Plan Vivo Project Portfolio - Plan Vivo Improving livelihoods, restoring ecosystems - United Bank of Carbon
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Plan Vivo
Project Portfolio
Plan Vivo
Improving livelihoods, restoring ecosystems
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CONTENTS
People and livelihoods
Introduction
Ethical climate services
The Plan Vivo Standard p.2
Ecosystems
Plan Vivo Key Figures p.4
Why support Plan Vivo? p.5
Latin America:
Watersheds
Scolel’te - Mexico p.8
PES
CommuniTree Carbon Project - Nicaragua p.10
ArBolivia - Bolivia p.12
Native species Africa:
Trees for Global Benefits - Uganda p.16
Biodiversity
Emiti Nibwo Bulora - Tanzania p.18
Trees of Hope - Malawi p.20
REDD+ in the Yaeda Valley - Tanzania p.22
Adaptation Mikoko Pamoja - Kenya p.24
Sofala - Mozambique p.26
Asia:
Poverty Reduction
Hiniduma Bio-Link Project - Sri Lanka p.30
Community Rights Khasi Hills Community REDD+ Project - India p.32
Himalayan Community Carbon Project - Nepal p.34
Participation Projects at validation stage in 2015 p.36
Project Pipeline p.37
Transparency
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 Purchasing Plan Vivo Certificates in order to offset
communities wishing to manage their land more sustainably. This is achieved through your organisation’s emissions, invest in your supply
a diverse range of project interventions that enhance and quantify ecosystem services, chain or strengthen your CSR, means you will be
such as carbon sequestration, biodiversity or watershed protection. These requirements investing in community-led projects.
are designed to ensure that projects contribute to climate change mitigation, biodiversity
conservation, serve local needs and alleviate poverty in rural communities. These proactively involve marginalised members
of communities and boost livelihoods with direct
Plan Vivo Certificates income and investment in sustainable enterprises.
You will help equip at-risk communities with the tools
Plan Vivo projects generate Plan Vivo Certificates. Each certificate represents the to shape their own sustainable futures.
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
The integrated co-benefits delivered by projects is where Plan Vivo stands out from internal and external reviewers, and verified periodically
the crowd. Plan Vivo is the only Standard to require direct payments to communities; by trusted third parties such as the Rainforest Alliance,
the only Standard stipulating the planting of native or naturalised species; and the only ESI, AENOR and EPIC Sustainability. The promotion
Standard (2013 version) where projects ensure a minimum of 60% of revenues goes of community-based monitoring reduces the need
to communities. for costly external technical support and strengthens
communities’ capacity, ownership and commitment
Flexible and innovative approach to projects.
Plan Vivo promotes the development of sustainable livelihoods, thus addressing the root Recognition
causes of deforestation and degradation, such as encroachment, timber, fuelwood and
charcoal extraction, which require innovative solutions. Plan Vivo develops and utilizes As one of the pioneers in the voluntary carbon market, the Plan Vivo network has received widespread recognition and generous
new approaches tailored to the realities and needs of local people, as well as delivering support from the likes of the UK’s DFID, World Bank, UNDP, UNCCD, Carbon Trust, Clinton Foundation, Hunter Foundation,
long-term verified carbon offsets and ecosystem services for the buyers of Plan Vivo Waterloo Foundation, International Union for Conservation of Nature (IUCN), Wildlife Conservation Society, Fauna & Flora Intl. and
Certificates. 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
Plan Vivo is the longest-standing voluntary standard for forest carbon. communities that would otherwise lack the
The first certificates were generated in 1997 after the development of financial, organisational or technical capacity
a DFID-funded research project in Chiapas, Mexico. 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.
Long-term sustainability
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
Plan Vivo projects are located in over 11 different Smallholders in rural communities benefit from Plan of generating social and environmental co-
countries across Latin America, Asia and Africa, and Vivo’s flexible and simple approach which allows benefits as well as reducing poverty.
include projects that combine carbon sequestration them to implement activities that enable income
Growing Demand
activities with livelihood and ecosystem benefits. diversification and other livelihood benefits.
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 capacity- Plan Vivo-certified projects have directly channelled
building to smallholders and local communities, funds to smallholders and communities, and have www.clevel.co.uk www.cotap.org www.myclimate.org
supporting them to efficiently switch to sustainable thereby contributed directly to poverty alleviation
land management tecniques. and local employment opportunities.
www.prima-klima-weltweit.de www.unitedbankofcarbon.com www.zeromission.se
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People and livelihoods
Ethical climate services LATIN AMERICA
Ecosystems
Watersheds Scolel’te - Mexico
CommuniTree Carbon Project - Nicaragua
PES ArBolivia - Bolivia
Native species
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. Climate Services and Land Management
Scolel’te is the longest-running ecosystem services project on the Voluntary Carbon Market across the Land-use management plans are in place for the long-term sequestration of more
globe. It has served as a benchmark and formed the basis for the development of the Plan Vivo system. than 459,060 tonnes of CO2e, which are monitored by local and regional technicians
Location and reported annually. The project has the capacity to generate 30,000 Plan Vivo
• Central & Northern Chiapas, Mexico Certificates (PVCs) per year, each representing the sequestration or reduction of one
tonne of CO2e plus additional co-benefits.
