The Money Tree and The Carbon Hunter Biased media reports that present only part of the story cause damage to serious efforts in nature conservation and sustainable development in Brazil Reports by PBS-Front Line distorted information and omitted important facts about work that has become a model in climate change action and biodiversity conservation. Instead of helping to solve a problem that governments, scientists and environmentalists all over the world are trying to solve, the PBS-Frontline reports make an extremely negative contribution to this effort. These investigative reports fail to gather all the facts on purpose and lead viewers to a completely erroneous understanding in an anti ethical and unprofessional manner. The reports The Money Tree and The Carbon Hunter, published respectively in October of 2009 and May of 2010, speak out against serious work, of renowned technical quality that has achieved important results in combating climate change, contributed to biodiversity conservation of an endangered ecosystem and offered development alternatives to communities in the region of Guaraqueçaba, in the Atlantic Forest of Southern Brazil. The PBS media stories omit relevant facts that explain the success of these projects for scientific research and generating social and economic benefits. The projects carried out in partnership with the companies American Electric Power, Chevron and General Motors and the NGOs The Nature Conservancy (TNC) and Sociedade de Pesquisa em Vida Selvagem e Educação Ambiental (SPVS) generate technical data and results that can contribute to the establishment of new standards for similar projects a pressing matter currently debated at the United Nations discussions for climate change. Furthermore, the conservation projects represent an effective contribution in helping to solve the challenge of combining economic and social development with the conservation of natural areas. In addition to the important work in measuring carbon stock and biodiversity conservation, the project is an important example of community engagement, both directly and indirectly, for achieving results. This is because the project executors are fully aware that there won t be any nature conservation if there isn t any community engagement. In the Guaraqueçaba region, where 10 thousand inhabitants live in over 50 small communities, this scenario is no different. The three nature reserves created for carrying out the Project cover a total area of 18,600 hectares. The Guaraqueçaba region has 313 thousand hectares. Reporting that the projects exclude communities is plainly wrong, since the projects generate jobs and income and seek to create economic alternatives in an effort to keep and further the communities instead of the wrongly reported exclusion attempt from the project managers side. It is also irresponsible journalism to portray the work of the environmental police in such an incomplete and inaccurate way. In the Guaraqueçaba region, within the larger protected area which is governed by specific environmental 1
legislation in Brazil which the author prefers not to acknowledge. What is not acceptable is the lack of due diligence and proof reading from the media outlet s end the way good democratic journalism should be brought to the media outlet s audiences that deserve the truth. The Brazilian legislation for this region takes into account how people relate to the environment; there are many different legal ways for economic activity and for obtaining foodstuff and building materials. It was astonishing in the media piece to show two people infringing the law in front of the camera and the journalist supporting them in their effort, as seen in the Frontline story. Not only a lack of goodwill and competent journalism to investigate occurrences like these became clear, but also poor and biased reporting. Important information about the projects is presented below. All of this data was carefully conveyed to the journalist (when he visited the projects in July of 2009) and on opportunities with the production team at PBS Frontline (the production crew itself requested this information, although it was not considered at all when they put the news story together). More information about the projects can be found in a film available on You Tube at the following address http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=tcqalwgbtje, and also in the texts listed at the following addresses: http://www.nature.org/wherewework/southamerica/brazil/work/art29990.html http://www.spvs.org.br/download/folder_carbon_eng.pdf 2
