Incubator Resources

Social and Biodiversity Impact Assessment (SBIA) Manual for REDD+ Projects

Core Guidance for Project Proponents

Are land-based carbon projects good for local people, biodiversity, and ecosystem services? The Climate, Community and Biodiversity Alliance (CCBA), Forest Trends, Fauna & Flora International (FFI), and the Rainforest Alliance formed an alliance with the aim of producing a user-friendly Manual on how to conduct cost-effective and credible social and biodiversity impact assessment. The concepts described in this Manual will be relevant to a wide range of site-level land-based carbon activities, whether designed for compliance or voluntary markets (we believe that sub-national activities will...

Dependent Documents Associated with this Publication

Social and Biodiversity Impact Assessment (SBIA) Manual for REDD+ Projects: Social Impact Assessment Toolbox

Michael Richards - Forest Trends - November 2011

Social and Biodiversity Impact Assessment (SBIA) Manual for REDD+ Projects: Biodiversity Impact Assessment Toolbox

Nigel Pitman - November 2011

Manuel sur l'Évaluation des Impacts Sociaux et sur la Biodiversité (EISB) pour les Projets de REDD+

Première Partie - Directives de Base a l'Intention des Initiateurs de Projets

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Manual para la Evaluación de Impacto Social y sobre la Biodiversidad (EISB) de los Proyectos REDD+

Parte 1: Guía basica para los proponentes de Proyectos

Forest Trends, la Alianza para el Clima,Comunidad y Biodiversidad (CCBA), Rainforest Alliance y Fauna & Flora Internacional (FFI) han conformado una alianza con el objeto de producir un Manual de fácil uso sobre cómo llevar a cabo evaluaciones de impacto social y de biodiversidad costo-efectivas y confiables. Los conceptos descritos en este Manual serán relevantes para una amplia gama de actividades de carbono terrestre al nivel de sitio, ya sea diseñadas para los mercados voluntarios o de cumplimiento (creemos que las actividades sub-nacionales seguirán teniendo un papel importante en la...

Dependent Documents Associated with this Publication

Manual para la Evaluación de Impacto Social y sobre la Biodiversidad (EISB) de los Proyectos REDD+: Parte 2: Caja de Herramientos para la Evaluación de Impacto Social

Michael Richards - Forest Trends/Katoomba Incubator - September 2011

Project Feasibility Assessment Template (updated)

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Dependent Documents Associated with this Publication

Template Kelayakan Proyek REDD+: REDD+ Project Feasibility Template (Bahasa Indonesia/English)

Building Forest Carbon Projects

Step-by-Step Overview and Guide

(NOTE: Only the Overview and Guide part of this series can be downloaded from the link above; the other 8 guidance documents need to be downloaded from the respective links below).
Forest projects around the world are working to confront the practical challenges of reducing emissions and providing local benefits. To facilitate the development of forest projects, we have compiled strategic step-by–step guidance to emerging best practices. Drawing on the experience of the Katoomba Incubator, this series of documents helps project developers understand key technical, social,...

Dependent Documents Associated with this Publication

REDD Guidance: Technical Project Design

Joerg Seifert-Granzin - Forest Trends - July 2011

AR Guidance: Technical Project Design

Johannes Ebeling, Alvaro Vallejo - Carbon Decisions International - July 2011

Carbon Stock Assessment Guidance: Inventory and Monitoring Procedures

David Diaz, Matt Delaney - Forest Trends, L&C Carbon - July 2011

Community Engagement Guidance: Good Practice for Forest Carbon Projects

Tom Blomley, Michael Richards - Natural Resource Consultants Ltd., Forest Trends - July 2011

Legal Guidance: Legal and Contractual Aspects of Forest Carbon Projects

Slayde Hawkins - Forest Trends - July 2011

Business Guidance: Forest Carbon Marketing and Finance

Phil Covell - Forest Trends - July 2011

Social Impacts Guidance: Key Assessment Issues for Forest Carbon Projects

Michael Richards - Forest Trends - July 2011

Biodiversity Impacts Guidance: Key Assessment Issues for Forest Carbon Projects

John Pilgrim, Jonathan Ekstrom, Johannes Ebeling - The Biodiversity Consultancy - July 2011

Advancing Biochar in the Chesapeake

A Strategy to Reduce Pollution from Poultry Litter

This report highlights the insights gleaned from a two-day feasibility and project design charrette on poultry litter biochar for sustainable nutrient management in the Chesapeake Bay watershed. It also integrates discussions that have since ensued with workshop participants and other experts in the field in order to illustrate whether and how biochar production and application may be a solution to poultry litter management in the Chesapeake Bay watershed....

