A/R CDM Projects in Ecuador

Transcription

1 A/R CDM Projects in Ecuador A case of Guamote municipality, Chimborazo district Name of Project: Mixed afforestation in degraded land of the Ecuadorian Highlands Location: The project area is composed by 12 discrete areas or polygons. It is located at 240 km south of Quito along the Pan-American highway. The area is included within the Guamote and Alausí Municipalities, Chimborazo Province. Organizer: PROFAFOR (Programa Face de forestación del Ecuador S.A.) Project objective and components: The objective of the project is to develop an afforestation and revegetation project in an Ecuadorian Highland area in order to recover degraded lands. The area is located inside native communities. The project is going to foster sustainable and social local development. The project area is 1,200 ha grouped in five SSC AR/CDM projects, of eroded areas and degraded natural grasslands, where cattle raising (mostly sheep) activities are extensive and unprofitable. Thus, food security is not compromised. Land owners (10) are local/native communities (9) and one private person. Potential species to be considering in the project are pine (Pinus radiata) and llin llin (Cassia canescens). The plantation will be 70% of P. radiata plants and the remaining 30% with llin llin (Cassia canescens). Tree planting schedule will be implemented in a 2 year time span at a rate of 600 ha per year. Replanting should not exceed 20% of the total planted seedlings. Technology to be employed: The project will include: 1) Production of plants in plastic containers in a forest nursery near the site (Hacienda Cochaloma Totorillas, Guamote). 2) Plantation: Seedlings of native and exotics species of the sector will be used. The planting distance will be 3 x 3 meters. Local (community) labour will be utilized. 3) Management: silvicultural forestry such as pruning, thinning and selective cutting will be performed. 4) Monitoring of the Plantation and technical assistance and: it will start in year 3 and 1

2 then, every two years. The activities include the evaluation of the plantation, natural regeneration, forest fires, grazing prevention, and presence of pests, diseases and agricultural crops. 5) Timber Commercialization: Wood would be sold at the internal and external market. Environment impact: Through the establishment of plantations will be obtained: * An increment of biodiversity by means of introducing and mixing tree species in a place where only a low grassland cover can be found. * Protection and recovery of biodiversity by using mixed plantation with indigenous species. * The reduction of erosion risk due to the increment of roots in the soil at different levels. * Prevention of desertification * Helping to develop a fertile soil by means of increasing the amount of organic matter in the soil. The decomposition process of leafs and roots coming from the trees will contribute to this goal. Furthermore, the leguminous species in the proposed mix plantation will increase the nitrogen fixing into the soil. It will increase soil fertility. * Income diversification from timer sales. * Control of greenhouse gases in the atmosphere by carbon sequestration in the biomass. * Prevention of desertification Socio economic impact: Forestation projects can represent an alternative and could be the only option to increase their income via timber sale. This income can be invested in improving quality of live for the community and also for each family member. Plantation management will required temporary labour and can be used from the communities. It also will increase forestry knowledge and environmental education among community people. PROFAFOR/Face programme methodology will be applied, which include a contract with the community (land owner). The contract will specify the following: land and establishment labour will be a community contribution (community in kind contribution). Investor will cover remaining costs of the plantation. Certified Emissions Reduction (CER s) will belong to the investor and 100% of the timber, sub-products and NFP will belong to the land owner. If at the end of the first rotation period (25 years) the owner decides not to replant the contract area, the land owner must refund 30% of the stand wood net value to the investor. The principle with this condition is that PROFAFOR will guarantee the forest area in the long term, by using the 30% for the establishment of equivalent area in another site. No grazing and agricultural activities will be allowed to be carried out by the communities within the contract area. 2

3 A case of Coastal area by the Pacific Ocean Pedernales municipality, Manabi district Name of Project: Mixed reforestation with local an exotic species at commercial scale on the Ecuadorian Coastal Area Location: The project area (composed by discrete areas or polygons) is distributed over the mucipalities of Pedernales, Chone, Jama, San Vicente and Sucre at the Northern and Central part of Manabi Province. Organizer: PROFAFOR (Programa Face de forestación del Ecuador S.A.) Project objective and components: A sustainable reforestation project will be developed in the Ecuadorian Coastal area. Objectives of the project are related to local sustainable development and social and economic support. The project involves a total area of 2,000 ha. Planting schedule will be 1,000 ha per year. The production system will focus on commercial scale wood production, with a rotation length of 20 years 70% of the area will be implemented with teak (Tectona grandis) and 30% of the area with native species such as cedro (Cedrela odorata), caoba (Swietenia macrophylla) and amarillo (Centrolobium paraense) The product obtained will be sawn wood (different dimensions) which have a very attractive domestic and international market Technology to be employed: The project will include: 1) Production of plants in plastic containers in a forest nursery located near the site. 2) Plantation: Seedlings of native and exotics species of the sector will be used. Plantation density for mixed plantation (native species) will be 417 plants per hectare with an initial planting distance of 6 x 4m. Plantation density for teak will be 625 plants per hectare (initial planting distance of 4 x 4m). Local labour will be utilized. 3) Plantation management will include weeding, fertilization and control, pruning, thinning, and selective cutting, besides fire prevention activities such as creating 3 meter-wide firebreaks, which will have permanent maintenance. 4) Monitoring of the Plantation will start in year 3 and it will be carried out annually. 3