SUMMARIZED INFORMANTION ON GUARAQUEÇABA CLIMATE ACTION PROJECTS As one of the first forest carbon projects in Brazil, the Guaraqueçaba Climate Action Projects have successfully lowered carbon emissions while providing valuable lessons for future REDD activities. Without the projects, Asian water buffalo ranching and other unsustainable agricultural practices would have expanded in the region and destroyed healthy forests. The projects have developed and implemented methodologies to determine baseline carbon emissions and leakage, and to account for avoided emissions and carbon sequestration. On-the-ground monitoring and satellite imagery is being used to track potential leakage and to enforce conservation activities. Based on the baseline assessment and carbon monitoring conducted in 2004, the projects are estimated to prevent approximately 370,000 tons of carbon dioxide from being emitted into the atmosphere through protecting threatened forest and remove 860,000 tons of carbon dioxide from the atmosphere through reforestation and natural regeneration activities during a 40 year period. Therefore, a total of 1.2 million tons of carbon dioxide benefits is expected to be generated by the three projects during 40 years. To date, 650,000 trees have been planted on 1,500 hectares, and approximately 17,000 hectares are being managed for avoided deforestation. The projects have provided important lessons for global REDD projects by developing and improving baseline methodologies and carbon monitoring. The Guaraqueçaba Climate Action Projects in Brazil s Atlantic Forest are helping protect one of the world s most threatened forest habitats. No single tropical forest on Earth has come closer to complete destruction than Brazil s Atlantic Forest. Once stretching across an area twice the size of Texas, only 12 percent remains today, the result of generations of uncontrolled agriculture and development. The Atlantic Forest biome has been recognized as one of the five top priority areas of the planet, with over 1,000 species of birds, 130 species of mammals, and more tree species than the entire eastern seaboard of the United States. Among the endangered species that rely on the forest for survival are the jaguar, wild boar, tapir, anteater, and the black-faced lion tamarin. The United Nations Scientific, Educational and Cultural Organization (UNESCO) has recognized Brazil s Atlantic Forest as one of the highest global priorities for conservation and has designated it a World Biosphere Reserve. Three reserve areas Morro da Mina, Serra do Itaqui, Rio Cachoeira totaling 18,678 hectares are being protected from destruction through a combination of forest restoration, avoided deforestation and sustainable economic development. 3
The Guaraqueçaba Climate Action Project is working closely with local communities to ensure they benefit from the conservation activities. In the Antonina and Guaraqueçaba municipalities, project partner SPVS is the secondlargest private employer and the fourth-largest employer in general, thanks to the Guaraqueçaba projects. The Guaraqueçaba projects have created around 45 direct jobs related to the forest restoration work, envisioned to exist until 2039. Additional jobs are being created through sustainable economic development activities being led by SPVS. For instance, an association of organic honey breeders, which includes 25 members of the community, has been built inside the protection area. Other income-generating programs SPVS has helped establish include ecotourism and certified organic banana production. Municipalities in the project area have also received around US $1 million through state tax funds that are distributed to municipalities that preserve natural areas. Without the conservation activities being conducted by the Guaraqueçaba projects, these municipalities would not have received the funding. Additional funds are expected to be given to local communities, as other municipalities in the area are now considering protecting additional lands in order to earn the tax benefits. In addition to generating income for local communities, the projects are also protecting vital water resources. For instance, the municipality of Antonina (pop. 17,891) receives its water supply from one of the protected reserves. To win the fight against climate change, we must lower emissions from all sources industry, transportation, power generation and deforestation. A ton of reduced emissions from forests is just as important as a ton of reduced emissions from industry. Forest protection is not a panacea for climate change, but one of the essential tools needed to lower carbon emissions including fuel efficiency and clean energy. In the global fight against climate change, we must use all tools at our disposal. Along with fighting climate change, forest conservation provides additional benefits by protecting habitat for species and providing food and water resources to local communities. The Nature Conservancy and SPVS believe that forest protection can and must go hand in hand with the betterment of local communities. Local communities play an important role in protecting ecosystem services that are important for the society as a whole. The Nature Conservancy has submitted a proposal to the United Nations calling for the full engagement of Indigenous and local communities in the development of policies on reducing emissions from deforestation and degradation (REDD), and for the equitable distribution of benefits achieved through such policies. 4
