Name of the Project: Reforestation and Protection of the Lachua Eco-region

Transcription

1 IDEA OF PROJECT Name of the Project: Reforestation and Protection of the Lachua Eco-region Fig. 1 View of the Eco-region and training activities with the communities. A. Description of the Project, type, location, and program. General description A.1 Project description and proposed activities The project Reforestation and Protection of the Lachua Eco-region is carried out by FUNDALUCHUA with the objective of increasing the carbon stocks and reducing the emission of greenhouse effect gases in the Lachua Eco-region, by means of actions to recover the forest covering in degraded lands and activities to avoid the advance of deforestation. The project is extremely important for the Lachua Eco-region because it will allow conserving the natural ecosystem, which shelters some endangered species 1. The Lachua Eco-region has been designated as an important international wetland by the Ramsar Convention on Wetlands 2. It is inhabited approximately by a fifth part of the species of wild mammals of Guatemala, highlighting the jaguar (Panthera onca), the tapir (Tapirus baidii), the saraguate monkey (Alouatta pigra), and 35 species of fish in the hydrological system formed by the rivers of the region and the Lachua lagoon. This is a grouped project, whose components are: 1. Reforestation of degraded lands through planting of native species. The forest plantations are established in degraded areas in order to recover the forest covering, and to search sustainable development of the communities settled in the Eco- 1 In accordance with Consejo Nacional de Áreas Protegidas (CONAP). 50 species are considered threatened with extinction in the Ecoregion, and 35 are subject to regulation according to the International Agreement of CITES

2 region. By means of a holistic approach, communities, through the productive organizations therein, will carry out a responsible forest management of the plantations, and will develop projects for the production of woods, manufactured goods, obtaining of non lumber-yielding products, among others. Planting will allow formation of biological corridors that will interconnect the different protected areas existing in the Ecoregion, and to the Eco-region itself with forest outside of it, contributing in this way to the preservation of biodiversity. In 2005 the Project activities began in communitarian lands with the planting of native latifoleada species like Mahogany, Santa Maria, Matilisguate, Medallo, Canxan and San Juan. For the starting of this component of the grouped project, it was received financing from incentives granted by INAB, Instituto Nacional de Bosques through the PINFOR program Protection of the Eco-región Lachua s natural reserves to avoid deforestation and the transformation of native natural forests 4 in non forest lands. These natural reserves are: Parque Lachua, Sitio Chajumpec, Finca Municipal Salinas de los Nueve Cerros, and four areas of communal forest reservoirs (Faisan I, Patate Icbolay, Rocja Pomtila, San Luis Chiquito), which are isolated remnants of a perennifolia forest. In Parque Lachua is located Lachua Lagoon of a majestic beauty, which constitutes the only remnant of the unaltered ecosystems of Franja Transversal del Norte of Guatemala 5, while Finca Municipal Salinas has an archaeological centre of a relative importance. This component of the grouped project was initiated in 2007 with the implementation of a management model based on the concept of Model Forest, which was accepted by the Ibero- American Model Forest Network in The starting of the project activities was financed by the program of forest incentives of conservation of the INAB through the PINFOR program. The proponent of the Project is Fundación Lachua, FUNDALACHUA, which was constituted in Aldea Salacuim, Cobán, Alta Verapaz on August 23, 2007, and it is conformed by local organizations such as In accordance with the FAO s definition of natural forest: A forest composed of indigenous trees not established by planting or/and seeding in the process of afforestation or reforestation. 5 Franja Transversal del Norte, FTN, has an approximated area of 900,000 hectares and comprises the north part of the territorial divisions of Huehuetenango, Quiche, Alta Verapaz, and Izabal

3 ASOCOCOCERESA, ACODESERESA, ATZAMHA, KATABALPOM, and ASOSELNOR. Lachua Foundation is recognised by all the actors of the Eco-region, since its aim of foundation was promoting the sustainable development of the 55 indigenous communities q eqchi es that inhabit the Lachua Eco-region. Since 1996 to 2006, the Embassy of the Low Countries under the execution of IUCN and INAB, have supported the creation of social and administrative infrastructure in the eco-region that would lead the implementation of the project activities First the politics and guidelines were established, and in a second phase the communitarian organization was strengthened and productive projects were initialized in order to reduce poverty. In the third phase the work was focused on the empowering of public instances for strengthening local governess. Financing by the Embassy of Low Countries and the incentives programs of INAB have been important to initiate the operation of the Project. Nevertheless, in 2009 the financial support of the Embassy of the Low Countries ends and the revenues due to the sale of the VCUs (Voluntary Carbon Units) generated by the project are required to maintain the project activities. the Embassy of the Low Countries under the execution of IUCN and INAB A.2 Technology to be employed Project 1. Reforestation by direct planting, through different trees species for wood products. Natural regeneration is not expected and flooding irrigation is not permitted. a. Planting date: b. Status of land before project: grassland unmanaged or under extensive management, o lands without forest over 10 years. c. Species type: mainly Caoba, Melina (Gmelina arborea), Matilisguate (Tabebuia Rosea) and Mapola (Pseudobombax ellipticum), d. Rotation cycle: 30 years Project 2 Avoiding emissions due planned and mosaic deforestation, and degradation of forest lands. The Project activities for reducing deforestation include: Mosaic type deforestation Deforestation Agent Project Activities Logging for planting o Development of productive subsistence cultivation as projects for the inhabitants of the corn. communities. o Strengthening of the educative and technical training processes. o Technical assistance for improving agricultural practices. o Planting of energetic forests. 3

