NGO
Another Way (Stichting Bakens Verzet), 1018 AM
01. E-course :
Diploma in Integrated Development (Dip. Int.Dev.)
Edition
01 : 15 January, 2011
Edition
04 : 14 March, 2011
Study points
: 05 points out of 18
Minimum study
time : 125 hours out of 504
The study
points are awarded upon passing the consolidated exam for
Section C : The Model.
[Study points 03 out of
18]
[Minimum study time: 85 hours
out of 504]
The study
points are awarded upon passing the consolidated exam for
Section C : The Model.
Sect. 5 : Kyoto Treaty : Analysis of possibilities for finance. (Additional)
03. Potential areas of application of CDM mechanisms to
integrated development projects.
04. Small-scale CDM activities.
06. Selection of the CDM methodologies for the
applications listed in section 03.
08. Notes specific to the role of bamboo in afforestation
and reforestation (AR) projects.
09. CDM funding indications for the selected applications
and methodologies.
SECTION
07. INFORMATION SPECIFIC TO AFFORESTATION AND REFORESTATION (AR)
METHODOLOGIES SPECIFICALLY APPLICABLE TO INTEGRATED DEVELOPMENT PROJECTS.
A good up-to-date
reference to Afforestation and Reforestation (AR) projects is Building Forest Carbon
Projects : A Step-by-Step Guide, by J.Olander and J.Ebeling,
published by Forest-Trends and the Katoomba Group,
December 2010. This work includes specific aspect by aspect information boxes with
references to the leading resources on the aspect in question.
Key factors which
should always be borne in mind are that project areas must be under the control
of the project proponent(s) and that a saving of at least 10.000 to 20.000
tonnes of CO2 per year is needed to
offset the high costs of project preparation, validation, and monitoring.
Pre-implementation costs can be € 100.000-250.000 and more, preparation of a
methodology € 20.000-75.000 and more, and each periodic
verification event between €
15.000-40.000 and more. Most of these payments are for fees and costs
charged by nominated Designated Operational Entites (DOEs) (auditors) and large
international (especially financial) institutions can complicate or facilitate
procedures. Project proponents depend on their decisions. If the issuing
organ (in the case of Clean Development
Mechanism (CDM) projects, the Executive Board) makes a “negative” decision
either with regard to registration or to issuance of certificates, project
proponents have no remedy. In December
2010 there was still no CDM appellate body
to handle appeals against the decisions of the CDM Executive Board. A
preliminary discussion on this issue took place during the UNFCCC meeting in
Cancun (
Any meaningful
afforestation or reforestation (AR) project is a vast, long-term undertaking.
It requires local (sustainable) water supply until the trees become
“independent” of the need for irrigation and the provision of locally produced
(sustainable) fertilisers. The amount of manual work needed to implement
projects is mind-boggling.
Integrated
development projects have multiple inherent possibilities for long-term
implementation of afforestation and reforestation (AR) projects. Water and
fertiliser supply, and even labour forces, may be too restricted to enable
cotemporaneous implementation of all of the available AR possibilities. In
those cases, integrated development project coordinators will need to make
painful choices. CDM financing of projects may have to be sacrificed to the
overriding energy-neutral , fully sustainable, ecological principles guiding
integrated development projects.
The proposed
afforestation and reforestation (AR) projects are small-scale. Most of them may
therefore be seen as demonstration projects subject to phased repetition in
each integrated development project area as manpower and water become available
for the purpose. Large-scale projects
are not practicable because they would be beyond the physical possibilities of
the populations in the project areas,
where there are just 50.000 people.
02. Reducing Emissions from Deforestation and
Degradation in Developing Countries (REDD) projects.
REDD is a recently introduced “alternative”
AR project system. REDD projects tend to be more socially based than CDM
projects. They are supposed to avoid deforestation and/or degradation of
existing forests, benefit local communities and promote bio-diversity. They
introduce a sort of third operational sector, avoidance of further
deforestation and environmental degradation, in addition to the two existing
ones, being CO2 emission savings, and increase of carbon sinks. In contrast to
Clean Development Mechanism (CDM) projects, REDD projects can be executed
anywhere.
