PROTECTING
NATURE
Boa Esperança Forest
Amazon Rainforest | Sena Madureira – Acre
Preserving the Future
Our first sponsored project is located amid the Amazon Forest, the world’s largest rainforest.
Boa Esperança Forest occupies an area of 12,739 ha in Sena Madureira, Acre, the westernmost state of Brazil.
Boa Esperança Forest has kept 92.34% of its original cover, making it an excellent platform to develop our conservation principles.
Our corporate approach is based in 3 pillars: reduction of deforestation, restoration and improvement of local population, while preserving the biome.
Carbon Credits are the perfect vehicle to bring financial resources to preserve and restore the forest.
And, because the results revert to the landowners, we can guarantee that the resources are invested in preservation locally.
The 3 Pillars of Conservation Approach
Total registered and georeferenced area of ...
Captured, in stock
Context
The state of Acre instituted, through Law no. 2308/2010, the Incentives for Environmental Services System (SISA). This law, the result of a collective effort, is an innovative legislation that aims to promote initiatives that lead to the conservation, recovery and increase of environmental/ecosystem services originated and provided in the territory of Acre (Amaral, Leal e Bardales, 2015).
At SISA, each environmental service is a program and the most advanced of them is ISA Carbono. One of the elements of this program is the Reference Level (RL), which was used to measure greenhouse gas emission reductions (Acre, 2014).
In 2015, the state of Acre aligned its RL with the national RL after Brazil submitted its emission estimates for the Amazon Biome (IMC, 2015) to the United Nations Framework on Climate Change Convention (UNFCCC). The alignment with the national method Forest Reference Emission Levels (FREL) simplifies and offers the possibility of alignment with the national
policy on environmental services, in addition to avoiding overestimates of greenhouse gas (GHG) emission reductions in the Amazon.
This work shows the synthesis of the result for establishing a reference level for the Boa Esperança Forest (BEP Forest) and points out paths for an avoided emissions strategy per project.
Study Area Identification
The study area is Boa Esperança Forest, located in the municipality of Sena Madureira – Acre, with a total registered and georeferenced area of 12,739.1343 ha. Registration no. 3,446; R – 1 – 3,446; on pages 01F – 02V of Book 2, of the RGI of the District of Sena Madureira – Acre (on 10.05.2011).
Its limits and confrontations: to the north with Rio Yaco and Seringal Sacado Curitiba, to the south with Reserva Chico Mendes and Seringal Nova Olinda, to the east with Seringal Sacado Curitiba and to the west with Seringal Nova Olinda.
According to the Technical Assessment Report, the vegetation presents associations of several forest typologies, the following being predominant: Open Forest with Bamboo associated with Open Forest with Palm Trees; Open Forest with Palm Trees in Alluvial Areas associated with Dense Forest, following the RADAMBRASIL classification (1976).
Evolution of Land Use
Currently, the state of Acre has 55.47% of its land destined for Settlement Projects and Protected Natural Areas (Conservation Units and Indigenous Lands). Public lands in discrimination sub judice represent 2.50% of the state surface, while public lands not allocated represent only 3.19%. Indigenous dominion lands (titled or in process) constitute 1.27% of its surface. Rural properties under private ownership comprise 30.95% of the state’s land. And the areas to be registered totalize 6.62% of the state surface. Together, these categories account for 44.53% of state land.
Boa Esperança Forest have their registered lands bordering on the Reserva Extrativista Chico Mendes (Extractive Reserve).
The land use in the analyzed area shows increasing occupation demand due to the conversion of forest areas, probably from the growth of the population that inhabits there.
After analyzing the deforestation history, the BEP Forest has 7.66% of its territory already altered. This percentage corresponds to 976.22 hectares that have different uses (pastures, swiddens, scrub, houses, etc.).
Considering the historical series from 1988 to 2018, the average deforestation rate is 31.49 hectares/year. The highest recorded deforestation rate was 135.6 ha (2003) and the lowest was 1.9 ha (2000). According to the trend history, deforestation is in an evolution process.
The effort to develop a project for Reducing Emissions from Deforestation and Forest Degradation (REDD) offers an opportunity to avoid the conversion of forest areas by the communities that live there, as well as an alternative to prioritize the sustainable use of areas that have already been altered.
The importance of preserving forest resources and their biodiversity in terms of valuing ecosystem services are fundamental for economic, social and environmental return. And in this way provide an increase in production and diversification of products combined with environmental conservation.
These elements are fundamental to guaranteeing security and autonomy for rural property, in addition to creating income possibilities through the sale of surpluses.
Turning Forest Conservation into Credits
The weighted average carbon stock is 151.6 t CO2/ha, being 84% of the carbon density considering the forest typologies defined for the Amazon Biome based on RADAMBRASIL. The remaining 16% came from a literature review.
Using the methodological basis of the national RL, the BEP Forest adopted as a reference to estimate its RE’s 151.6 t CO2e as recommended by the FREL, which is the reference level of forest emissions from forest degradation for the Amazon Biome for payment for REDD+ results. And for the conversion of C to CO2 the factor 1 Megagram (Mg) of carbon was adopted, corresponding to 3.67 Mg of CO2 (Ronquim, 2007).
Thus, avoided deforestation was calculated based on forest biomass stock and carbon content references in the 2006–2025 historical series.
Using as input data the forest biomass references, the carbon content and the historical series of deforestation from 2006 to 2018, the analyzes were carried out referring to avoided deforestation up to the year 2025 (20 years).
Considering the RL construction method presented to the UNFCCC by Brazil, the effective reductions of the BEP Forest will be in the order of 127,470.72 t CO2, since this RE refers only to past years that had performance along with subsequent years of the baseline 3 and 4 (Figure 5).
Using the reference level data presented to the UNFCCC, the annual avoided deforestation estimates for the BEP Forest in the periods 2006 to 2010 and 2011 to 2015, there was a deficit of avoided emissions, since deforestation levels were higher than the baselines, impacted mainly due to deforestation from the year 2010 to baseline (1), 2013 and 2015 to baseline (2). In these two periods, the Boa Esperança Forest presented a deficit of 51,858.88 t CO2 and in the two subsequent periods there was the generation of positive avoided emissions of 81,261.90 t CO2 (Table 1).
Outlook
The elaboration of projects seeking to align with methodologies of the
national reference level can contribute with the input of significant resources
that can help to better validate the certification of actions and expected results
in production, conservation, social organization, etc.
Fostering studies for the development of projects predicting conservation
and involving elements for valuing socio–biodiversity can raise funds from other
lines of investment in addition to carbon.
