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AMERICAN FORESTS Applauds Approval of Updated Forest Project Protocol by the Climate Action Reserve
Date 09-02-2009 |
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American Forests applauds the Board of the Climate Action Reserve for their approval yesterday of the revised and updated Forest Project Protocol. This unprecedented carbon offset standard establishes requirements for the quantification, verification, and certification of carbon benefits generated from activities in the forest sector. With Version 3.0 of the Forest Project Protocol, the Climate Action Reserve has broadened the participation of forest landowners in carbon offset markets. It has also enhanced the legitimacy of forest-sector carbon offset projects by establishing a model for environmental credibility that can be applied to state, county, municipal, and private forest lands nationwide.
Forest ecosystems are an important natural foil to carbon dioxide, sequestering and storing 10 percent of our nation’s carbon dioxide emissions on an annual basis. However, their dynamic nature makes it a challenging process to accurately determine the amount carbon benefits from forest-sector activities, and the potential impacts of climate change on forests raises questions about the sustainability, or permanence, of those benefits. The revised protocol addresses these concerns through a rigorous set of guidelines and standards, including requirements for buffers or additional carbon benefits to help address risks from the impacts of wildfires or insects.
The Forest Project Protocol (Version 3) is the result of a 2-year open, multi-stakeholder workgroup process. This transparent process has created a standard that is widely considered to be a model for forest-sector carbon offset projects. The American Clean Energy and Security Act (ACES), the climate change bill that passed the U.S. House of Representatives in June, recognizes the Climate Action Registry as a source of legitimate carbon offsets from a range of sectors, including forests. Under the bill, projects approved through the Forest Project Protocol would be eligible for trade in a federally-regulated carbon offset market.
American Forests is coordinating the first public lands reforestation project to seek approval under the Climate Action Reserve’s Forest Project Protocol. In conjunction with Conoco Phillips and the California Department of Parks and Recreation, American Forests will provide conifer reforestation to 2,500 acres of the Cuyamaca Rancho State Park, which was devastated by the 2003 Cedar Fire. This project will generate more than 500,000 metric tons of carbon offsets, while still providing the full range of ecosystem services that are a hallmark of American Forests’ Global ReLeaf projects.
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