4 Logging for obtaining biomass as fuel. Illegal logging Fires o Programs of environmental education. o Programs for the construction and implementation of efficient firewood stoves. o Surveillance inside of the Project area as in the leakage belt. o Strengthening and empowering of the local authorities. o Strengthening of the justice application system. o Patrolling o Training of forest firemen. o Acquisition of firefighting equipment o Maintenance of firefighting breaches Planned deforestation Deforestation Agent Activity of the Project Expansion of crops and o Strengthening the economy of industrial plantations as the communities so that they do African palm not sell their land to industrial companies. o Strengthening the touristic services chain and strengthening Expansion of the oil exploitation fields tourism training. o Strengthening research and diffusion of results in order to demonstrate the importance of keeping natural ecosystems. o Promote national policies to protect the conservation areas. Project proponent submitting the PIN A.3 Name Fundación Laguna Lachuá (FUNDALACHUA) A.4 Organizational category A.5 Other function(s) of the project developer in the project A.6 Summary of relevant experience Non Governmental Organization a. Sponsor b. Operational Entity under the CDM c. Intermediary d. Technical advisor Its services and expertise cover: o Management and fund raising for the projects development. o Support and technical assistance to the communities in the formulation, management, and execution of social, cultural, and economic development projects. o Execution of awareness-raising actions and environmental education. 4

5 o Planning and execution of protection processes, restoration, and sustainable management of the region ecosystems. o Promotion of scientific and technical information. o Participation in the administration of the Natural Heritage. o Political impact. A.7 Address Cobán, Alta Verapaz, Guatemala A.8 Contact person Erwin Winter A.9 Teléfono / fax ; A.10 and web address Type of project A.19 Greenhouse gases targeted A.20 Type of activities fundalachua@gmail.com http// CO 2 Grouped project Project 1. Carbon sequestration Project 2. Conservation (REED) A.21 Field of activities Project 1 Type: Planting for wood products Category: Aforestation, reforestation and revegetación (ARR) Location of the project A.22 Country Guatemala A.23 Nearest city Cobán, Alta Verapaz A.24 Precise location Project 2 Category: Reduction of emissions due to deforestation and degradation (REDD) Type of practices: Activities to avoid planned and mosaic deforestation. The consolidated Project is carried out in the Lachua Eco-region, which is an area located to the north of Guatemala, defined by its socio-cultural, environmental, economic and political attributes. Physically it is delimited to the north, west and east by the rivers Chixoy and Icbolay, and to the south by The Sultana's mountains. The Lachua Eco-region has an extension of 53,523 hectares. 5

6 Lachuá Eco-region Fig. 2 Lachua Eco-region and limits of the project. 6

7 Expected schedule A.25 Earliest project start date A.26 Year of the first expected VCU delivery a. Plantations were established in 2005, which began to sequester carbon as of b. REED activities began as of A.27 Project lifetime 100 years maximum A.28 Current status or phase of the project A.29 Current status of the acceptance of the project by the Host Country A.30 Position of the Host Country with regard to the Kyoto Protocol AFOLU project is under development. Letter of No Objection may be is available a. Guatemala has ratified the Kyoto Protocol b. Guatemala has defined forest as: o Minimum tree crown cover: 30 % o Minimum land area: 0.05 hectare o Minimum tree height: 5 meters B. Social and environmental expected benefits Environmental benefits B.1 Estimate of carbon sequestered or conserved (in metric tonnes of CO 2 equivalent t CO 2 e. ) Reforestation of degraded lands through planting of native species. The carbon sequestred, assuming a plantation program of 300 Ha/year from 2005 to 2009, is as follow: tco 2 /year Until ,900 Until ,758 Until ,365 Protection of the Eco-región Lachua s natural reserves to avoid deforestation and the transformation of native natural forests in non forest lands. Considering a Project area of 28,444 Ha the emissions reductions results: Estimation of tradableemissions reductions tco 2 e Emission reductions occurred in 1 year 55,068 Emission reductions occurred in 10 years 550,068 7