The applicability of REDD projects is still
under discussion. A list of REDD projects submitted so far for approval can be
found at the Climate, Community and
Biodiversity Alliance (CBBA) website. Of the +/- 60 projects listed
there, about 30 have been approved.
Complete documentation for all projects can be accessed at the site.
Some 14 Designated Operational Entities (DOEs) or auditors have been approved to
date. Submitted projects include 18 projects from Central and South America,
Asia (11), East Africa (10),
Full information on REDD can be found at the REDD Web Platform operated
by the United Nations Framework Convention on Climate Change (UNFCCC). Because
of the uncertainty still surrounding REDD projects at this time, they have not
been used here for applications for integrated development projects.
03. Some definitions.
Under the Clean Development Mechanism (CDM),
each host country must have adopted its
own threshold parameters for forest coverage.
If it has not done so, and some countries have not, it is not possible to apply
for CDM funding for an AR (or any other CDM) project there.
Some important
definitions (source : Decision -/CMP.1 Land use,
land-use change and forestry ) for afforestation and reforestation
(AR) projects are:
(a) “
“ ….until
a DNA provides clarification that the definition of forest as reported by them
to the Board includes palm (trees) and/or bamboos it shall be deemed that the
definition does not include palms (trees) and bamboos” [Report of the 27th meeting of the
afforestation and reforestation working group, UNFCCC Headquarters, Bonn,
Germany 17.19 February 2010.].
Carbon
sequestration in agricultural crops and soils is not eligible for sale under
the CDM in the first commitment period (CP) 2008-2012. This is a handicap for bamboo,
two-thirds of the carbon sequestration of which is underground.
(b) “Afforestation”
is the direct human-induced conversion of land that has not been forested for a
period of at least 50 years to forested land through planting, seeding and/or
the human-induced promotion of natural seed sources.
(c) “Reforestation”
is the direct human-induced conversion of non-forested land to forested land
through planting, seeding and/or the human-induced promotion of natural seed
sources, on land that was forested but that has been converted to non-forested
land. For the first commitment period, reforestation activities are limited to
reforestation occurring on those lands that did not contain forest on 31
December 1989.
For the CDM mechanism, land
degradation is defined as a long-term decline in ecosystem function and
productivity and measured in terms of net primary productivity. All forms of
land degradation will ultimately lead to a reduction of soil fertility and
productivity. The general effect is reduced plant growth, which in turn causes
loss of protective soil cover and increased vulnerability of soil and
vegetation to further degradation (e.g. erosion).
04. The importance of
afforestation and reforestation (AR) in integrated development projects.
Afforestion and
reforestation (AR) activities are potentially very interesting for integrated
development projects. The level of on-going degradation of existing woodlands
in developing countries is appalling nearly everywhere. The main cause of this
is the ruthless exploitation (theft) of the existing timber resources of
developing countries for the benefit of large private commercial industrial
interests. (See Block 1 of , Section 1 of the course : 08. In depth : Financial leakage : theft of
resources. ) A second cause
is degradation through non-sustainable use of
woodlands for cooking fuel and charcoal production. Many developing countries also have vast
areas of marginal lands.
The least developed countries
in particular “suffer” from lack of existing energy consumption. Since most of
the 15 Clean Development Mechanism (CDM) system operational sectors set out
in section 02. Introduction refer to reduction of existing energy use or
the substitution of non-renewable energy sources with renewable energy ones,
low energy consuming nations with few existing energy applications are
seriously handicapped. Operational sector 14 “Afforestation and reforestation”
refers instead to an increase in carbon sinks. In this sector, the least
developed countries have wider margins for manoeuvre though they are still
handicapped in relation to emerging economies by serious lack of financial
means.
Greenhouse gas emissions
calculations for afforestation and reforestation (AR) projects are particularly
complex. Some of these projects have been highly criticised in international
circles. Refer, for example, Silverstein D.,
A method to finance a global
climate fund with a harmonized carbon tax”,
Biomass default tables are
given in annex 3A.1 of the Good Practice Guidance for
Land Use, Land-use Change and Forestry, published by the Institute for Global Environmental Strategies (IGES) for the
Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change (IPCC), Kamiyamaguchi, 2003.
