Protecting the Amazon from deforestation in Brazil

Update

At Ecologi we are committed to continuously improving our due diligence processes, and the standards we set for the projects we support. This means that whilst project pages like this one are still available for transparency, occasionally projects which we historically supported – including this one – no longer meet our increasing standards for receiving funding. The last time we supported this project was in March 2021.

Context

Forests regulate ecosystems, protect biodiversity, support livelihoods, and play an important part in taking carbon dioxide out of our atmosphere. Approximately 2.6 billion tonnes of CO2, one third of the CO2 released from burning fossil fuels, is absorbed by forests every year. However these ecosystems are being cleared and degraded at a rapid rate, causing carbon loss as well as negative impacts on ecosystem services. According to the FAO, deforestation is the second-leading cause of climate change, after fossil fuel burning.

The Amazon rainforest is the world’s largest rainforest and river system, containing nearly a third of all the tropical rainforests left on Earth. However in 2019 the Amazon rainforest was found to be losing prime forest at a rate of three football fields per minute.

Project

This Jarí Para REDD+ project aims to protect 525,314 hectares of Brazilian rainforest from deforestation and forest degradation. The main threats to the forest within the project area includes both small-scale agriculture and livestock activities, and major infrastructure work.

This project aims to address these threats through: the monitoring of deforestation and forest degradation by satellite images; inspection of the area; and encouraging sustainable management. Reduced impact harvest systems will be implemented, meaning that forest areas suitable for management must be harvested in cycles of 30 years, and work will only be permitted in one production unit per year. This will allow the forests to provide economic benefits for the local people, whilst minimising impact on biodiversity and carbon storage.

The project region has a very rich biodiversity, containing several species of extreme ecological and social importance. Six critically endangered or threatened species will benefit from the reduction of threats as a result of the project activities. The project also includes specific social objectives such as providing access to energy and communication, and improving health and education provision within the local area.

Over the course of this 30-year phase of the project, this protection is projected to make a net saving of 15,491,971 tonnes of CO2e from entering the atmosphere.

This REDD+ project is subject to exceptional monitoring from technology company, Pachama. Using machine learning, satellite imagery and other techniques such as LiDAR, Pachama can monitor and verify carbon stocks at a level of detail not normally seen in REDD+ projects. This has allowed mapping of previous forest loss, and will allow accurate monitoring of the project activity.

High level historical monitoring of simulated forest cover from Pachama.

Verification

Climate Solution #38

Forest Protection

In their biomass and soil, forests are powerful carbon storehouses. Protection prevents emissions from deforestation, shields that carbon, and enables ongoing carbon sequestration.

For each hectare of forest protected, the threat of deforestation and degradation is removed. By protecting an additional 335-466 million hectares of forest, this solution could avoid carbon dioxide emissions totaling 5.5-8.8 gigatons by 2050. Perhaps more importantly, this solution could bring the total protected forest area to almost 0.98-1.1 billion hectares, securing an estimated protected stock of 179-203 gigatons of carbon, roughly equivalent to over 655-743 gigatons of carbon dioxide if released into the atmosphere.

The benefits of forest conservation include biodiversity protection, non-timber products, erosion control, pollination, ecotourism and other ecosystem services.

From drawdown.org

Photos

UN Sustainable Development Goals

The 'Jarí Para REDD+ Avoided Unplanned Deforestation' project aligns with the following UN Sustainable Development Goals:

Rethink how we grow, share and consume our food. We can provide nutritious food for all.
Ensure that all girls and boys complete free, equitable and quality education.
Achieve gender equality and empower all women and girls.
Ensure sustainable consumption and production patterns.
Take urgent action to combat climate change and its impacts.
Sustainably manage forests, combat desertification, halt and reverse land degradation, halt biodiversity loss.