This project is conserving a biodiverse peat swamp forest in Indonesian Borneo that was slated for conversion to palm oil plantations. Along with protecting this carbon rich ecosystem, the project supports the reintroduction of critically endangered orangutans into their wild habitat. By addressing issues such as poverty, hunger, and disease, the project is tackling the root causes of deforestation while improving the livelihoods of local communities. Due to its holistic approach, Rimba Raya is the first REDD+ project to be validated under the Sustainable Development Verified Impact Standard for contributing to all 17 Sustainable Development Goals.

Indonesia’s rainforests are a biodiversity hotspot and the tropical peat swamps in Borneo are no exception. More than 50 endangered species, including Bornean orangutans, proboscis monkeys, pangolins, hairy-nosed otters, and Borneo Bay cats, can be found in the peat swamps on the island’s southern coast.

Unfortunately, Indonesia’s critical peat swamp ecosystems are rapidly disappearing, primarily to develop palm oil plantations. After years of extensive development, Indonesia is now the world’s largest producer of palm oil. The process of converting the land to a plantation involves logging and burning the trees and subsequently draining the peatland. As this happens, the massive amounts of carbon that are stored in the aboveground biomass and the deep layers of peat is released into the atmosphere. The draining of the peat swamps also leaves them far more vulnerable to fires. Fires set for agricultural purposes often get out of control, causing further devastation to Indonesia’s peatlands. Between 1990 and 2005 Indonesia lost about 2% of its forest cover annually. 

As Indonesia’s peat swamp habitat disappears, so do the animals that depend on it. It is estimated that palm oil development results in the deaths of around 1,000 to 5,000 orangutans every year. Over the last half century, substantial loss and fragmentation of their habitat has led Bornean orangutan populations to decline by 95%. 

Luckily, there are efforts underway to protect Indonesia’s orangutans and other vulnerable species. In Borneo, the world-renowned Tanjung Puting National Park houses one of the largest protected orangutan populations and Orangutan Foundation International leads ongoing orangutan conservation activities.

Wild animals are not the only beings affected by the loss of Indonesia’s peat swamps. Indigenous communities lose access to their land and resources, sometimes without their consent. Once their land has been converted, community members are left with few options but to work on the palm oil plantations where they face degrading conditions and are underpaid. Women often end up helping out on the plantations for little or no pay, and are tasked with more hazardous activities like spraying pesticides without protective gear. The development of palm oil plantations can also cause other harmful impacts for nearby communities, such as flooding, pollution of their water sources, and exposure to smoke from fires. 

This project is protecting over 225,000 acres of primarily peat swamp forest on Borneo’s southern coast between Tanjung Puting National Park and the Seruyan River. This particular area was slated by the government for conversion to palm oil plantations. By obtaining the land rights and establishing the Rimba Raya Biodiversity Reserve, the project prevented this destruction from happening. Along with safeguarding the ecosystem within the project boundaries, the Rimba Raya Reserve also acts as a physical buffer zone for Tanjung Puting National Park, preventing it from encroachment and exploitation.

Even with the reserve in place, peat fires, illegal logging, and encroachment by oil palm plantations still present very real threats. The project is taking steps to prevent and respond to these threats earlier by building a network of guard posts and fire towers, establishing fire breaks, funding daily patrols, and acquiring airboats and other equipment designed for combatting peat swamp fires. Local community members will be trained and hired as guards and fire fighters to support these activities. 

The project will also regenerate areas that were previously degraded. Nurseries will be created to produce native seedlings and villagers will be paid to plant them. An agro-forestry program will also be launched as part of these rehabilitation efforts. The fruit, nut, spice, and rubber trees will generate income and provide a reliable food source for communities as well as orangutans. To date, over 300,000 trees and 20,000 mangroves have been planted in the reserve.