05. Risks.
Long-term and permanent
certified emission reductions (ICER) and (CER) for afforestation and
reforestation (AR) projects are more vulnerable than those for other CDM
sectors. Natural disasters such as fire or floods may wipe out many years of
investment in a few hours. Where this happens, CDM funds received during the
build-up of the carbon sinks have
to be repaid, because the carbon sinks have been lost. This risk is in
principle insurable, but the cost of insurance is very high and represents
financial leakage from the integrated development areas where the AR projects
are situated. Regional level project owners ( for instance UEMOA in
Where bamboo plantations are
used, flowering of the bamboo plants should be avoided. Like other grasses,
flowering may lead to the end of the life cycle of some bamboo species and may
lead to death of the plant and loss of the sequestered carbon. However the
average flowering interval of bamboo is
in the region of 30 years. If the bamboo plantations are systematically
harvested, risk of flowering can usually be avoided.
Grazing in plantations is
another risk. All of the species preferred for afforestation and reforestation
(AR) projects, with the exception of Jatropha, are attractive to animals. This
means chosen areas must be carefully protected to avoid damage by animals. In
some cases photovoltaic (PV) fencing systems may offer a solution provided they
in turn can be protected against theft.
Strong governance of forest
areas is required to stop poaching and illegal harvesting and use (theft) of
wood products, the loss of which would offset (cancel) the value of any carbon
credits. Strong government means the absence of corruption amongst those
responsible for the administration of the forest areas, and the real availability of coercive means to
enforce environmental policy where necessary.
The biggest problem of all
is the risk of lack of sufficient water supply and labour. Both are limited in
integrated development project areas. Labour is limited because project areas
have just 50.000 inhabitants, which means a call can be made on just +/- 37.500
adults. Water is limited because integrated development projects do not provide
for large-scale irrigation initiatives. This is echoed in the section of
limitation of land-use for bio-energy cropping in The Energy Report : 100%
Renewable Energy by 2050, World Wide Fund for Nature (WWF), Gland,
January 2011 ( ISBN 978-2-940443-26-0), page 164 of which argues for use
of “ land suitable for rain-fed
agriculture…..without requiring additional water uses.”
There is no point starting
an afforestation or reforestation (AR) project without adequate water and
labour. The proposed AR projects may compete with each other in both or either
of these areas. Where work- and water-supply loads are excessive, choices need
to be made. These could lead to the need to phase projects over a longer period
of time.
One advantage of afforestation or reforestation (AR) projects
in developing countries is that traditional farming work is often carried out
there during rainy seasons. Trees in afforestation and reforestation projects
(AR) need less attention during that period. The work load is instead
intensified during the dry seasons.
06. Contract forms for
forest carbon purchases.
Refer to Hawkins
S. et al, Contracting for Forest Carbon : Elements of a Model
Forest Carbon Purchase Agreemeent,
published
by Forest-Trends and the Katoomba Group, December 2010.
Sect. 5 : Kyoto Treaty : Analysis of possibilities for finance. (Additional)
03. Potential areas of application of CDM mechanisms to
integrated development projects.
04. Small-scale CDM activities.
06. Selection of the CDM methodologies for the
applications listed in section 03.
08. Notes specific to the role of bamboo in afforestation
and reforestation (AR) projects.
09. CDM funding indications for the selected applications
and methodologies.
Exam Block 8 : [4 hours]
Consolidated exam : Section C.
[6 hours].
◄ Eighth block : Section. 5 : Kyoto Treaty : Analysis
of possibilities for finance.
◄ Eighth block : Economic Aspects.
◄ Main
index for the Diploma in Integrated Development
(Dip. Int. Dev.)
"Money is not the key that opens the gates of the market but the
bolt that bars them."
Gesell, Silvio, The Natural Economic Order, revised English edition,
Peter Owen,
“Poverty is created scarcity”
Wahu Kaara, point 8 of the Global Call to Action Against Poverty, 58th
annual NGO Conference, United Nations,
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