Dependent Documents Associated with this Publication

Economic Model for Poultry Litter Biochar Production: Overall Analysis

Biomass Map of Ghana

Overview

The outcome of negotiations in Cancun (COP 16) encouraged developing country Parties to contribute to mitigation actions in the forest sector by undertaking REDD+ activities. While this progress strengthens the opportunity for many tropical nations to pursue carbon finance for ecosystem protection, it also presents the challenge of assessing national carbon stocks and monitoring change over time. To address this challenge, countries will need to identify the most precise and cost-effective methods for assessing and monitoring carbon stocks, and develop the necessary human capacity to...

Dependent Documents Associated with this Publication

Biomass Map of Ghana: The Map (pdf format)

Biomass Map of Ghana: The Map (jpg)

Towards Cost-effective Social Impact Assessment of REDD+ Projects

Meeting the Challenge of Multiple Benefit Standards

This paper describes some of the challenges of meeting standards for multiple benefit forest carbon and other land use based carbon projects. There is considerable current controversy about the social and equity impacts of such projects. The authors argue that a combination of more robust standards, such as the Climate Community and Biodiversity (CCB) Standards, for assessing the social performance of projects, and cost-effective impact assessment methods can do much to ensure positive outcomes for local people or communities, and greatly reduce the risk of negative ones. The paper is...

Nested Approaches to REDD+

An Overview of Issues and Options

Interest in "nested" approaches to REDD+ has grown steadily as policy makers, practitioners and investors seek to reconcile approaches to reducing, and rewarding, emissions reductions at different scales - national, subnational and project.  The 16th session of the Conference of the Parties to the UNFCCC in Cancun marked the UNFCCC's formal acknowledgement of subnational approaches to REDD+ accounting and monitoring.  National "readiness" processes for REDD+ in many countries explicitly seek to incorporate nested projects or demonstration activities, as do state or provincial

Biochar Feasibility Assessment

Thousands of years ago, South Americans of the Amazon Basin began using charred animal waste and wood to make what the Portuguese called “terra preta” (black earth). The terra preta soil they created remains fertile for thousands of years, increasing agricultural yields and further reducing harmful emissions caused by inefficient farming practices and/or the excessive use of chemical fertilizers. Today, we call this “biochar” – a highly porous charcoal made from any form of organic waste – ranging from forest residues to manure – through a process known as pyrolysis, which is the chemical...

Aprendendo sobre Servicios Ambientais

The State of Acre, Brazil recently created a state PES scheme based on the carbon market, but also biodiversity and watershed services. This booklet contains key concepts about payment for ecosystem services; it was prepared for technical staff of the government in the state of Acre, Brazil. ...

Consolidating National REDD+ Accounting and Subnational Activities in Ghana

Forest Trends engaged with Climate Focus to prepare an assessment of options for integrating subnational activities on Reducing Emissions from Deforestation and Forest Degradation (REDD+) into the design of the national REDD+ architecture in Ghana in a way that is consistent with the emerging international REDD+ policy. This assessment forms part of a broader effort led by Forest Trends and the Nature Conservation Research Centre to strengthen national and project-level capacity for REDD+ in Ghana. ...

Budongo-Bugoma Landscape REDD+ Project

Feasibility Assessment

This potential REDD+ project aims to reduce deforestation and degradation and to promote regeneration of forests in the Budongo-Bugoma landscape in Western Uganda. It would mainly focus on a mosaic of private and community forests in 3 districts (Hoima, Kibaale, and Kyenjojo). Approximately 90,000 ha of high forest and 120,000 ha of woodland remain in the landscape outside protected areas, predominantly in small patches of up to several 100 ha. The region is characterized by rapid conversion of these remaining forest fragments to subsistence and small-scale commercial agriculture (including...