Project Coordinator
• Cooperativa Ambio S.C. de R.L. Scolel’te forest management activities include forest restoration and enrichment
Operational since (improved fallows), trees planted with food crops (taungya), shade-grown coffee,
• 1997 forest boundaries (live fences), and protection of natural forest to avoid land-use
PVCs issued to date change.
• 468,090 The project area encompasses a number of important ecological regions, including
Area of land under management buffer zones of natural protected areas, such as Montes Azules, El Triunfo, La
• 7,641.75 ha Sepultura and Selva El Ocote Biosphere Reserves; the Protected Area for Flora and
Project Interventions Fauna of Naha-Metzabok (Ramsar site) and the Protected Area for Natural Resources
• Afforestation of La Frailescana.
• Agroforestry Ecosystem & Biodiversity Benefits
• Reforestation
• Forest Restoration • Scolel’te has protected and conserved more than 7,500 ha of forest
• Avoided Deforestation Image: freevectormaps.com in Chiapas and Oaxaca.
Participants
• 2,735 smallholders (of which 1,235 with PES • Restoration of degraded pine oak forest in upland areas.
agreements) and 7 community groups • Restoration of tropical rainforests.
Project Milestones
• Protection and restoration of endangered Tropical Mountain Cloud
• Pilot programme: 1994
• Registration & Validation: 1997 Forest.
• Independent review: 2000 • Watersheds protection.
• 1st Verification: 2002 (SGS)
• 2nd Verification: 2006 (Rainforest Alliance) • Habitat for North American migratory birds.
• 3rd Verification: 2008 (Rainforest Alliance)
• 4th Verification: 2013 (Rainforest Alliance) Scolel’te (“the tree that grows” in Mayan Tzeltal language) is the longest- • Reforestation with 25 local species.
standing project in the Plan Vivo network, dating back to a pilot programme in
Long-term sustainability drivers
1994. It was officially operational three years later.
• Protects more than 7,500 ha of forest buffer Livelihood Benefits
zones in Chiapas It has been running on a commercially self-sufficient basis since 2002 under
• High-value sustainable timber • The Scolel’te programme supports more than 1,200 smallholders of
the leadership of AMBIO, a Mexican environmental non-profit cooperative
• Capacity-building for sustainable forest Mayan and Mestizo farmers, organized into around 90 communities.
management
that coordinates the project and organises field activities in cooperation with
• Territorial planning various community groups, smallholder farmers and social organisations. • Multiple indigenous groups are benefited, including the Tzeltal,
• Environmental awareness Lacandon and Chol communities in the rainforest, Tojolabales in
The Scolel’te programme supports more than 2,735 producers and 7
• Restoration of endangered tropical cloud forest the southern border, as well as Tsotsil and Zoque people in western
community groups, benefitting approximately 2,450 families. In March 2011,
Examples of past & present buyers Chiapas.
Scolel’te was recognised by Initiativa Mexico Awards. Scolel’te was chosen as
• FIA Foundation
• World Bank a national finalist from hundreds of local initiatives and showcased on national • Scolel’te carries out regular meetings with forest technicians,
• HSBC Reforestamos Mexico television, as an outstanding local environmental initiative. In 2013, AMBIO community representatives and local authorities aimed at promoting
• Mexico President’s Office also received the Mexican National Forest Merit Award. social participation and community-based organization.
• U&We (Ekobanken, Absolut Vodka)
• IUCN Photo credits: Britt Basel • 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 Climate Services and Land Management
the sale of carbon offsets. The program encourages smallholder farmers to establish mixed native Between 2010 and 2014, the program has collaborated with 280 smallholder
species forest plantations on the underutilized portions of their farms in order to mitigate climate change. 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
Location smallholders.
• Municipalities San Juan de Limay, Esteli and Based on forestry best practices, Taking Root’s internal verification (i.e. monitoring)
Somoto, Madriz in Nicaragua procedure takes place annually using a custom-built Smallholder Carbon Project
Project Coordinator Information Management System (SCPIMS). Through the SCPIMS, 10% of the
• Taking Root land of every farm reforested is randomly verified and every tree within that area is
measured.
Operational since
This information serves to determine the amount of carbon sequestered by the
• 2010
trees and also informs management decisions tailored to the needs of each site.
PVCs issued to date The results are made publicly available in our annual reports posted on the Plan
• 256,604 Vivo website.
Area of land under management Ecosystem & Biodiversity Benefits
• 866 ha • The program is located on a critically important watershed that feeds directly into the Real Estuary, recognized by the Ramsar
Project Interventions Convention as a wetland of international priority due its abundance of biodiversity.
• Agroforestry Image: freevectormaps.com • The trees help retain humidity in the dry season and minimize flooding and landslides in the rainy season.
• Afforestation
• Reforestation • 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
• 280
• 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.
Project Milestones
• Planting design allows for heterogeneous multi-function tree stands in terms of species, age and canopy structure, which
• Registered in 2011
favours wildlife habitat, soil fertility, while increasing forest productivity and providing harvests of valuable forest products.