Project History: Prior to establishing the Guaraqueçaba projects, the area had been compromised by incompatible activities, such as grazing of non-native Asian water buffalo and the introduction of an invasive African grass. If the project had not been put into place, deforestation and forest and land degradation would have continued. In 1999, The Nature Conservancy partnered with local non-governmental organization SPVS (Sociedade de Pesquisa em Vida Selvagem e Educação Ambiental) to develop and implement in 2000 the first of three carbon projects in the region with the financial support from American Electric Power, which invested $5.4 million in a project. In 2001, General Motors invested US$10 million in a new project In 2002, Chevron invested US$3 million in another new project. A total of US$18.4 million has been invested: o Approximately 1/3 was used for the initial land acquisition, which was purchased from buffalo ranchers and is now owned by SPVS. o Approximately 1/3 is invested for operations, such as tree-planting, carbon monitoring and sustainable development activities. (Approximately 10% of the total budget was spent on promoting sustainable development activities around project areas, as well as capacity building and training of SPVS employees and local people.) o Approximately 1/3 has been put into a fund to manage the reserves. In total, the three reserve areas (Morro da Mina, Serra do Itaqui, Rio Cachoeira) in the region that were acquired and are currently being managed encompass 18,678 hectares. The Conservancy and SPVS are not only monitoring the project area closely, but are also working with other partners and conservation strategies to protect and restore the greater Guaraqueçaba Environmental Protection Area with an area of 313,000 hectares. For instance: o We are working with Conservation International and Brazilian NGO SOS Mata Atlantica to increase the number of private reserves in the area. o We are working with federal and state environmental agencies to increase the number of public protected areas. SPVS engages in several activities related to the projects, ranging from scientific research, reserve management, sustainable development of local communities, training and capacity building for staff and local communities, restoration of degraded areas, and patrolling of forests. Carbon Benefits: The Guaraqueçaba Climate Action Projects represent several being undertaken by The Nature Conservancy and its partners to help protect and restore threatened forests and create a demonstrable reduction in the build-up of greenhouse gases in the atmosphere. Duration. The carbon benefits of the Guaraqueçaba Climate Action Projects are expected to endure for future generations through the mitigation of risks to the project 5
site, transformation of the project areas into official private protected areas (RPPNs), and the establishment of a permanent endowment fund to ensure management of the site. Additionality. Based on analysis of satellite images taken in the decade prior to project implementation, a clear trend of land clearing and forest degradation before the projects were implemented was clearly evident. This trend is the basis for establishing additionality. Although land use in the area is regulated under a Brazilian law requiring landowners to maintain areas of permanently protected natural vegetation on their properties, these regulations are often not enforced because of limited resources. Leakage. The first strategy to minimize leakage was the acquisition of the farms along with the buffalos grazing on the farms. The buffalos acquired were sold to local slaughter facilities; the buffalos were not moved to other lands. Although a consequence of the project was in a drop in supply of buffalo products (meat, milk), an increase in buffalo ranching is not expected to make up for the drop in supply of buffalo products coming off the project lands. This is due to the legal protection status of the region (Guaraqueçaba Environmental Protection Area) where the projects are located; further land clearing for ranching is restricted. Also, the primary reason for maintain buffalo in the area is not for producing buffalo products but rather just to keep the land cleared for land speculation purposes, given that cleared land in the region fetches a higher price than forested lands. In addition, in order to minimize the impacts of buffalo grazing outside the project lands, the project offers activities to help ranchers who wish to remain on their land and raise water buffalo in a more environmentally compatible manner and provides incentives to create private reserves and restore degraded areas on their properties. Monitoring: The Guaraqueçaba projects installed 464 carbon monitoring plots to measure and monitor the carbon stored in protected forests and restored areas. The results from the carbon monitoring plots are combined with the results from the baseline study. Preliminary estimates, based on a 2004 assessment, for the amount of carbon emissions avoided and carbon stored in forest restoration over a 40 year period are: 440,481 tons in the natural reserve Serra do Itaqui, 624,503 tons in the natural reserve Rio Cachoeira, and 166,163 tons in the natural reserve Morro da Mina. Thus, a total of approximately 1.2 million tons of CO2 benefits over 40 years. Carbon monitoring of the project was done in years one, three, and five. Moving forward it will be done every five years through analysis of satellite images and on-theground by measuring the established 464 monitoring plots in standing forests and restored areas. 6