Funds will also be used to support Orangutan Foundation International’s ongoing orangutan rehabilitation and release activities. This includes the reintroduction of 300 rehabilitated orangutans back into the wild. Three new orangutan release centers and six feeding platforms will be constructed within the Rimba Raya Reserve to provide a staging ground for their migration into the national park

Along with protecting the land itself, the project is also addressing the root causes of community-based deforestation in neighboring villages. Most villagers earn their living from fishing in the Seruyan River, but increased flooding has caused fishing yields to decrease in recent years. Many community members live in extreme poverty, unable to afford the day-to-day cost of living. 

Beyond the employment opportunities noted above, the project is creating alternative livelihood opportunities that will provide residents with a sustainable income stream. The project is building the capacity of local people, particularly women, to take on livelihoods in chicken farming, shrimp paste production, and handicrafts. Microloans provided by the project will remove the financial barriers that typically prevent those living in poverty from starting their own enterprises.

Along with supporting new income generating opportunities, the project also is also improving local quality of life by:

• Implementing a floating clinic that can deliver medical services to communities up and down the Seruyan River who do not have access to healthcare facilities.
• Distributing clean water filters to families and installing village-level water purifying systems to reduce deaths from waterborne illnesses. 
• Providing clean cookstoves that require half the amount of fuel wood as traditional stoves and generate less smoke and indoor air pollution. 
• Increasing access to education by providing scholarships to high school students, creating village libraries, and distributing reading glasses to community members with vision impairments. 
• Increasing production of fruits, vegetables, and fish by training farmers on sustainable production practices, providing aquaponics systems, and developing plantations of pineapples and other crops. 
• Providing solar lanterns to families and installing large solar generator systems in villages that lack electrification. 
• Organizing cleanups and establishing a recycle bank to reduce pollution in villages and enhance the water quality of the Seruyan River. 

By maintaining the reserve and tackling social issues such as poverty, hunger, and disease, the Rimba Raya project ensures that environmental conservation and community development go hand-in-hand.

This project supports the construction and operation of a hydro plant that will generate renewable energy for the Chilean national grid. Along with avoiding emissions from fossil fuels, the project also promotes stewardship of the region’s water resources and ecosystems. The rural communities that live in the area benefit from improved infrastructure as well as employment and skill development opportunities.

Like most countries, Chile is highly reliant on fossil fuels to power homes and key industries, like copper mining. In 2010, at the onset of this project, nearly two thirds (60%) of Chile’s electricity generation came from fossil fuels. As Chile is only a minor producer of fossil fuels, most of this energy must be imported from other countries.

In recent decades, Chile’s population and economy experienced significant growth. As this happened, the amount of electricity consumed steadily increased. Today, total electricity consumption in Chile is five times higher than it was 30 years ago. This power demand is expected to continue to rise by just over 2% every year for the next 20 years.

To keep up with this rising demand for electricity, Chile must develop new sources of energy. To avoid harmful CO2 emissions, the country must transition away from fossil fuel power plants towards renewable energy solutions, such as hydroelectric power.

This project avoids carbon emissions through the construction and ongoing operations of a small-scale hydroelectric power plant. The power plant, which opened in 2010, is located in the rural community of San Clemente in central Chile. It’s a small, ‘run-of-the-river’ hydro plant, meaning it utilizes the water diverted from the Sanatorio Brook to generate electricity. These types of hydro plants are considered to be a more environmentally friendly alternative to large hydroelectric dams, as they do not typically alter the natural flow of the river and have a smaller impact on aquatic ecosystems.

Thanks to the natural flow of the brook, the hydro plant is expected to generate 28,470 MWh of electricity each year. This equates to the amount of electricity that it takes to power roughly 2,000 households. The electricity from the San Clemente hydro plant flows into the Sistema Eléctrico Nacional (SEN), an interconnected grid that spans nearly the entire length of Chile and supplies 99% of the country’s electric power. This renewable power replaces energy that would otherwise have been partially generated by fossil fuel-fired power plants. Resultantly, the project is expected to prevent 16,560 metric tons of greenhouse gasses from entering the atmosphere each year. 

