62 NGO Project
INVESTING IN CARBON OFFSETS
FINANCING THE EARTH’S FUTURE
Cut what you can and off set what you can’t is the eco mantra. But with carbon off set projects sprouting up in every corner of the planet, and NGOs and for-profi t brokers competing for the attention of industry, corporations are not short of choice. Every month, we’ll share our pick of the carbon-off set projects on off er and tell you why we think you should invest
THIS MONTH REPLANTING THE RAINFOREST Most carbon-off set projects focus on providing cleaner cooking stoves or building wind turbines. It’s not hard to understand why these appeal - they are short-term, discrete projects that are easy to invest in. But there are overwhelming reasons to invest in forests. For one thing, they’re a sustainable
natural resource, so the investment isn’t a one-off . While forests once blanketed the earth in green, 80 percent are already
history and this deforestation is believed to be responsible for one-fi fth of global greenhouse gas emissions.
The Amazon, which spans four million
square kilometres, acts as the planet’s lungs, breathing out 20 percent of the world’s oxygen. Over the past few decades, Earth’s largest forest – which spreads across Brazil, Bolivia, Colombia, Ecuador, Guyana, Peru, Suriname and Venezuela – has been ravaged by soya and cattle farming, mining and logging. This project is aimed at the reforestation of 11,000 hectares of degraded land in two regions of Antioquia and Cravo Norte in north Colombia that have been destroyed by illegal gold mining and coca plantations. Both regions are home to several endangered species. The reforestation is being carefully thought through. Rather than planting monocultures, which rapidly replenishes the number of trees but does little for biodiversity, it’s trying to re-establish the formerly rich ecosystem by planting 20-25 native tree species. According to
It brings the added bonus of providing jobs to locals as an alternative to
working on illegal coca plantations
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South Pole Carbon, this “has already led to the settling of another 75 plant species and a multitude of animals in the now restored
and still growing forest”. As off set projects go, reforestation
often has added value. In most developing countries, people rely on forests as a source of food, medicine and livelihood. This project brings the added bonus of providing jobs to locals as an alternative to working on illegal coca plantations. The benefi ts of this can’t be underestimated – after all, saving the planet also means saving its people.
“This has already led to the settling of another 75 plant species and a multitude of animals in the forest”
WWW.CARBONWARROOM.COM ISSUE 04. SEPTEMBER 2011
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