Nested Approaches and Mobilizing Early Start Private Finance for REDD

Presentation Outline - REDD in context - Rapidly changing context for projects - Trends - Elements from US legislation - Challenges for national approaches - REDD funding in context: The finance gap and scale of regulated markets - The Nested Approach - Key elements for national level nesting - Accounting: measurement and monitoring - Attribution: baselines, leakage - Allocation: Who owns carbon? Rights to how much? - Linking project and national-level performance - Options: International Level - Early - stage actions...

Avoided Deforestation (REDD) and Indigenous Peoples: experiences, challenges and opportunities in the Amazon context

Instituto Socioambiental and Forest Trends, 2010

This book published by the Instituto Socioambiental, with support from partner institution Forest Trends, seeks to provide a source of information and reflections which can be useful for the discussion and implementation of REDD projects in indigenous lands, in Brazil, and other Amazon countries. Contents include: - Indigenous Lands and the Climate Crisis - Forest Resources in Indigenous Territories and REDD Projects in the Amazon Basin - A Legal Opinion on the Ownership of Carbon Credits Generated by Forest Activities on Indigenous Lands in Brazil - The Surui Project: Building...

Dependent Documents Associated with this Publication

Desmatamento evitado (REDD) e povos indígenas: Experiências, desafios e oportunidades no contexto amazônico

- Forest Trends, Instituto Socioambiental - October 2010

The REDD Opportunities Scoping Exercise

A Tool for Prioritizing Sub-National REDD+ Activities - Case Studies from Ghana, Tanzania, and Uganda

This report describes the REDD+ Opportunities Scoping Exercise (ROSE) methodology, and summarises the experience of developing and using it in three case study countries Tanzania, Uganda and Ghana. ROSE is a tool for classifying and prioritizing potential REDD+ sub-national activities, and for assessing critical constraints to project development, especially those associated with the legal, political, and institutional framework for �terrestrial� carbon finance. The ROSE tool is therefore relevant to REDD+ at both the sub-national and national levels. ...

Dependent Documents Associated with this Publication

Implications of the Legal and Policy Framework for Tree and Forest Carbon in Ghana: REDD Opportunities Scoping Exercise

Rebecca Asare - Forest Trends - August 2010

The REDD Opportunities Scoping Exercise for Ghana: ROSE Expert Workshop

Michael Richards - Forest Trends - August 2010

Getting Started on REDD in Tanzania: A Scoping Study for the Katoomba Ecosystem Services Incubator

The REDD Opportunities Scoping Exercise (ROSE), Uganda

Sara Namirembe, Onesmus Mugyenyi - Forest Trends/Katoomba Incubator, ACODE - July 2011

Katoomba Issue Brief: REDD Opportunities in Uganda

Slayde Hawkins - Forest Trends/Katoomba Incubator - July 2011

Manual for Social Impact Assessment of Land-Based Carbon Projects

Part I - Core Guidance for Project Proponents

Forest Trends, CCBA, FFI, and Rainforest Alliance have published Version 1.0 of a “Manual for Social Impact Assessment of Land-Based Carbon Projects.” The Manual is designed to be used by carbon project proponents aiming for validation under the CCB Standards, or other multiple-benefit carbon standards. The NGOs involved in this initiative believe that a combination of credible social impact assessment methods and robust standards for verifying the co-benefits provides an important way of promoting positive social outcomes of land-based carbon projects. The Manual is Version 1.0, since the...

Dependent Documents Associated with this Publication

Manual para la Evaluación del Impacto Social de los Proyectos de Carbono Terrestre: Parte I - Orientación Básica para los Proponentes de Proyectos

Michael Richards, Steve Panfil - Forest Trends, CCBA - August 2010

Manual for Social Impact Assessment of Land-Based Carbon Projects

Part II - Toolbox of Methods and Support Materials

Forest Trends, CCBA, FFI, and Rainforest Alliance have published Version 1.0 of a “Manual for Social Impact Assessment of Land-Based Carbon Projects.” The Manual is designed to be used by carbon project proponents aiming for validation under the CCB Standards, or other multiple-benefit carbon standards. The NGOs involved in this initiative believe that a combination of credible social impact assessment methods and robust standards for verifying the co-benefits provides an important way of promoting positive social outcomes of land-based carbon projects. The Manual is Version 1.0, since the...

