In the Media
First agroforestry project registered under VCS
July 05, 2012
Environmenal Finance
The first project which sequesters carbon through agroforestry has been registered under the Verified Carbon Standard (VCS). Paris-based project developer Eco-Carbone’s agroforestry project was registered for the voluntary offset programme last week.
The project aims to assist rural communities in Mali to adopt sustainable practices for their jatropha curcas plantations. The grains will then be processed into either oil or fertiliser, and sold to the local community.
Eco-Carbone initially submitted the project for validation under the Clean Development Mechanism (CDM) in 2008, but chose to withdraw it. Thomas Bouzanquet, a project manager at the company, said it was impossible to validate all geographical areas of the project at that stage, and the firm deemed the standard CDM approach was not suitable. Another reason is that the size of the plantation areas in this project are smaller than what the CDM recognises as a threshold for reforestation, said Benjamin du Peloux, project developer at the Eco-Carbone. This project falls under revegetation, which is an eligible method under the VCS but not under the CDM.
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Keywords: Africa, agroforestry, jatropha, Mali, Standards, VCS