• 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
Long-term sustainability drivers literature on Gliricidia sepium, one of the NFTs used in the program, Taking Root estimates that the trees contribute 9,990 kg
• Wide variety of native tree species well of naturally produced nitrogen annually.
adapted to future climate scenarios. Taking Root is a pioneer in leveraging the forest carbon offset industry for • Most of the tree species planted are deciduous, meaning they shed their leaves in the dry season, contributing large quantities
• Development of markets for sustainably economic development amongst smallholder farmers in Central America. This of biomass to rebuild the soil.
produced forest products. is achieved by encouraging smallholder farming families to reforest the under-
• Strong focus on data collection and adaptive utilized parts of their farms in exchange for direct payments over time as the
Livelihood and Gender Equality Benefits (between 2010-2014):
management. • $579,198 (equivalent to 527 annual salaries) has been paid to the
trees sequester carbon from the atmosphere.
• Strong community presence and community in the form of payments for ecosystem services, advance
responsiveness to evolving local priorities. To ensure that these benefits are long-lived, the program is specifically payments and salaries;
Examples of past & present buyers 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
• Inter-American Development Bank service payments provided that smallholders meet carbon
• Tuff Gong Worldwide
Participants receive direct payments for ecosystem services (PES) over a 10- sequestration targets;
• Arivd Nordquist
• Jack Wolfskin year period, which amount to 60% of the carbon credit sale price. As the densely
• In 2014, 991 seasonal and 15 full time jobs are created every year.
Photo credits: Taking Root planted trees start to crowd each other out, they are selectively harvested to
207 of these employees are women, 235 of them are landless
allow the plantation as a whole to continue to grow, thus optimizing long-
farmers;
run carbon sequestration while providing sustainably produced merchantable
timber. • Women and women’s groups are particularly targeted in the program’s
ongoing community consultations and workshops so that the project
Participants’ livelihoods are better adapted to climate change because trees design can be adapted to their specific needs. $17,000 worth of
are more resilient to droughts and flooding than traditional agricultural crops seeds is purchased for the nurseries annually from additional women
so their livelihoods are partially hedged against the risk of extreme weather in the region who collect them from their trees.
events caused by climate change. Moreover, forest plantations are additional
to agricultural activities and the income that they provide is designed to be
Contact details:
counter-cyclical to the agricultural season, thus helping to distribute livelihood
http://www.takingroot.org
activities to the times of the year when they are the most needed.
Email: info@takingroot.org
Taking Root is currently working with international development organizations Phone: +1 514 418 1408
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 Climate Services and Land Management
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. 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
Location and encouraged to cultivate both food crops and timber on the same plot of land, whilst trees
• Cochabamba Tropics, Bolivia are used to improve soil conditions through nitrogen fixation, combat soil compaction, prevent
Project Coordinator
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
• SICIREC Bolivia Ltd. to enhanced yields.
Operational since
The project also emphasizes the use of native species, using 18 native hardwoods, grown
• 2007
from local seeds. The project provides training on a wide range of subjects with the aim
PVCs issued to date of providing knowledge on “climate smart agriculture”, including the production and use of
• 34,766 organic fertilisers, biogas production, fire prevention and many other topics.
Area of land under management
• 195.75 ha Ecosystem & Biodiversity Benefits
Project Interventions Image: freevectormaps.com
• Improved soil protection and soil improvement through reforestation.
• Afforestation
• Hydrographical watershed protection and regulation.
Participants
• 152 smallholders • Reduction in annual burning of crop residues.
Project Milestones • Some tree species (e.g. Tapirira guianensis) provide fodder for wildlife.
• Registered in 2011 • Some species (e.g. Calophyllum brasiliensis & Tapirira guianensis) can survive
• 1st verification in 2016 extended periods submerged under water and are used to protect against erosion as
a result of flooding.
Long-term sustainability drivers
The ArBolivia project is being implemented in the Cochabamba tropics, Santa • Training in fire prevention and control, establishing local volunteer brigades and
• The project uses 18 different native species Cruz (Ichilo Province), Northern La Paz and Western Beni. The project includes
grown from local seeds providing public broadcast services of fire risks.
around 900 smallholders, belonging to around 50 different community groups.
• Strong Focus on Education and Capacity Plan Vivo certificates have so far been issued on behalf of 152 familiies. • Training on production and use of organic fertilisers reduces the use and resultant
Building impact of harmful chemicals.
• Establishment of conservation areas The lack of capital to invest in more efficient and sustainable agricultural • Leguminous species help to fix nitrogen in the soil and improve fertility.
Examples of past & present buyers practices has traditionally forced many smallholders to employ slash and burn
techniques, which continue to threaten the western fringes of the Amazon.
• ForestFinance
With the help of investment capital provided mainly by the UK not-for-profit Livelihood Benefits
• Sydney Convention and Exhibition Centre sector, The Cochabamba Project is reforesting affected areas together with
• Clearway Sustainability Resources Ltd communities, providing households with the prospect of substantial, ongoing, Smallholders receive training in improved agricultural techniques and how to evaluate and
additional revenues. assess agricultural and afforestation activities. Incomes increase as a result of improved
agricultural production including:
Carbon credit revenues help to fund additional activities in the short-term • Enhanced yields as a result of the use of leguminous cover crops to improve soil
aimed at increasing crop yields for families, whilst also saving one of the most fertility
Photo credits: ArBolivia unique and precious ecosystems on the planet – the Amazon rainforest.