Dependent Documents Associated with this Publication

Manual para la Evaluación del Impacto Social de los Proyectos de Carbono Terrestre: Parte II - Caja de Herramientas de Métodos y Materiales de Apoyo

Michael Richards, Steve Panfil - Forest Trends, CCBA - August 2010

Beyond Borders

PES and REDD in the ASEAN Region

An Insight Series publication covering: Payments for Ecosystem Services: Scaling Up…and Down State of the Forest Carbon Markets Asia Round Peg, Square Hole: Forest Carbon under Existing Law in Southeast Asia Oddar Meanchey: REDD in Cambodia Participatory Forest Management EM Cheat Sheet: What is a Social Impact Assessment? Asian Governments Explore Ecosystem Markets for Environmental Protection The State of Play in MRV and REDD The Prospects for PES in Vietnam The Potential of Biodiversity Offsets in Vietnam China and PES: New Approaches for Environmental...

Project Clinic Report

Katoomba Incubator, Eastern Africa

The East Africa Katoomba Incubator Project Clinic was conducted at Protea Oyster Bay Hotel in Dar es Salaam Tanzania on June 9-11, 2010 to enable technical advisory support through direct interface between leading experts and implementers of REDD projects in Uganda and Tanzania. The clinic also sought to facilitate projects to create synergies among themselves and take advantage of opportunities emanating from country-level initiatives. REDD projects were guided on application of approved methodologies so as to effectively achieve emissions reductions and access carbon markets or national...

Aprendiendo sobre Pagos por Servicios Ambientales

Fundamentos para la elaboración de proyectos de carbono forestal

El propósito de este manual es introducir líderes comunitarios, agentes del gobierno, técnicos de ONGs y otros actores a los conceptos básicos relacionados al cambio climático y pagos por servicios ambientales, con un enfoque en el mercado de carbono, de una forma clara y didáctica....

Cocoa Carbon Initiative: Site Selection Report

NCRC and The Katoomba Incubator

There is a clear need for credible carbon maps that cover a nation which will offer a range of benefits to researchers, decision makers and project developers alike. This presents new opportunities for many tropical nations as a substantial source of finance for ecosystem protection. However, Ghana, like many tropical nations in Africa does not yet have a map of its forests and ecosystem resources, a vital tool in carbon stock accounting. Therefore, this project has been designed with an overall goal to produce a freely available and accessible carbon map of Ghana by the end of 2010, which...

Katoomba Incubator Workshop Report

Building a Carbon Map of Ghana: Summary Report on Existing Carbon Stock Data

There is a clear need for credible carbon maps that cover a nation which will offer a range of benefits to researchers, decision makers and project developers alike. This presents new opportunities for many tropical nations as a substantial source of finance for ecosystem protection. However, Ghana, like many tropical nations in Africa does not yet have a map of its forests and ecosystem resources, a vital tool in carbon stock accounting. Therefore, this project has been designed with an overall goal to produce a freely available and accessible carbon map of Ghana by the end of 2010, which...

Pro-Poor REDD – How will we Know?

Social Impact Assessment of Land-based Carbon Activities

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Surui

Carbon Finance and the Protection of Indigenous Peoples' Forests in the Amazon

In late 2007 Almir Surui, the internationally-recognized leader of the Surui people, approached Forest Trends and the Katoomba Group to seek support in developing a project to restore and conserve portions of their ancestral lands. From this conversation grew a commitment to collaborate and explore the potential for emerging carbon markets to strengthen the protection of the large area of native forest under Surui stewardship, and reinforce their efforts as a people to conserve their culture and develop alternative livelihoods....

Baker & McKenzie Legal Analysis - Surui REDD Project

Forest Trends has received a new analysis commissioned from Baker & McKenzie on the legal aspects of the “Surui Community Reduced Emissions from Deforestation and Degradation – REDD Carbon Project,” involving approximately 248,000 ha of their traditional territory located in the states of Rondônia and Mato Grosso in the Brazilian Amazon. This Surui REDD Carbon Project is being developed by the Surui as project proponents with technical assistance from Forest Trends, the Katoomba Incubator, Amazon Conservation Team, IDESAM, Google Outreach and Carbon Decisions. The team will be completing a...

