benefits
• Establishment of the revolving funds to support the
poor and most vulnerable.
• Establishment of small-scale local enterprises to
generate employment for poor.
• Further income streams from cash crops and fruits
cultivation.
• Special focus on strengthening the role of women in
communities.
• Less smoke hazard and reducing workload for
women through adoption of improved cook stoves
and access to forest products.
• Direct involvement and benefit to marginalised and
poor community groups.
Contact details:
http://www.rupantaran.org.np/
Email: mail@rupantaran.org.np
Phone: +44 7854 923290
• Sustainable animal husbandry.
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Projects at validation stage in 2015
The number of projects choosing Plan Vivo Certification is growing considerably. The Standard has registered 12
operational projects, which have the capacity to generate certificates. Currently an additional 24 projects are under
development with approved project idea notes (PINs). A selection of validated projects likely to be certified and
registered in 2015 follows:
NAME
PROJECT COORDINATOR
STATUS
Much Kanan K’aax,
Mexico
U’ Yool’ Ché A.C.
PDD validation TBA
Restoration of degraded ecosystems in
the Sahel, Burkina Faso.
Ondernemers Zonder Grenzen
PIN approved 2012
South Choiseul Forest Carbon Project,
Solomon Islands
Live and Learn Environmental
Education, Carbon Partnership
PIN approved 2013
Target Registration: 2015
Values and Valuation: New Approaches
to Conservation in Mongolia
University of Leicester
PIN approved 2014
Community Forests for Climate, People and Wildlife, Hutan Desa Durian
Rambun, Jambi.
Nyungwe Community Carbon Scheme,
Rwanda
Wildlife Conservation Society
PIN approved 2014
Wonegizi Community-based REDD+
Project, Liberia
Fauna & Flora International
PIN approved 2014
Two Worlds – One Bird, Dominican
Republic
Fundacion Loma Quita Espuela
PIN approved 2014
Drawa Forest Carbon Project, Fiji
Live and Learn Environmental
Education, Carbon Partnership
PIN approved 2014
Supporting sustainable land
management, Sierra Leone & Guinea
Bioclimate Research &
Development West Africa
PIN approved 2014
Activities: Avoided Deforestation (REDD+) and Forest Conservation, with special focus
on forest protection, regeneration and rehabilitation.
Canjombe Community ES, Cela,
Kwanza Sul, Angola
COSPE
PIN approved 2014
Target Registration: 2015
Bujang Raba Community PES Project,
Indonesia
WARSI
PIN approved 2014
Kolo Hills REDD+ Project.
Payment for Ecosystem Services
in the Ngoyla-Mintom forest block
rural communities, N Golya Province,
Cameroon
WWF Cameroon
PIN approved 2015
Tahiry Honko: Community Mangrove
Carbon Project, Southwest
Madagascar
Blue Ventures Conservation
PIN approved 2015
Mousso Ta Yiri, Burkina Faso
SocieTrees
PIN approved 2015
Community-Based Agroforestry for Upper Watershed Rehabilitation,
Lombok Indonesia.
Location: Lombok, Indonesia.
Project Coordinator: Fauna and Flora International.
Activities: Rehabilitation of watershed forests through improved community based
agroforestry systems.
Photo: Anna Roesinger
Location: Jambi, Sumatra, Indonesia.
Project Coordinator: Fauna and Flora International.
Activities: Avoided Deforestation (REDD+) and Forest Conservation, with special focus
on forest protection, regeneration and rehabilitation.
Photo: Anna Roesinger
Project pipeline
Target Registration: 2015
Community Forest Ecosystem Services Indonesia, Hutan Desa Laman
Satong, West Kalimantam.
Location: West Kalimantan, Indonesia.
Project Coordinator: Fauna and Flora International.
Photo: Anna Roesinger
Location: Tanzania, Dodoma Region, Kondoa District.
Project Coordinator: African Wildlife Foundation.
Activities: Community-led management of two forest reserves and forests in 18 local
villages, covering a total of 20,416 hectares. Avoided deforestation under REDD+
Target Registration: 2015
Local Trees for a Better World, Arlomon, Senegal.
Location: Patako Forest, Senegal.
Project Coordinator: Arlomom.
Activities: Project Interventions are mainly focused on agroforestry (intercropping and
boundary planting), Afforestation and Assisted Natural Regeneration (ANR).
Target Registration: 2015
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For additional copies of this brochure
or further information, please contact us at:
info@planvivofoundation.org
www.planvivo.org
Plan Vivo Foundation
Thorn House
5 Rose Street
Edinburgh, EH2 2PR
U.K.
Plan
Vivo
Improving livelihoods, restoring ecosystems
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