Along with swapping fossil fuels for renewable energy, the project is also creating other environmental benefits. Located in the fertile Maule region, the lands surrounding the hydro plant are patterned with agricultural fields. Here, farmers grow pine crops, berries, apples, and other crops. Irrigating these crops places pressure on the area’s water resources. To conserve water, the project developer signed an agreement with the association of local farmers which encourages water saving and irrigation efficiency. During the 2016-2017 season, this led to 29% less water used for irrigation. To further raise environmental awareness, a teaching manual was developed for local schools that will help students learn about their region and how to care about the environment.

The project also generates benefits for the local community, which has a high level of poverty and unemployment compared to the national average. More than 120 workers, most of whom were local, were hired for the initial construction of the hydro plant. Additionally, the increase in people living in the area and the hydro plant’s ongoing operation injects more dollars into the local economy. In 2019, the project developer purchased $2 million of goods and services from suppliers across the region. A certification program was also created to engage local entrepreneurs in nature tourism, such as kayaking on a nearby reservoir. In total, 23 local tourism entrepreneurs were certified through the program.

Along with these economic benefits, the project developer also supported local communities in recovering from natural disasters. In 2010 a severe magnitude 8.8 earthquake struck off the coast of south-central Chile, damaging nearly 400,000 homes. Again, in 2017, some of the worst forest fires in Chile’s history ravaged the region. In the aftermath of these events, the project developer built more than 30 houses for community members who had lost their homes. 

The project led to the extension of the potable water network to supply water to more households. Other community initiatives supported by the project developer include purchasing supplies for a local school and building a community center with games for children.

By transforming forest management in north central Minnesota, this project enhances the health of nearly 175,000 acres of working forest while supporting the local forest products industry and associated livelihoods. Along with increasing forest carbon stocks, this project safeguards the ecosystem services that the forest provides like clean water, wildlife habitat, and outdoor recreation.

When Europeans first arrived in the Americas, about two-thirds of the area that is now Minnesota was covered by forest. Many settlers believed Minnesota’s vast forests would never run out of wood. In fact, on early maps the northern part of Minnesota was simply labeled as “Abundant Pine.”

But America was a growing country and countless trees were felled to build homes, furniture, and covered wagons. At the logging industry’s peak in 1900, Minnesota’s lumberjacks were harvesting about 2 billion board-feet per year – enough to construct a boardwalk around the entire planet. 

During this time, forests were not viewed as a renewable resource so there was little focus on regeneration. Rather than planting new trees, loggers employed a “cut-and-run” method, leaving behind a wasteland of stumps and discarded tree tops. This dry debris fueled catastrophic forest fires which caused further destruction and devastated many northern Minnesota communities. 

Of all the trees in Minnesota’s forests, the towering white pine was the most sought after species – it is often referred to as “the tree that built America.” It didn’t take long before nearly all of Minnesota’s “inexhaustible” virgin white pine had been harvested. 

Thankfully, the latter half of the 20th century saw a transition away from this unfettered style of logging to more intentional, planned forest management. But even though the forest products industry was shifting toward a more sustainable mindset, they were predominantly using practices like single-species plantations which did not incorporate the natural ecology and resulted in a loss of diversity and carbon storage. 

Though Minnesota’s forest has somewhat regenerated since the early 1900s, only a third of the state is still forested. Of this, less than 2 percent is considered to be undisturbed, old growth forest.

The Blandin Native American Hardwoods project is located in northeast Minnesota, within a 70-mile radius of the town of Grand Rapids. The project area comprises over 173,000 acres of forest parcels owned by Blandin Paper Company. This forest has been harvested since the turn of the century and remnants of old logging camps on the property offer a glimpse into Minnesota’s logging past. 

But logging is not just part of Minnesota’s past. The industry is still an important part of the state’s economy today. In 2020, Minnesota’s forest products industry supported nearly 70,000 jobs and generated $17.4 billion in gross sales. 

At the start of this project, Blandin signed a perpetual conservation easement which ensures their land remains a working forest for pulp and sawlog production and is not developed. While many of the region’s forest owners continue to rely on more intensive harvest practices and management techniques, Blandin works with nature to increase diversity and enhance forest health. 

