Jari PARA REDD+/ CCBS
Sustainable forest management and protection against deforestation
Para state, BraZIL*
The carbon offset project supports the village communities in the project region in protecting their surrounding forests from access by new settlers and thus protecting them from deforestation.
In particular, it is about protecting around 180,000 hectares of forest. As part of the project, the villagers are specially trained to convince new settlers of the advantages of sustainable forest use and to encourage them to cooperate on forest protection.
In those cases where this does not succeed, the villagers ensure that the legal protection provisions are observed. Various sub-projects create alternative employment opportunities for the local population. The success of the protective measures can also be checked through a precise monitoring system.
The Amazon rainforest is not only one of the most biodiverse habitats on earth, it also plays an important role in the development of the global climate. Unclear ownership, the lack of enforcement of existing laws and, last but not least, the widespread poverty in the region are increasingly leading to illegal and largely uncontrolled logging, which is destroying the region's valuable forests.
New roads open up ever more remote regions and serve as gateways for settlers. These often clear large areas by burning them in order to gain areas for agricultural purposes, especially for livestock. Regeneration of the forest is then practically no longer possible on the damaged soil. The current legal situation in Brazil exacerbates the problem by legalizing the occupation of public and private spaces when they are not clearly maintained. After a period of use of five years, the squatters receive official rights of use for the areas they claim. Since cleared land is worth about five to ten times more than forest areas, additional incentives are created for illegal clearing.
More than just climate protection
The contribution to the fulfillment of 6 of the 12 goals for sustainable development:
As part of the project, the villagers in the project area will be provided with efficient stoves. Improved combustion means less harmful smoke is produced when cooking, which greatly reduces the risk of respiratory and cardiovascular disease.
The project creates numerous new employment opportunities for people in the project region and offers training measures for the use of sustainable methods of forest use. Part of the income from climate compensation is used to promote and support business start-ups in the villages.
By protecting the forest areas, the project area acts as an important carbon sink and helps prevent global warming from accelerating further. Forest protection also ensures a unique habitat in its portfolio.
The intensive use of cleared forest areas for animal husbandry places a heavy burden on the soil and thus also on the drinking water sources. Sustainable land use also contributes to maintaining water quality.
The project enables and encourages the villagers to use the products and resources of the forest sustainably and to develop environmentally friendly economic cycles.
Thanks to the cooperative approach, the project offers a framework for clarifying existing property claims and for peaceful settlement of controversies between villagers and settlers. At the same time, compliance with legal requirements is ensured.
*BraZil
Exemplary example in climate protection ?!
For many years now, environmentalists like WWF have praised Brazil as the real world champion in climate protection. The Brazilians are waging a constant fight against deforestation and have meanwhile developed into a prime example of climate protection. In recent years, Brazil has reduced its greenhouse gas emissions by around a third, saving more than 750 million tons of carbon dioxide annually. This corresponds to a value of around 2 percent of global CO2 emissions. The great success is mainly due to the drastic deforestation bans in the Amazon jungle. Since 2013, 70 percent fewer square kilometers of forest have been cleared annually than in 2005. (David Nepsted. Earth Innovation Institute, San Francisco)
The government declares land areas to be protected areas, thereby helping to improve the coverage of rural areas. In order to better control environmental protection measures, responsibilities were also shifted to the rural districts, which meant that in the regions with particularly high forest losses, farmers no longer received loans.
Another reason for Brazil's success lies in the pressure exerted on the country by environmental organizations and large food companies such as Nestlé and McDonalds, triggered by global trends and the fear of damage to its image. Since 2006, for example, due to various campaigns, including Greenpeace deforested less than 1 percent of soy and grain crops.
Germany also supports Brazil's efforts in climate protection. In 2015 Angela Merkel made 550 million euros available as part of a climate protection agreement between Germany and Brazil. The money is to be used specifically to promote renewable energies and protect the tropical forest.
The main aim of this support is to reduce the clearance of tropical forests to zero by 2020. A large part of the financial resources are development loans from the Federal Ministry for Economic Cooperation and Development.
On site, at the signing, the Chancellor emphasized the great importance of protecting the rainforest: "We are very satisfied that there are ambitious developments in terms of stopping and reducing deforestation".