• Shade trees planted to protect delicate cash crops and regulate soil water
The project enables purchasers of carbon credits to link directly to individual • Optimum plant spacing is recommended to ensure that fruits grow to their full potential
farmers, making it possible to demonstrate its social and environmental
impacts. • New cash crops such as peanuts, chia, stevia and moringa are being developed that
have much higher value than traditional crops
In January 2010, ArBolivia, was the first and only foreign plantation forestry • Training on the production and use of organic fertilisers mean that farmers do not
project to received the “Green Status” from the Dutch government and need to buy expensive chemical products
therefore now qualifies for loans from the “Green Funds” of Dutch investment • Training on fire prevention reduces the risk of losing crops to wildfires
banks. Contact details:
• Recommendations for appropriate grasses, silvo-pastural planting http://www.arbolivia.org
19 forestry committees have been established to ensure ongoing stakeholder including leguminous tree species leads to improved pasture and Email: info@arbolivia.org
dialogue and community-focused development. In the indigenous territories allows for higher stocking rates. Phone: +591 4 4485119
the work of the forestry committee is conducted within the pre-existing
community structures.
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People and livelihoods
Ethical climate services
AFRICA
Ecosystems
Watersheds Trees for Global Benefits - Uganda
Emiti Nibwo Bulora - Tanzania
PES Trees of Hope - Malawi
REDD+ in the Yaeda Valley - Tanzania
Native species Mikoko Pamoja - Kenya
Biodiversity Sofala - Mozambique
Adaptation
Poverty Reduction
Community Rights
Participation
Transparency
Habitats
ç è
Trees for Global Benefits - Uganda
Trees for Global Benefit (TGB) is a cooperative carbon offsetting scheme which combines community- Climate Services and Land Management
led activities to increase carbon sequestration with performance-based payments for farmers. Through its activities, the long-term carbon sequestration of the project
is 649,711 tonnes of CO2e. TGB enables communities to gain skills
Location and knowledge to manage land sustainably in three different aspects:
• Bushenyi, Hoima, Masindi and Kasese districts, afforestation, improved forest management and assisted regeneration. The
Uganda project has the capacity to generate 100,000 Plan Vivo Certificates (PVCs)
Project Coordinator with each certificate representing the sequestration or reduction of one tonne
• Ecotrust of CO2e, as well as other co-benefits. The project is active in the districts
Operational since of Bushenyi, Hoima Kasese, Masindi, Gulu, Adjumani, Mbale, Manafwa and
• 2003 Bududa, and encompasses about 4,064 ha of land.
PVCs issued to date TGB has been verified by the Rainforest Alliance in 2009 and in 2013
• 734,816 which involved an assessment of the project’s monitoring as well as the
The TGB model has been adopted and promoted by UNDP as an sustainability of project activities.
Area of land under management effective model for promoting Ecosystem-Based Adaptation (EBA)
• 4,064 ha
Project Interventions
• Afforestation Ecosystem & Biodiversity Benefits
• Reforestation Image: freevectormaps.com
• Agroforestry
• Further expansion of indigenous tree species, native islands and corridors.
Participants
• 3,278 smallholders • Restoration, protection and management of degraded and threatened
Project Milestones ecosystems.
• Registered and operational since 2003 • Increased provision of alternative sources of wood.
• 1st Verification: 2009 (Rainforest Alliance)
• 2nd Verification: 2013 (Rainforest Alliance) • Regulation of micro-climates.
Long-term sustainability drivers • Improved water purification.
• Collaborative Natural Resource Management Trees for Global Benefits is designed as a cooperative community–based • Soil stabilisation and improved moisture retention on slopes.
Groups. carbon offset scheme with livelihood components emphasising sustainable
• Sustainable Timber Production. land-use practices. It operates as a market solution that reduces unsustainable
• Capacity-building for Farmers to Improve their exploitation of forest resources and the decline of ecosystem quality, while
Livelihoods, diversifying and increasing incomes for rural farmers and their families. Livelihood Benefits
• Community-based monitoring.
• Carbon Bank – a type of revolving fund that TGB combines carbon sequestration with rural livelihood improvements • TGB supports more than 3,278 smallholder farmers and their families.
supports the matching of supply with demand.
through small-scale, farmer-led, agroforestry projects and ecosystem services • The structure of payments allows farmers to consider long-term
• The structure of payments allows farmers by linking rural farmers to the international ecosystem markets. The TGB
to consider long-term investment horizons, investment horizons, using part of their land to develop assets which
that seeks to use tree planting as a livelihood scheme operates as a Programme of Activities to enable scaling up through not only provide short-term cash and needed livelihood inputs but also
strategy. the design of new activities and the recruitment of new farming communities. long-term benefits from materials and income that can be enjoyed in
Examples of past & present buyers the future.
• Embassy of Ireland in Uganda In addition to farmers’ direct payments for planting trees and sequestering
• Uganda Carbon Bureau: Royal Danish Embassy carbon, the project aims to contribute to income stability, food security, and • The project has supported two communities in acquiring titles of
• Climate Path Ecologic Fund fuel security at community level. communal ownership for the improved management of the community
• Shepherd Building Group forests in their area.
• Max Hamburgerrestauranger AB
• Bartlett Foundation Ecotrust also requires that participating farmers open bank accounts in • Carbon farmers have the ability to join local village banks through the
Photo credits: Trees for Global Benefits which to deposit their earnings, which helps project participants to improve purchase of shares, thus helping to capitalise the village banks.
