Cambodia signs 8.5 mln T forest carbon deal

http://in.reuters.com

Thu Jun 25, 2009

SINGAPORE (Reuters) - Cambodia has signed agreements for a project that aims to protect 60,000 hectares of forest and reward local communities from the sale of carbon credits over several decades, the developers said in a statement.

The project in northwestern Oddar Meanchey province is expected to yield 8.5 million carbon offsets over 30 years and is the first avoided deforestation project in Cambodia for registration under the respected Voluntary Carbon Standard.

U.S.-based Terra Global Capital said in the statement it had finalised an agreement with the Cambodian Forestry Administration on marketing the carbon credits.

The group has also developed a method to measure and monitor the carbon locked away by the protected forest, which is in an area where the rate of deforestation was 3 percent a year between 2002-2006, the statement said.

It said nine local forestry groups comprising more than 50 villages agreed to protect the forest in return for carbon credit revenue aimed at developing alternative livelihoods.

"The success of the Oddar Meanchey project opens the door to long-term financing for Cambodia's national community forestry programme, which could eventually encompass and protect over 2 million hectares of forest," said Mark Poffenberger, head of Community Forestry International, who initiated the project.

The Cambodian project is one of a growing number under a U.N.-backed scheme called reduced emissions from deforestation and degradation, or REDD, that aims to reward developing nations for preserving forests in return for tradeable carbon offsets.

REDD is likely to be included in a broader U.N. climate pact to be negotiated in December and could usher in a multi-billion dollar trading scheme in forest credits that rich nations could buy to help meet emissions reduction targets.