Blandin utilizes SmartForestry^SM techniques to manage the forest, tailoring harvests to mimic the natural ecology of the site. Rather than planting single-species plantations, Blandin maintains a mixture of native tree species of differing ages and sizes. Along with high-value species like white spruce and red pine, this includes species like white pine that used to thrive in the area, but aren’t typically planted since they don’t provide commercial value. 

The resulting complex forests increase carbon storage, particularly when compared to the intensive practices of the past. Over the project’s 20 year crediting period, this is expected to generate nearly 3.7 million metric tons of emissions reductions. The forests’ increased diversity also makes them more resilient to threats such as invasive species, disease, and climate change. 

Employing these SmartForestry^SM methods is much more complex, and requires Blandin to sacrifice some of the short term profits that could be gained by using more intensive management. The funding from carbon offset sales plays an important role in bridging this revenue gap and incentivizing improved forest management. 

Beyond increasing carbon stocks, the project also safeguards the other environmental and socio-cultural benefits that the forest provides. Along with being a carbon sink, the forest is a critical wildlife habitat that is home to 47 types of birds, 30 miles of trout streams, and iconic species like the black bear, grey wolf, and moose. The project also ensures the forest continues its important job of maintaining water quality, and protects important freshwater resources including 151 miles of streams. This is especially important in Minnesota, where 75% of residents get their water from forested parts of the state. The project also engages individuals in conservation by providing workshops on ecosystem silviculture and giving away thousands of tree seedlings to local communities.

Beyond these environmental benefits, the Blandin forest is also a source of enjoyment for both residents and out-of-towners who visit the forest for recreational activities like snowmobiling, fishing, bird watching, cross-country skiing, and hiking. The project also employs 38 people in forest management and provides economic security for the 3,200 families that rely on the wood resources for their livelihoods.

This project is generating renewable energy from pig manure in Thailand. By capturing methane and generating electricity from biogas, this project reduces the amount of greenhouse gas emissions produced by pig farming. Furthermore, the new treatment system provides an affordable source of fertilizer while lessening pollution and other negative impacts on the surrounding environment and community.

Agriculture is responsible for just over 14% of Thailand’s greenhouse gas emissions. It is the leading source of methane, accounting for 70% of the country total. When it comes to pig farming, manure management is the primary source of emissions.

In Thailand, the most common way that farmers treat their pig manure is via anaerobic lagoon systems that store the slurry in uncovered ponds. As the manure breaks down, it releases harmful methane emissions into the air which have 21 times the global warming potential of carbon dioxide. 

However, emissions aren’t the only harmful side effect of this process. When waste is contained in open ponds it can cause foul odors that bother neighboring residents. There is also a greater risk of overflows during the rainy season which can lead to wastewater pollution.

Through this project, one pig farm in Thailand’s Ratchaburi province is employing a different, more sustainable method to treat its pig waste. By replacing their old lagoon system with a closed anaerobic system, SPM Farm is able to capture the methane rich biogas that is produced during treatment. This biogas is then combusted using spark ignition engines to produce electricity that can be used on-site. This new source of power replaces the electricity that currently comes from the grid. Furthermore, any excess electricity produced by the farm will be sent to the national grid. By generating a renewable source of energy and reducing the farm’s reliance on fossil-fuel, this project will avoid over 3,000 metric tons of greenhouse gas emissions each year.   

Along with generating electricity, the waste treatment process also produces a fertilizer that can be supplied to local farmers at low cost and is distributed for free to schools where it is used to grow food for students. 

Because it is enclosed, the new treatment system also helps to prevent some of the other negative impacts of manure management, including wastewater overflows, groundwater contamination, and unpleasant odors. This project is intended to drive further adoption of waste-to-energy systems by building confidence among Southeast Asian farmers in the efficacy, cost and safety of this newer type of technology.

This project is protecting and restoring one of the largest remaining peat swamp forests in Indonesia. Massive stores of carbon are locked away beneath the swamp’s surface, while the aboveground forest habitat is home to over 5% of all remaining Bornean orangutans. Along with conserving this critical ecosystem, the project is enhancing the quality of life of rural communities by creating livelihood opportunities, formalizing land rights, and improving public services.