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 TGB won the Low Carbon SEED award in October 2013. The award
was presented to TGB by UNEP, UNDP and IUCN in recognition of
growing number of participating farmers steadily adopt the practice of saving.
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 Contact details:
selection, seed gathering, seedling nursery building, tree planting, and www.ecotrust.or.ug
overseeing tree protection. Email: support@ecotrust.or.ug
Phone: +256 312 266419
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èEmiti Nibwo Bulora - Tanzania
Emiti Nibwo Bulora a climate change mitigation project that enables small-scale farmers in the Kagera Climate Services and Land Management
region in western Tanzania to improve their land management methods through tree planting, by giving The primary objective is to involve farmers in the Kagera region of Tanzania in
them access to carbon revenue streams through the adoption of sustainable agroforestry techniques. diversifying their agricultural production, and therefore their income streams,
using sustainable agroforestry management techniques. The overall carbon
Location sequestration potential of the project is 65,000 tCO2e, based on four project
• Kagera region, Tanzania activities, including boundary planting, the set-up of fruit orchards, dispersed inter-
planting and woodlot establishment for improved soil fertility. The project has an
Project Coordinator
annual capacity to generate between 6,000 - 10,000 Plan Vivo Certificates per
• Vi Agroforestry year.
Operational since
The Kagera Region has in the past been heavily deforested due to local use of
• 2008 biomass as the main source of energy. The project intervention does not only
PVCs issued to date 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.
• 56,992
Area of land under management The project was validated in 2009 and will receive its first verification visit in 2015.
• 373.33 ha + 91.3 km
Ecosystem & Biodiversity Benefits
Project Interventions
• Increase of tree cover resulting in better shading for crops and shelter for
• Agroforestry
wildlife.
Image: freevectormaps.com
Participants
• 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
Project Milestones • Enhanced soil fertility through the establishment of nitrogen-fixing trees.
• Verification in 2015 • Wildlife protection thanks to increased forest cover.
• Registered in 2010 • Some farmers have invested in solar systems, further alleviating pressure on
• Validation in 2009 natural resources.
The Emiti Nibwo Bulora project directly involves small-scale farmers from the
Long-term sustainability drivers Kagera region in western Tanzania in the mitigation of climate change, whilst • Improved land management systems decrease soil erosion.
• Sustainable Timber delivering livelihood benefits to communities. The project is an Afforestation/
Reforestation (A/R) project which trains farmers in sustainable land use
• Agroforestry for improved soil quality and Livelihood Benefits
management techniques that result in carbon sequestration and deliver
agricultural yields
economic and social benefits. • Further to its carbon reduction potential, the project is focused on poverty
• Positive knock-on effect on soil and water alleviation by offering smallholders training and capacity building to increase
quality After community-led project design, farmers benefit from capacity-building and diversify their agricultural yields.
Examples of past & present buyers and enhanced skills in sustainable resource management. Through Plan Vivo
certification, farmers are able to access carbon payments to enable them • The project has linked environmental education to general education of
• Hotel Oden
to cover costs at farm and household level. These payments for ecosystem children of the communities, therefore focusing on the sustainability of the
• Folksam project.
• Naturratan service do not only contribute to immediate biodiversity and ecosystems
• BioGaia benefits, but also have knock-on effects regarding poverty reduction and • Communities within the project have set up loan associations and village
• Billogram capacity development. saving banks giving smallholders access to microloans.
• CCAFS 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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èTrees of Hope - Malawi
The Trees of Hope project aims to improve the livelihoods of rural farmers in the Dowa and Neno
Climate Services and Land Management
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 Farmers with Payments for Ecosystem Service (PES) agreements under the Plan Vivo
certification are active on more than 914 hectares (woodlots, mango orchards, citrus
vulnerability to climate change through benefits derived from tree-based land use systems.
orchards and dispersed systematic interplanting), as well as just over 16 km of boundary
Location 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
• Neno and Dowa, Malawi
CO2e plus additional co-benefits..
Project Coordinator
• Clinton Development Initiative
Reforestation and afforestation interventions mainly include the establishment of
Operational since indigenous and naturalized tree species, including Albizia lebbek, Melia azedarach,
• 2007 Senna siamea and Senna spectabilis, at a density of 2,500 trees per hectare.
PVCs issued to date
• 42,550 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,
Area of land under management and incomes. These training sessions teach them how to establish nurseries, grow
• 914 ha and 16,111 x 100m segments of seedlings, transplant them, and care for the trees during their lifetime.
boundary planting
Image: freevectormaps.com
Project Interventions Ecosystem & Biodiversity Benefits
• Afforestation
• Reforestation • Dispersed systematic interplanting involves the deliberate planting of
• Agroforestry trees, such as Faidherbia albida, which improve soil quality and fertility
by producing nitrogen compounds in their roots and increased organic
Participants matter.
• 294 farmers and farmer groups (239 of which
• Improvement of ground water recharge systems through enhanced water
were signed up in 2014)
The Clinton Development Initiative established the Trees of Hope Project in filtration.
Project Milestones
2007 in the Dowa and Neno districts of Malawi to reverse deforestation, • Reduction of unexpected forest fires in the region.
• Registered in 2011 mitigate the harmful effects of climate change, and bolster a self-sustaining
• 1st verification in 2015 marketplace by making tree farming profitable and attractive for smallholder • Preserved or increased biodiversity.
farmers. • Soil conservation, limiting erosion and water retention.
