Publications

Investing in Forest Carbon

Lessons from the First 20 Years

The first carbon offset sales from forestry projects occurred as early as 1990. Over the past two decades, a diverse marketplace has developed. Despite limited regulatory drivers, this development has included the establishment of some industry infrastructure—legal and political frameworks, project standards and methodologies, and expert resources. While much of this infrastructure was developed in […]

Taking Stock: Payments for Forest Ecosystem Services in the United States

This report compiles data on a wide range of PES mechanisms – from government conservation incentive programs, to voluntary markets, to compliance-driven ecosystem service markets such as wetland mitigation credits. According to the report, more than 80% of all forest-based PES money in the US came from non-governmental sources, including payments for wetland mitigation, hunting […]

Avoided Deforestation (REDD) and Indigenous Peoples: experiences, challenges and opportunities in the Amazon context

Instituto Socioambiental and Forest Trends, 2010

This book published by the Instituto Socioambiental, with support from partner institution Forest Trends, seeks to provide a source of information and reflections which can be useful for the discussion and implementation of REDD projects in indigenous lands, in Brazil, and other Amazon countries. Contents include: – Indigenous Lands and the Climate Crisis – Forest […]

Dependent Documents

Desmatamento evitado (REDD) e povos indígenas

By Forest Trends, Instituto Socioambiental

Surui

Carbon Finance and the Protection of Indigenous Peoples' Forests in the Amazon

In late 2007 Almir Surui, the internationally-recognized leader of the Surui people, approached Forest Trends and the Katoomba Group to seek support in developing a project to restore and conserve portions of their ancestral lands. From this conversation grew a commitment to collaborate and explore the potential for emerging carbon markets to strengthen the protection […]

Baker & McKenzie Legal Analysis – Surui REDD Project

Forest Trends has received a new analysis commissioned from Baker & McKenzie on the legal aspects of the Surui Community Reduced Emissions from Deforestation and Degradation – REDD Carbon Project, involving approximately 248,000 ha of their traditional territory located in the states of Rondônia and Mato Grosso in the Brazilian Amazon. This Surui REDD Carbon […]

Sweetening the Deal for Shade-Grown Cocoa

A Preliminary Review of Constraints and Feasibility of 'Cocoa Carbon' in Ghana

The main implication of these preliminary economic results is that carbon finance alone (at current carbon prices) will not likely be the sole or necessarily the primary means for persuading farmers to adopt higher shade cocoa systems. It could however be an enabling factor to encourage improved farming practices and productivity. The models imply that […]

Roots in the Water

Legal Frameworks for Mangrove PES in Vietnam

Forest Trends and the Katoomba Group have commissioned this study into the legal and regulatory frameworks for mangrove management and PES in Vietnam. This study is timely as in recent years various Vietnamese policies have prioritized terrestrial forest, mangrove, and coastal conservation, and the national government is now considering market mechanisms as a potential conservation […]

Dependent Documents

Katoomba Issue Brief

Payments for Ecosystem Services in Vietnam's Mangrove Forests

By Slayde Hawkins - Forest Trends

Roots in the Water

Legal Frameworks for Mangrove PES in Vietnam (VIETNAMESE)

By Slayde Hawkins, To Xuan Phuc, Pham Xuan Phuang, Pham Thu Thuy, Nguyen Tuc Tu, Chu Van Cuong, Sharon Brown, Peter Dart, Suzanne Robertson, Nguyen Vu, Richard McNally - Forest Trends, Forest Trends, Ministry of Agriculture and Rural Development, Charles Darwin University, BirdLife International, GTZ, GTZ, University of Queensland, SNV, SNV, SNV

Contracting for Forest Carbon

Elements of a Forest Carbon Purchase Agreement

Forest carbon payments – payments for restoring or planting forest, or for preventing forest degradation or deforestation – can help to prevent and reverse forest loss. However, forest carbon transactions today raise many challenging issues for participants, including difficult legal questions. Despite almost twenty years of transacting forest carbon, and more than 67.8 million tons […]

Environmental Funds and Payments for Ecosystem Services

RedLAC Capacity Building Project for Environmental Funds

RedLAC implements a capacity building project with the objective of strengthening the capacity of EFs to develop innovative financial mechanisms for biodiversity conservation, reducing their dependence on donations, and also to support the establishment of new EFs, by systematizing and sharing proven best practices in funds day to day operation. This book was prepared to […]

Budongo-Bugoma Landscape REDD+ Project

Feasibility Assessment

This potential REDD+ project aims to reduce deforestation and degradation and to promote regeneration of forests in the Budongo-Bugoma landscape in Western Uganda. It would mainly focus on a mosaic of private and community forests in 3 districts (Hoima, Kibaale, and Kyenjojo). Approximately 90,000 ha of high forest and 120,000 ha of woodland remain in […]