4 The activities include the evaluation of the plantation, natural regeneration, forest fires, grazing prevention, and presence of pests, diseases and agricultural crops. 5) Timber Commercialization will be addressed for exportation. All the process will be manually. Environment impact: The establishment uneven age mixed plantations will: : * Foster sustainable development by getting the coexistence between the current land use (grassland) and the previous one (forests). It will ensure a sustainable forest management including forest certification. * Protection and recovery of biodiversity by using mixed plantation with indigenous species. * The creation of natural corridors between small residual secondary and primary forests through native species plantations. * Reduction of erosion risk due to the large amount of roots in the soil at different levels. * Income diversification from wood sales. * Control of greenhouse gases in the atmosphere by means of carbon sequestration in the biomass of trees. Socio economic impact: Economic activities will be diversified (additional to livestock, production of wood and non wood products), forestation projects can represent an opportunity to increase income to local land owners. Extra income will improve local standards of living. Plantation management will require labour, which can be contracted locally. It also will increase forestry knowledge and environmental education for the community. For agreements Profafor s approach will be applied. This includes a forestation contract with the land owners. The contract will specify the following aspects: the investor will cover establishment and management costs of the plantation and the Certified Emissions Reduction (CER s) will belong to the investor. 100% of the timber will belong to the land owner. If at the end of the first rotation period (20 years) the owner decides not to replant the contract area, the land owner must refund 30% of the stand wood net value to the investor. Ecuador Forest and Timber Development Association (CORMADERA: Cooperacion de Desarrollo Forestal y Maderero del Ecuador) CORMADERA is an NGO and consists of organizational groups in combination with investigations in forestry, agriculture and industry as a whole. Their activities started in The objectives of their activities are to: Develop projects and programs for afforestation and reforestation; 4

5 Develop programs for managing seed banks and the sources of seeds and improving genetic traits; Promote the sustainable resource management of forests, timber and non-lignum forest products; Assist in the sustainable development of forest/timber industries; and Support the training of experts through technical assistance for improving the processes and control of production. CORMADERA aims to carry out A/R CDM projects by establishing a trust fund with investment from various companies in each country. Their plan is as follows. The project participants include companies as investors, land owners and CORMADERA in each country and CORMADERA will actually manage and operate the A/R CDM projects. It is planned that project sites will not be purchased and that land owners will receive not rent but their share of the profits from the sales of forest products as specified through contracts. Investors will receive 100% of the CER and their share of the profits from the sales of forest products is relative to their investment. Maquipucuna Reforestation Project by Conservation International Conservation International, as an international environmental NGO, has taken the lead in proposing a reforestation project with the focus on biodiversity as an A/R CDM project. Ricoh, a Japanese company is considering investment in this project. The project outline is as follows. This is a project to plant more than seven indigenous species (Cardia alliodora, Alnus acuminata, Juglans neotropica, Nectandra acutifolia, Otoba gordoniifolia, Cedrela odorata & montana, Inga spp.) in an area of 471 ha owned by Fundacion Maquipucuna adjacent to the Mquipkyuna Reserve. In Ecuador, securing land is a major restrictive factor in even general forestation projects and is not limited to A/R CDM ones. This project has overcome this problem by using a site secured by the local environmental NGO. Since this project aims at environmental conservation to restore biodiversity, it has no plan for felling. The people concerned have the prospect of expanding this project to community forestation in the Choco Andes Corridor in the future. The project site is located at altitudes of between 1,000 m and 1,500 m and is currently used for grazing and also includes abandoned pastures and sugarcane fields. It is assumed that the baseline is to maintain the present state due to the investment barrier. The net carbon sink is estimated at 167,106 CO2t in three decades. In la Perla (at a low altitude under 400 m), as a second site to be included in the PDD, another project is planned to reforest the pastures around the remaining natural trees. This is also to plant a mixture of indigenous species as in Maquipucuna. Owing to the small size of the project in Maquipucuna, the addition of the second site is seemingly intended to carry out an A/R CDM project as early as possible on the usual scale for which the methodology has been established. At the present time, they are preparing the PDD and striving to receive a guarantee from DNA Ecuador. 5

6 Eucapacific Eucapacific is a forestation company founded mainly for the purpose of supplying raw materials for pulp with joint capital from Japanese companies, namely, Mitsubishi Paper Mills Ltd., Sumitomo Corp. and Electric Power Development. The company has carried out forestation activities with the planned target of 11,000 ha in total since 2001 and the main species is Eucalyptus grandis (the final selection of suitable species is under consideration) in Esmeralda Province. Sites have been purchased from about 100 land owners. Land registration has not been well instituted so far and there are still some areas not clearly demarcated. In real terms, the MAI is recorded to be 25 m 3 /ha in wild seedlings and 33 m 3 /ha in clones. In this situation, they submitted a PIN for an A/R CDM project after consultations with COLDELIM. Since then, however, no noticeable progress has been made and still the difficulty in demonstrating additionality is gradually dampening the motivation to manage this project as an A/R CDM project. Other areas Ecuador may be divided into the western Pacific coast, the central highlands and the eastern Amazon. The person in charge of the sink CDM at CORDELIM considers that the requirements for A/R CDM projects are: 1) Low baseline value 2) Large project area 3) Large-scale land ownership 4) Availability of relevant information 5) Easy access 6) Flat ground He considers that the western coast and the central highlands meet these requirements well compared with other regions. Specifically, he considers that the five provinces of Manabi, Guayas, Bolivar, El Oro and Loja are potential areas for A/R CDM projects 6