How will my carbon offset be sequestered and measured?

 Your offset will be sequestered through reforestation of degraded slopes in the Sierra Gorda Biosphere Reserve.  As the trees grow they sequester carbon dioxide from the atmosphere and convert it into the carbon in their leaves, branches, trunk and roots.  Approximately half of this biomass is carbon.  We used locally-generated growth models to predict how much biomass will accumulate in each growing reforestation and thus how much carbon it will sequester over a 30 year period.   Each year landowners carry out a self-inspection measuring a sample of their growing trees, and every five years Bosque Sustentable will carry out a detailed monitoring to ensure that each reforestation is sequestering carbon according to our projections.  For more information please see our monitoring protocol.

Where will my offset be located?

 Your offset will be generated on a specific property or properties within the Sierra Gorda Biosphere Reserve or its areas of influence in eastern-central Mexico.   Once we have identified the property for your offset we will send you the UTM coordinates so that you can view the location on Google Maps.  We will send you a certificate including these coordinates as well as other details about your offset. 

What is the vintage of my offset?

 In our estimates of the carbon sequestration necessary to meet an offset commitment we include all of the carbon that has been sequestered in the reforestation since the date the trees were planted, as well as all of the carbon that this reforestation will sequester in the next 30 years.  So your offset is a combination of what is known as guaranteed carbon because it has already been sequestered and measured, and part of the offset would be considered ex-ante, meaning that the carbon will be sequestered and verified in the future. 

 
 How will you guarantee the long-term success of my carbon offset?

 To ensure that we meet our long-term commitment to your offset we take several measures.

First, 20% of the total CO2 projected to be sequestered in each reforestation is withheld as a project self-insurance buffer. The CO2 in this buffer will be used to compensate for any loss due to fire, plague or any other unforeseen reasons for insufficient carbon capture in any reforestation.

Secondly, the project utilizes reforestations that are seldom contiguous and that are located in different parts of the Reserve and its area of influence. As a result, forest fires, tree diseases and pests and local extreme weather events such as hurricanes are unlikely to affect a significant proportion of the project area.

Thirdly, participants must enter into long-term (30-year) contracts committing to management of their reforestations for carbon sequestration. Payments are scheduled at regular intervals throughout the 30-year project and are contingent upon participants complying with management activities.  Contracts with participants specifically list vigilance of reforestations as one of the required management activities on the part of the participants and include requirements for replanting in the case of unexpected tree loss.  To demonstrate long-term ownership of land, participants must hold title to the land on which the reforestations are located, obtain certificates of legitimate possession issued by the corresponding municipality or, in the case of community-owned lands, obtain official authorization from the community’s governing entity.

Finally, the organizations of the Sierra Gorda Consortium operate long-term successful programs of enforcement of environmental laws and regulations as well as environmental education with substantial community involvement that have resulted in the elimination of significant illegal logging in the area.

After the 30-year contracts with landowners and landholders have expired, the lands will be subject to forestry laws and regulations that only permit clearing or harvesting within reforestations at sustainable levels consistent with protecting the health of the reforestations.

At the time of an offset agreement landowners enter into a 30 year contract with Bosque Sustentable agreeing to manage their reforestations for optimum carbon sequestration (this includes pruning, and periodic thinning to maximize tree growth) as well as carrying out the necessary monitoring activities. 


Are Sierra Gorda Carbon Offsets additional?

 Yes.  Our project meets the additionality requirements established by the Clean Development Mechanism.  The incentive from planned sale of carbon offsets was seriously considered as part of the project activity as evidenced by several documents including the Reserve Management Program, published in 1999, which includes carbon capture as an activity, and The Potential of Carbon Sequestering Projects in the Sierra Gorda Biosphere Reserve, East Central Mexico”, D. Neil Bird and Roberto Pedraza Munoz, December 1997.

Further, through a barrier analysis we have demonstrated that these lands would not have been converted to forests without the implementation of our project.  Degraded soils and subsistence agriculture would not allow forests to regenerate naturally, and the landowners of the Reserve did not have the financial resources or technical knowledge to successfully plant and manage reforestations on their own.  For more information about these analyses please see our Project Description Document. 

 
 How will my carbon offset donation be invested?

 The landowner or landowners providing your offset will receive 60% of the total offset amount in payments to be made over the course of 30 years (the period over which the carbon will be sequestered).  The landowner/s will receive more concentrated payments during the early years, when the reforestation requires the most work, and subsequent payments will be made every five years.

Bosque Sustentable will receive the other 40% of the total.  This money will be directly invested in the reforestation project including personnel, transportation and equipment costs for enrolling landholders in the program, providing technical assistance to landholders for the establishment and management of their plantations, conducting periodic monitoring of the plantations and preparing monitoring reports.  Bosque Sustentable will also use carbon money to finance periodic third-party certifications and verifications, and to cover promotional and administrative costs corresponding to the project.

 
 What type of confirmation will we obtain for our offset?

You will receive a certificate that includes all of the important details of your offset including the location of the reforestation, its extension in hectares, and more.  Click here to see an example certificate.


 Are Sierra Gorda Carbon Credits certified?

Our project is designed to meet the highest voluntary carbon market standards.  We are currently preparing documentation to seek certification with the standards set forth by the Climate, Community, and Biodiversity Alliance.  We expect to complete project certification in the spring of 2009.  

 
 Are Sierra Gorda Carbon Credits verified?

The carbon sequestered through our reforestation project is currently internally verified by Bosque Sustentable, the local forestry operator providing the carbon offsets.  In addition to yearly inspections made by the landowner, forestry technicians from Bosque Sustentable carry out detailed monitoring of the reforestation sites every five years.  This monitoring follows the steps outlined in Márquez, 2000 (http://www.winrock.org/fnrm/files/fundacionsolar.pdf), in accordance with the small-scale reforestation rules under the Kyoto Protocol.  We have recently signed a letter of joint commitment with the Rainforest Alliance to carry out external verification in the spring of 2009 using the Voluntary Carbon Standard. 


What is the price per ton?

Our price per ton is US $15 per ton of CO2e.


 How do we go about making the purchase?

Once you have calculated how many tons of CO2 emissions you would like to offset, send us an email.  We will identify a reforestation to provide your offset, and send you our bank details so that you may make a transfer.  When we have received your deposit we will send you a certificate outlining the details of your offset, as well as a tax-deductible receipt.