Long-term sustainability drivers
The Trees of Hope project helps decrease the community’s vulnerability to Livelihood Benefits
• Solar Drying Techniques
climate change by implementing tree-based land use systems, while also
• Diversification of income providing farmers with increased income from the sale of Plan Vivo certified • Income from sale of NTFPs, such as medicine and food products
• Apiculture carbon credits. Plan Vivo supports communities in managing their natural (honey).
Examples of past & present buyers
resources by quantifying ecosystem services. • Increased availability of livestock fodder.
• United Bank of Carbon Through the Trees of Hope project, rural farmers in Malawi decide how they • Sustainable charcoal production.
• COZero Pty Ltd can best address threats to their local ecosystems by choosing one of five
land-use systems that addresses threats to their local ecosystem. These • Improved food and nutritional security through introducing grafted fruit
• World Wide Web Hosting LLC
trees, which fruit faster than local varieties and often produce larger,
systems represent responsible land management strategies that benefit the
• AECOM more fleshy fruit.
environment by reducing soil erosion and increasing soil fertility.
• Tuff Gong Worldwide/Ziggy Marley
• Afforestation and sustainable harvesting techniques ease pressure on
Photo credits: Trees of Hope
women, who previously had to travel long distances to collect firewood.
• 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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èREDD+ in the Yaeda Valley - Tanzania
The Yaeda Valley REDD+ project strengthens land tenure, management capacity and Climate Services and Land Management
local natural resource management in two Hadzabe hunter-gatherer communities in The project area covers 20,790 ha of Acacia-Commiphora woodland
Northern Tanzania, thereby contributing to local and international conservation aims. collectively owned by the Hadza of Mongo Wa Mono and Domanga. After years
of encroachment and displacement, village members created a land use plan
Location designating the project area as protected for the utilization and cultural livelihoods
• Mongo wa Mono and Domanga villages, of the Hadza. The Hadza are one of Tanzania’s most unique and threatened
Northern Tanzania human cultures, with a deep reservoir of indigenous knowledge pertaining to
Project Coordinator natural resource use. The project is currently expanding to include another
• Carbon Tanzania
13,000 ha under land management.
Operational since 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
• 2012
tonne of CO2e.
PVCs issued to date
• 32,022 Ecosystem & Biodiversity Benefits
Area of land under management
• Protection of Acacica-commiphora woodland maintains
• 20,790 ha habitat for megafauna such as Elephant, Wild Dog, Lion and
Project Interventions Image: freevectormaps.com Cheetah as well as migratory and resident avifauna.
• Avoided deforestation with the Hadzabe • Protection of megafauna is a socio-economic benefit to the
hunter-gatherer communities by implementing Hadza who hunt large and medium size mammals sustainably;
land use plans within the greater landscape,
creating protected zones, pastoralist zand the process of hunting is an intrinsic cultural element of their
agricultural zones. Community customary society.
rights of occupancy (CCRO) ensure the
communities own the land through titled
• Protection of interior spring systems for both pastoral
deeds. This project works with hunter-gatherer Hadza (or communities and the Hadza.
Hadzabe) and pastoralist communities in Mongo
Participants Wa Mono and Domanga villages. By working in • Increases in and sustainability of flowering plants, an important
• 2 communities conjunction with traditional leaders, elected village resource for the Hadza who are highly dependent on both
governments and a team of community members, volume and quality of honey. The Hadzabe are one of the world’s oldest human cultures. This unique project uses
Project Milestones innovative conservation to protect and ensure the survival of the ‘last of the first’.
Carbon Tanzania (CT) has established a results-
• Registration in 2013
based PES system through the sale of ex-post
• Verification due in 2018 Livelihood Benefits
Plan Vivo Certificates (PVCs).
Long-term sustainability drivers • PES payments are directly transferred into Hadza community accounts,
This REDD+ project strengthens land tenure, management capacity and local
• Reducing encroachment on land inhabited by natural resource management, and diversifies local incomes. Successful one for each village, known as the Jamii fund and two village accounts.
pastoral communities
avoided deforestation is achieved through a series of interventions including • Payments are also used for legal services beyond the scope of the
• Strengthening of culturally unique Hadzabe reinforcing the implementation of the approved village land use plan and project that may be required for land use enforcement.
livelihoods and land-rights
associated village by-laws, improving forest conservation and management
• Reduction of illegal logging and poaching • Capacity-building in patrolling and monitoring to reduce illegal poaching
activities and addressing the primary driver of deforestation, slash and burn
Examples of past & present buyers and logging.
agriculture.
• Natural Geographic Expeditions • Supporting the Hadzabe to maintain their livelihoods and indigenous
• The Map’s Edge The community members are trained to patrol and report any land use change
knowledge pertaining to natural resource use in a challenging
• Braeburn School Arusha and / or poaching activities which contribute to tackling illegal land intrusion
environment.
• Fairtravel Tanzania and resulting land conversion at both local and district level.
Photo credits: REDD+ Yaeda Valley • 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.
• 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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èMikoko Pamoja - Kenya
Mikoko Pamoja is a community-led mangrove conservation and restoration project based Climate Services and Land Management
in southern Kenya. Its aim is to provide long-term incentives for mangrove protection and
The project will protect 107 ha of natural mangrove forest and 10 hectares
restoration through community involvement and benefit. 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
Location consists of both above and below ground carbon pools.