With dense tropical jungles and winding rivers, the Southeast Asian island of Borneo is a treasure trove of biodiversity. Some of the world’s most endangered species are found here, including the last remaining populations of the Bornean orangutan, proboscis Monkey, and Bornean white-bearded gibbon.

Along with providing a critical habitat for wildlife species, Borneo’s ecosystems play an important role in the fight against climate change. Long regarded as unproductive ecosystems, scientists recently discovered that the region’s ancient peat swamp forests are one of the world’s best carbon sinks – 90% of which is stored underground. These unique blue carbon ecosystems were formed over thousands of years as waterlogged conditions prevented dead plant matter from fully decaying. The resulting layers of peat hold massive amounts of carbon. Though peatlands cover about three percent of the earth’s land surface, they are the largest terrestrial carbon store.

Over the past half-century, vast tracts of Borneo’s peat swamp forests were logged and converted for industrial agriculture, such as oil palm cultivation or timber production. As peatlands are cleared, drained, and burned to make way for plantations, their carbon stocks are released into the air. These irresponsible practices often cause further harm by triggering long-lasting peatland fires which spread quickly and are difficult to extinguish. Along with releasing tons of carbon, these fires churn out toxic smoke that is hazardous for local communities. 

The destruction of Borneo’s peatlands has been devastating to the wildlife that live there. The rapid decline of over half of the Bornean orangutan population in less than 60 years is largely attributed to the loss of peat swamp habitats. 

Indigenous communities who have lived in the region for generations are also affected by the loss of Borneo’s peat swamps. Along with destroying the forest resources that these rural communities depend on, commercial exploitation has led to land conflicts that jeopardize their customarily held land rights.

The Katingan Mentaya Project is protecting and restoring over 370,000 acres of carbon-rich peat swamp forest in Kalimantan – the Indonesian part of Borneo. This area represents one of the largest remaining intact peat swamp forests in Indonesia, making it a critical wildlife habitat. The project area is home to 14 species that are endemic to Borneo, including over 5% of the remaining global population of Bornean orangutans, proboscis monkeys, and Bornean white-bearded gibbons. 

Though the region remains largely undeveloped, about 11,500 families live in small villages surrounding the project area. The peat swamp forest provides important natural resources for these remote communities who rely on traditional livelihoods such as farming, fishing, and harvesting non-timber forest products such as gemor, honey, and medicinal plants. 

Without the project, this peat swamp would have been converted to fast-growing industrial acacia plantations, grown for paper and pulp wood products. By obtaining the legal license to the land, the project prevented this conversion from happening. As illegal exploitation of the ecosystem remains a risk, the project is taking extra measures to improve monitoring and enforcement. This includes establishing monitoring posts at the main entry-exit points to the forest, mobilizing forest rangers, and raising community awareness about the impacts of illegal resource extraction and unsustainable land-use practices. 

Along with protecting the intact peat swamp, the project is also restoring nearly 11,000 acres of degraded areas. Local communities help grow the seedlings in newly established village nurseries. To date, over 200,000 native tree seedlings have been planted and more than 1,000 acres restored. In addition to this intensive restoration, two economically-valuable local species will be planted to support community-led agroforestry and small plantations of local fire-resistant species will be established to prevent the spread of fires. 

Because fires represent such a serious threat to peatlands, the project is also taking other steps to detect fires earlier and prevent them from spreading to the project area. This includes developing early warning systems, establishing watch towers in fire prone areas, providing fire extinguishing equipment, training firefighters, rewetting peatlands, and educating local farmers on alternatives to slash-and-burn. 

The project also aims to reduce poverty and improve the lives of local communities. It is creating sustainable sources of income by developing community-based economic activities such as ecotourism, agroforestry, rattan weaving, and coconut sugar farming. To make it easier for local people to take up these activities, the project provides microfinance loans and training, develops small processing facilities, and assists communities to access value-added markets.  

