The primary objective of the Agrocortex REDD Project is to avoid the unplanned deforestation (AUD) of the 186,369.66 ha project area, consisting of 100% Amazon rainforest. The project area is located within a private property named “Fazenda Seringal Novo Macapá”, which is situated in the municipalities of Manoel Urbano, Pauini and Boca do Acre, in the States of Acre and Amazonas, South-western Amazon.

 

In March/2014, the Agrocortex holding company and Batisflor Florestal Ltda. established an agreement to harvest forest products/by-products and non-timber forest products (NTFPs) in a manner consistent with the conservation of the local ecosystem, granting rights of timber harvesting, NTFPs extraction and carbon credits to Agrocortex Madeiras do Acre Agroflorestal Ltda. (hereafter, “Agrocortex” or “the company”). Agrocortex started the sustainable forest management operation in June/2014, which was the main action of the company in terms of reducing GHG emissions and initiating the present REDD project, and is thus the designated project start date.

Beyond the project’s ecological and carbon benefits, a proportion of the carbon credits generated will be dedicated to improving the social and environmental conditions in the project region, specifically contributing to improving deforestation control, and developing environmental education and other social activities. The contribution to sustainability is being monitored through the application of the SOCIALCARBON® Standard, which is based on six main indicators: Biodiversity; Natural; Financial; Human; Social and Carbon Resources.

The Forest Stewardship Council (FSC) certified sustainable forest management plan (SFMP) implemented by Agrocortex can be considered a tool for forest conservation, maintenance of forest carbon stocks, and decrease of deforestation rates in the project region. However, the complexity and costs of this sustainable operation, added to factors such as bureaucratic constraints and fluctuation of certified timber prices, make SFMP less competitive than illegal logging. Thus, revenue from the sale of Verified Carbon Units (VCUs) is essential for the project activity to compete with profitable alternative land-use scenarios.

In addition to contributing to the long-term conservation of the region, the Agrocortex REDD Project also has the function of establishing a barrier against the advancement of deforestation, making an important contribution to the conservation of South-western Amazon biodiversity and also to climate regulation in Brazil and South America.

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Complete Project Description

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