Beyond Europe the value of forestry 'offsets' is well recognised by governments and other large bodies like the Chicago Climate Exchange and the New South Wales Greenhouse Gas Abatement Scheme. In California a scheme is currently underway that will tie offsets in with the preservation of Indonesian rain forests.
Making a Meal out of CO : how trees can help...
We deal mostly in native woodland schemes. Other types of forestry and non-forestry 'green projects' exist (for which we can provide a project management service) but our main passion lies with trees whose talent it is to eat CO and turn it into wood and oxygen. (If you did photosynthesis at school this fact shouldn't be news to you.)
To 'offset' a thing means to balance its negative effect, to compensate somehow. Ideally, there should be no such thing as offsets of any kind for C0 because we shouldn't be producing so much of it in the first place - which is why a good deal of money (and C0 itself) is currently being released in the quest for renewable and cleaner energy sources. But progress is frustratingly slow: protecting the world's rain forests has been on many agendas (their decimation accounts for 20% of the world's CO ) yet they continue to fall.
And all the while emissions increase. It's no 'quick fix', but the planting of extra trees specifically to act as carbon sinks is an antidotal step with many ecological fringe benefits.The word 'extra' is important: Forestry schemes which, like ours, follow the Kyoto Protocol's 'additionality' principle, make, over time, a real contribution towards locking in CO . Genuine forestry offsets do not involve random, opportunist plantings: Work by the UN on a single universal standard is ongoing.
As trees breathe, feed and grow they trap carbon at a rate
and level that can be roughly measured. Likewise, the C0 produced in the making of a product - from raw material to point of sale - can also be estimated. Calculations then determine how much new forest it would take (plus how long the trees would need to stay in the ground) to 'sink' the estimated quantity of C0 . Our calculation model (see right) includes such generous safety margins that three times the targeted amount of carbon can, in practice, be sequestered. That extra amount is untradable, being retained as insurance against the risk of destruction or slow growth.
Then there's the woodland itself, a thing of beauty that would never have existed but for the initiative of a new scheme.
To 'offset' a thing means to balance its negative effect, to compensate somehow. Ideally, there should be no such thing as offsets of any kind for C0 because we shouldn't be producing so much of it in the first place - which is why a good deal of money (and C0 itself) is currently being released in the quest for renewable and cleaner energy sources. But progress is frustratingly slow: protecting the world's rain forests has been on many agendas (their decimation accounts for 20% of the world's CO ) yet they continue to fall.
And all the while emissions increase. It's no 'quick fix', but the planting of extra trees specifically to act as carbon sinks is an antidotal step with many ecological fringe benefits.The word 'extra' is important: Forestry schemes which, like ours, follow the Kyoto Protocol's 'additionality' principle, make, over time, a real contribution towards locking in CO . Genuine forestry offsets do not involve random, opportunist plantings: Work by the UN on a single universal standard is ongoing.
As trees breathe, feed and grow they trap carbon at a rate
and level that can be roughly measured. Likewise, the C0 produced in the making of a product - from raw material to point of sale - can also be estimated. Calculations then determine how much new forest it would take (plus how long the trees would need to stay in the ground) to 'sink' the estimated quantity of C0 . Our calculation model (see right) includes such generous safety margins that three times the targeted amount of carbon can, in practice, be sequestered. That extra amount is untradable, being retained as insurance against the risk of destruction or slow growth.
Then there's the woodland itself, a thing of beauty that would never have existed but for the initiative of a new scheme.
What you get with a Forest Carbon scheme:
Ownership of all carbon sequestered by your project's tree biomass and soil. About one third of these rights will be transferred to investors: the balance is permanently retained as a generous contingency. Expected to remain untouched it's a nice bonus for the environment.
Naming rights and guaranteed public access to your sites as well as site access for promotional events.
Independent monitoring of the site to assess sequestration rates and to ensure good practice
is being followed.
Enhancement of your organisation's internal
awareness of matters relating to climate change,
C0 emissions, energy and fossil fuel consumption, etc. (This has been shown to have a real impact on staff attitudes towards economies in travel, transport, energy, etc.)
Potential recognition for your 'early action' on climate change: government negotiations to add further categories of industry
to mandatory carbon trading regimes are
ongoing (e.g. aviation and shipping will be next.)
Improved corporate pride and reputation: The best people want to work for the best organisations.
THE
FOREST CARBON
CARBON CALCULATOR MODEL:
FOREST CARBON
CARBON CALCULATOR MODEL:
2
timber/carbon ratios
x
expected growth rates (yield class)
=
sequestration over project's life
x
expected growth rates (yield class)
=
sequestration over project's life
2
2
The result is extremely conservative
being based on:
being based on:
2
1. counting the usable timber only.
2. exclusion of the soil carbon figure.
3. 'expected growth' calculation done
per species using the UK Forestry
Commission's Ecological Site
Classification model .
2. exclusion of the soil carbon figure.
3. 'expected growth' calculation done
per species using the UK Forestry
Commission's Ecological Site
Classification model .
Grant Aid and scrutiny
2
2
2
UK Forestry Commission:
Most Forest Carbon projects will come complete with Forestry Commission grant aid. This means buyers need provide only the top-up funding necessary to make a project break even.
Projects in receipt of Forestry Commission funding must meet strict requirements regarding bio-diversity, sustainability and forestry management. Forest Carbon welcomes such scrutiny: it works towards a necessary regularisation of standards for forestry projects in voluntary carbon markets.
2
2
For more on the theory and politics of forestry credits go to the glossary or click here.
Ltd
Registered in England and Wales: No: 06041000 NETPark, Thomas Wright Way. Sedgefield, Co. Durham, TS21 3FD, UK t: +44 (0) 0845 680 4480 f: +44 (0) 0845 680 4490 e: info@forestcarbon.co.uk