In addition to community-based business development, the project is also improving sanitation and access to quality education and sustainable energy. This includes replacing river latrines with hygienic toilet facilities, creating floating health clinics, distributing books to elementary schools, providing scholarships to students, and installing solar panels in rural communities.

Located in the Brazilian state of Acre, this project is protecting an area of tropical forest that would have otherwise been converted for lumber harvesting and cattle ranching. The avoided deforestation prevents emissions and maintains critical habitat for wildlife, while improving the livelihoods of communities living in the vicinity.

The Envira Amazonia Project is located in an area of the Southwestern Amazon that is heavily affected by deforestation. The project area is approximately 25 miles away from the city of Feijó, near Brazil’s borders with Peru and Bolivia. 

The Southwestern Amazon is an area of immense biodiversity. More than 20 threatened species and 40 endemic species can be found within this region including woolly monkeys, giant anteaters, spider monkeys, and giant armadillos. 

Along with this abundance of plants and animals, approximately 50 families live within the project area and the surrounding vicinity. These communities are highly dependent on the forest for their livelihoods. Most of the families are former rubber tappers, but these activities ceased when rubber prices crashed in the late 1980s and early 1990s. Today, many families practice subsistence agriculture and raise small animals such as pigs, chickens and ducks. They rely on the forest for food, fuel, building materials, and medicinal plants.  Along with the forest, the nearby Envira, Jurupari, and Purus rivers provide critical services for the families that live in the area. This includes water for drinking and bathing, transportation routes, and food. 

Though communities live within the project area, the land is privately owned. Prior to the project, the land owner planned to clear-cut the forest and establish a large cattle ranch to generate income. Without this project, this conversion would have happened and the subsistence agriculture and small-scale cattle ranching by local families would likely shift to adjacent areas. 

Along with releasing carbon emissions into the air, the conversion of this forest into pasture land would jeopardize the survival of local communities and wipe out local biodiversity. Furthermore, critical functions of these forests, such as flood control, would be lost, and livestock farming could lead to river pollution.

This project is avoiding the deforestation of 39,300 hectares of the Amazon rainforest. Over its initial 10 year crediting period, the project will reduce 12.5 million metric tons of CO2 by maintaining the forest’s existing carbon stocks. 

To ensure the forest remains intact, the land owner signed a voluntary agreement to forgo their planned deforestation activities and enable this conservation project. Specifically, the agreement prohibits the land owner from clearing the forest for logging, ranching, agriculture, road construction, or other purposes. In turn, the land owner receives revenue from the sale of carbon offset credits. These earnings replace the revenues they would have received from the planned logging and cattle ranching activities.

Along with preventing the planned conversion by the land owner, the project is also taking steps to mitigate unplanned deforestation. The project is accomplishing this by addressing the underlying pressures that are driving deforestation in the wider region. Several activities are being implemented to engage families living within and around the project area. A resident who is appreciated by the local community was hired as the project manager. Along with his assistant, he is conducting routine patrols to detect and halt deforestation.

Furthermore, the project is educating residents on improved agricultural techniques that are less destructive and use less land. Courses will be delivered on several key topics including alternatives to the use of fire in land preparation and improved pasture management. To ensure women are able to participate in these trainings, childcare will be provided during the courses.

To provide alternative income sources, the project will equip communities with the knowledge and skills to collect and sell sustainable forest products, such as açaí berries and medicinal plants. As rubber prices have rebounded, the project will also revive the local rubber tapping industry by cultivating rubber trees on deforested land and educating communities on best practices. These alternative economic activities will provide added value for local communities while reducing pressure on the forest. 

The project will also provide additional benefits that improve the living conditions of local communities. This includes building a health and dental clinic, installing community toilets, and distributing hygiene kits and medication. Furthermore, the project will strengthen local land rights by granting families ownership of the land they are already using. Many of the project activities will also boost community resilience to climate change. For instance, the agricultural courses will incorporate climate change adaptation techniques and the new health center will help to mitigate potential increases in mosquito-borne illnesses. 

By implementing this project and its associated social programs, deforestation in the region will be reduced, biodiversity will be preserved, and community livelihoods will be improved.