8 The following premises are assumed: o A deforestation rate = 1,1% 7 o Carbon stored aboveground = 80 tc The calculation considers that leakages and project emissions are 20% of total emissions reductions. Furthermore, 25% of emissions reductions are discounted to establish the buffer account. B.2 Baseline scenario (What would the future look like without the proposed project? What would the estimated total carbon sequestration / conservation be without the proposed project? Mention the baseline methodology, as per the CoP9 text. 8 Also explain why the project is additional referring to the EB16 guidelines 9 ). If REDD activity, mention the main drivers and agents for deforestation and how the project will address them. The reforestation projects and those of avoided deforestation are not the common practice in the Eco-region and in the Reference Region. The current tendency within the Ecoregion is the advancement of the agricultural frontier, existing the threat that Finca Municipal Salinas de los Nuevos Cerros has been allowanced by the Government of Guatemala for oil exploitation. In the surrounded areas of the Eco-region exist a tendency to change the current use of the soil and the forest covering into commercial crops of palma Africana. Nowadays, 64% of the Eco-region is covered by forests, which could be lost if the project not occur, since the Reference Region registers deforestation rates up to 1.2% in accordance with the Instituto Nacional de Bosques, INAB. The Project is additional because it does not constitute the common practice, and it requires the VCUs (Voluntary Carbon Units) revenues to finance the operation of the project activities and to overcome the existent barriers. Therefore, incomes for the sale of the planned VCUs will allow maintaining the forest covering in the project area, and will discourage the conversion of forests land into other lands uses. B.3 Existing vegetation and land use (What is the current land cover and land use? Is the tree cover more or less than 30 %?) Eco-region Lachua encompasses Lachua National Park, a natural reserve owned by a municipality, natural reserves owned by the communities, community s lands and private lands. One of the private lands is owned by a pretroleum private company. The reforestation activities are carried out in areas without forest, according to National Concept of Forest, which were not cleaned for purposes of creation of VCUs. The activities of avoided deforestation are carried out in native forests that exist for more than 10 years before 7 Rate deforestation average of Alta Verapaz and Quiche departments

9 beginning the Project. The following chart shows the current land cover and land use in the baseline: Use and/or current land cover in the Eco-region. Extension (Ha) Lagoon s body of water % Percentage of the total area Populated areas % Agriculture, pastures, and 11, % other uses Areas with clouds % Shrubs (includes natural 3, % regeneration) Flooded forests % Native forests 28, % Approximated total 45, % extension B.4 Environmental benefits The grouped Project will allow: o Recover degraded lands, avoid erosion, and protect the soil. o Protecting biodiversity and the creation of new habitats. o Conserving forests and water sources, and as a consequence thereof, it will be contributed to the decrease of desertification. B.4.a Local benefits o Forests that will be created will be managed to provide in a sustainable manner food, fuels, and medicines to the population of the communities. B.4.b Global benefits o The project contributes to climate change mitigation through the human-induced activity of planting a forest, where historically a forest did not exist. o Delay of CO2 emissions through production of long life wood products. o To reduce the emission of greenhouse effect emissions when avoiding the conversion of forests in other uses of soil, which imply activities that emit GHG. B.5 Consistency between the project and the environmental priorities of the Host Country Socio-economic benefits B.6 How will the project improve the welfare of the community involved in it or surrounding it. What are the direct effects which can be The project meets the environmental laws and is carried out according to National Forest Law. In the socio-economic scope, the Project will contribute to: o Promoting participation of rural communities in the conservation management and administration of natural resources of the zone, within a participative management model. 9

10 attributed to the project and which would not have occurred in a comparable situation without that project? o o o Reforestation and conservation of the Lachua Eco-region Generating development opportunities in relation to goods and services of the Eco-region, giving rise to the creation of job positions and as a consequence reducing poverty. Promoting governess and empowerment of governmental instances. Promoting creation of productive activities, strengthening of competences in the forest industry as well as in the responsible exploitation of forest and non forest resources. B.7 Are there other effects? The sustainable development model, and know-how acquired in forestry industry and silviculture practices are replicable in other regions of Guatemala. C. Finance Carbon finance C.1 Source of carbon finance The grouped project has not been submitted to any carbon buyer yet. C.2 Indicative VCU (Voluntary Carbon Units) prices C.3 Emission reductions value (= price per t CO 2 e * number of tco 2 e) $ 10.00/tCO 2 e A. Reforestation project: $ Until ,003 Until ,583 Until ,651 B. Avoided deforestation project: $550, per year. 10