Connecting Communities, Conservation, and Markets

The Katoomba Incubator Program Brochure

The Katoomba Ecosystem Services Incubator is an initiative of Forest Trends providing comprehensive support to bring promising ecosystem services projects to market, as a platform for delivering local benefits, inform policy and build capacity. The Incubator draws on its staff and the broad Katoomba network of partners to bring together support teams that embody leading-edge capacity tailored to specific project needs. Early‐stage Incubator investments support strong local implementation partners, adding carbon and other ecosystem service expertise to their existing experience and...

Sweetening the Deal for Shade-Grown Cocoa

A Preliminary Review of Constraints and Feasibility of 'Cocoa Carbon' in Ghana

The main implication of these preliminary economic results is that carbon finance alone (at current carbon prices) will not likely be the sole or necessarily the primary means for persuading farmers to adopt higher shade cocoa systems. It could however be an enabling factor to encourage improved farming practices and productivity. The models imply that tree tenure reform, combined with policy, fiscal and institutional reforms in the cocoa sector, will be important drivers of ‘improved’ cocoa farming practices, including increased shade. Realizing the full potential of “cocoa carbon” will...

Realising REDD

Implications of Ghana's Current Legal Framework for Trees

Challenges associated with tree tenure and property rights, while very important, should not be seen as complete barriers to initial REDD‐Plus initiatives. Efforts to introduce REDD projects in rural communities and landscapes in Ghana should move forward, particularly in consideration of the following points: Lead by example: harnessing REDD compatible structures and legislation, such as CREMAs or legal limits on logging in off reserve areas, can help inform the national REDD strategy and implementation debate. Different options exist for how carbon ownership rights may be...

Summary Report: Katoomba Incubator Project Clinic

Akosombo, Ghana

A Katoomba Incubator Project Clinic was held in Ghana in early September, 2009, bringing together a group of expert resource people to provide intensive, project-focused mentoring to a group of 22 participants representing 8 projects from Ghana, Liberia, Sierra Leone and Uganda. Resource people included were drawn from the Katoomba Incubator and regional partners (Nature Conservation Research Centre-Ghana, IDESAM-Brazil) and from leading experts in carbon project development, economics and law....

Estudio sobre el mercado voluntario de carbono, y mecanismos REDD de la Iniciativa ITT – Yasuní

Este informe ha sido encargado por el Gobierno de Ecuador a través del PNUD para evaluar la viabilidad del aprovechamiento de los mercados voluntarios de carbono para compensar los costos de la conservación de la Reserva de la Biosfera del Yasuní, incluyendo los costos de oportunidad de la extracción de petróleo desde el bloque ITT. Dos posibles fuentes de valor a través del mercado de carbono son evaluadas: El valor del carbono dejado secuestrado en forma de petróleo subterráneo, y el valor del inventario de carbono en los ecosistemas forestales que se verían perturbados, para extraer...

Cacao, Coffee, and Carbon

Agroforestry Systems and Carbon Markets

Motivated by the prospects of enhancing the value of sustainably-managed ecosystems and increasing returns to coffee and cocoa farmers, there has been strong interest from a variety of actors in combining carbon crediting with sustainable production of agricultural commodities, especially coffee and cocoa. These crops can be grown under the shade of tree species with high carbon content, but they have also been a significant driver of deforestation and degradation as farmers abandon older, unproductive plots and/or convert nutrient-rich natural forests for cocoa or coffee production. ...

Beyond Carbon

Biodiversity and Water Markets

It is widely acknowledged that well-functioning ecosystems provide reliable and clean flows of water, productive soils, healthy and balanced biota, and many other services for human well-being. It is also widely documented that today many ecosystems and the services they provide are under threat.

The use of markets and market-based mechanisms to conserve and pay for ecosystem services is a growing global trend that is gaining a solid foothold not just in the carbon markets, but also biodiversity and water markets. Furthermore, these payments for ecosystem services (PES) are a...