• Gazi Bay, Kenya The carbon benefits are conservatively estimated at 2,500 tonnes CO2e
Project Coordinator per year derived from avoided deforestation, prevented forest degradation
and new planting. Apart from avoided deforestation and reforestation, the
• Association for Coastal Ecosystem Services
(ACES) project also seeks to establish and maintain tree nurseries.
Operational since The project has started small, to establish feasibility and credibility, but
intends to expand the protected area to ensure increased income.
• 2010
PVCs issued to date
• 2,125 Ecosystem & Biodiversity Benefits
Area of land under management
• Improved protection from coastal erosion through expanded
• 117 ha forest cover.
Project Interventions
Image: freevectormaps.com • Increased fauna and flora due to habitat provision and sediment
• Avoided Deforestation capture, resulting in higher water quality.
• Reforestation
• New Plantations help to stabilize beaches.
Participants
• Habitat for wildlife species including crustaceans and commercial
• 2 village groups (498 households) fish.
Project Milestones
• Examples of fauna benefiting from mangroves include: primates
• Registration in 2014 Mikoko Pamoja is a community-led mangrove conservation and restoration such as the Kenya Coast Galago, Rondo Bushbaby, Tana River
• Verification due in 2018
project in Gazi Bay, Kenya. It involves community-based policing of illegal Crested Mangabey and Baboons; charismatic bird species such
mangrove harvesting, as well as the application of local expertise in mangrove as the African fish Eagle, African spoon bill, and the Fischer’s
Long-term sustainability drivers planting. Mangroves provide a wide range of ecosystem services, including turaco; reptiles such as Green sea turtles, Loggerhead sea turtles
• Improvement of coastal ecosystems coastal protection, nursery habitat for fish and water purification. and Hawksbill sea turtles; numerous commercial fish species
• Sustainable Management of NTFP Along with a wide range of associated ecological benefits including improved and larger charismatic fishes such as Bull Shark.
• Additional income streams apart from fisheries wildlife habitat and coastal protection, the project seeks to raise
mangrove products income from forest resources, including carbon credits and other income
Examples of past & present buyers generating activities such as beekeeping and ecotourism, for community
benefit.
• Earthwatch Institute Livelihood Benefits
The project is managed by three groups: The Mikoko Pamoja Community
• Paolo Merlini • Minimum of 40% representation by
Organization (MPCO) consists of representatives of Gazi Bay, specifically Gazi
• MSc Conservation Science Students 2015 and Makongeni villages; The Mikoko Pamoja Steering Group (MPSG) which women in the Mikoko Pamoja Community
provides technical support to the MPCO; and the project coordinator, The Organization.
Association for Coastal Ecosystem Services (ACES), a charity registered in • Reduced illegal extraction of wood in the
Scotland. project intervention area.
Photo credits: Mikoko Pamoja
• 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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èSofala Community Carbon - Mozambique
The Sofala Community Carbon project is an innovative sustainability project working with forest Climate Services and Land Management
communities in the buffer zones of Gorongosa and Marromeu National Parks in central Mozambique
The Sofala Community Carbon project foresees the long-term
to improve rural livelihoods, habitat restoration, forest management and conservation of biodiversity.
sequestration of 909,857 tonnes of CO2e through the project
Location
interventions of agroforestry and avoided deforestation. Local
technicians monitor the carbon potential of the project annually.
• Gorongosa and Marromeu Park, Mozambique
The various community-led agroforestry techniques that the project is
Project Coordinator
using include boundary planting, dispersed inter-planting, the planting
• Envirotrade Sofala Limitada of cashew and mango orchards, as well as homestead planting
Operational since and the establishment of woodlots of native tree species. Moreover,
the project runs a REDD+ conservation programme, which rewards
• 2003
communities for protecting blocks of standing forest from deforestation
PVCs issued to date and degradation.
• 431,063 The project has the capacity to generate 100,000 tonnes of CO2e
Area of land under management per year. Beyond carbon payments, the project delivers many co-
• 12,000 ha benefits, which positively impact the livelihoods of communities within
the project intervention area.
Project Interventions
• Agroforestry Image: freevectormaps.com
• Avoided Deforestation
Ecosystem & Biodiversity Benefits
Participants
• The project contributes to the conservation of ecosystems in the
• 2,799 participants
buffer zones of the Gorongosa and Marromeu national parks which
• 28 community groups have the highest rate of biodiversity in Mozambique.
Project Milestones
• The Sofala Community Carbon project supports the systematic
• Registered in 2007 rehabilitation of community land bordering national parks.
The Sofala Community Carbon Project is developing sustainable land use and
• 1st verification: 2010 rural development activities in communities around and within the buffer zones • The project involves altering land use patterns in mashambas (areas
• 2nd verification: 2015 of the Gorongosa and Marromeu National Parks in central Mozambique. The of land “slashed and burned“ for crop planting) with indigenous
Long-term sustainability drivers project has implemented agroforestry activities as well as interventions that Miombo woodland trees, primarily local fruit and bee-fodder
result in avoided deforestation. species, fruit trees and other selected species along riverbanks to
• Dispersed inter-planting to improve help stabilise the watersheds.
sustainability
The project enables individuals and companies to effectively invest in new
• Strong focus on capacity-building and training forests and agroforestry. By becoming trained crop farmers, local people
• Established channels for knowledge transfer contribute significantly to their own environments whilst securing regular
Livelihood Benefits
and skill sharing income and stable sustainable food supply. The revival of agroforestry among
Examples of past & present buyers impoverished communities is generating crops that enrich rather than exhaust • PES payments for carbon benefits on 12,000 hectares have
fragile forest soils. enabled the local community to self-fund a local school providing
• Climate Africa
• Associated Engineering indoor education to children within the project boundaries.
• Creative Artists Agency Foundation The project seeks to link the establishment and protection of carbon stocks
• World Wide Web Hosting LLC to sustainable development by using some of the carbon revenues to kick- • Communities have been trained to use better construction
• The Carbon Neutral Company start small commercial enterprises. Moreover, the project offers protection to methods. Tin roofs were installed on houses, giving communities
Photo credits: Sofala Communnity Carbon project African wildlife. improved shelter and protection during the rainy season.
• Since the project’s inception, a saw mill, a carpentry shop and a
Furthermore, the Sofala project extends farming and capacity-building to clinic have been built within the project area.
project participants, and has a strong focus on diversifying farmers’ income
streams. The project trains smallholders in the sustainable farming of important • Inclusion of cash crops into farming systems to generate additional
cash crops which most farmers then incorporate into their plantings. This not income.
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.
Contact details:
By generating crops that enrich rather than exhaust the fragile forest soils www.envirotrade.net
and managing fire within the portions of the woodlands inhabited by rural Email: mail@envirotrade.net
communities, the project is giving a new lifeline to endangered plant and Phone: +44 77 6969 0047
animal species.
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èPeople and livelihoods
Ethical climate services ASIA
Ecosystems
Watersheds Hiniduma Bio-Link Project - Sri Lanka
Khasi Hills REDD+ Project - India
PES Himalayan Community Carbon Project - Nepal
Native species
Biodiversity
Adaptation
Poverty Reduction
Community Rights
Participation
Transparency
Habitats
ç 28 29
èHiniduma Bio-Link Project - Sri Lanka
The Hiniduma Bio-Link Project aims to conserve Sri Lanka’s last remaining rainforests, whilst addressing Climate Services and Land Management
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 The smallholdings are predominantly made up of tea plantations, with the
remaining land cover being home gardens and remnant rainforest patches.
directly linked to the project, as well as ecosystem services, such as improved water, soil, and air quality.
The project has involved the planting of 94 tree species of both economic and
Location biodiversity value. The project area for the initial phase was 18 hectares in total,
which formed a contiguous corridor between Polgahakanda and Kanneliya,
• Galle District, SE Sri Lanka
two patches of rainforest.
Project Coordinator
Carbon quantification is based on conservative estimates of the expected
• Carbon Consulting Company
average increase in carbon stocks in above and below-ground woody biomass
Operational since over 20 years. The expected sequestration potential per hectare is 152.1
• 2010 tCO2e/ha after deducting a 20% risk buffer.
PVCs issued to date The ecosystem services provided by the project are sold as Plan Vivo
• 2,767 Certificates, which represent long-term carbon sequestration. The crediting
Area of land under management period of the project is 20 years, with future expansions of the project expected
to be funded through the sale of Plan Vivo certificates.
• 18.8 ha
Project Interventions
Image: freevectormaps.com
• Mixed Species Reforestation with Local
Smallholders to Create Biodiversity Corridor
Participants
Ecosystem & Biodiversity Benefits
The ‘Hiniduma Bio-Link’ is a project by the Carbon Consulting
• 32 smallholders Company to establish a biodiversity corridor between two • Introduction of 97 different tree species.
Project Milestones large remnant, vastly disturbed rainforest patches – Singharaja • Enhanced wildlife habitat through creation
• Registered in 2012 (UNESCO World Heritage Site) & Kanneliya (International Man of a biodiversity link between isolated forest
and Biosphere Reserve), and to conserve buffer zones around patches.
• Validation in 2012
the forest edges through reforestation.
Long-term sustainability drivers • Improvement of microclimate associated
The primary aim of this project is to reduce the pressure by local communities
• Establishment of a Biodiversity corridor with trees including the provision of shading.
in the surrounding areas on the remaining rainforest patches, whilst enhancing
between isolated forest patches
the livelihoods of traditional communities living in close proximity to tracts of • Introduction of suitable tree species near
• Enhancement of Ecosystem Services natural forest where the biodiversity is high, but under imminent threat. watersheds help protect river basins
• Enhancement of Local Community Livelihoods The project has been implemented according to Plan Vivo methodologies resulting in enhanced water infiltration.
Examples of past & present buyers and has been certified to the Plan Vivo standard since July 2012. Under this
• Marks & Spencer system, smallholders are supported in home gardening reforestation and
agroforestry using farmer-based participatory approaches. Trees are native and
• Steenbergs Organic, UK
endemic rainforest species, as well as fruit and medicinal trees, which allow
• Standard Chartered Bank farmers to generate additional income streams. As well as native species, the Livelihood Benefits
project also introduces new plants to improve and support local ecosystem
services. Promoting eco-friendly livelihood options such as organic farming • Woodlots provide a sustainable source of
and analog forestry, without disturbing their existing livelihood practices are firewood and poles to reduce pressure on
also key objectives. 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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