Letter BDinCC January to UNFCCC
To: Afforestation/Reforestation Working Group, UNFCCC
concerns: BDinCC's view on the Integration of BioDiversity in Climate Change
Dear Mr. Philip M. Gwage (Chair), and Mr. Akihiro Kuroki (Vice-Chair),
taking note of the Call for public inputs on new procedures to demonstrate the eligibility of lands for afforestation and reforestation project activities under the CDM, please allow us, the BDinCC Group on the Integration of BioDiversity in Climate Change, to give our view on this issue.
Our group, as signed below, agrees that biodiversity should be integrated in the eligibility criteria of lands for afforestation and reforestation project activities under the CDM. We believe there is need to consider the following:
Considering biodiversity's dependence on forest conservation / sustainable management, intergrating biodiversity in the eligibility criteria of lands for re-/afforestation, helps to diminish the temporary character of such forestry projects. Permanent, multi-functional forestry sinks support the forest-based sector ( and permanence encourages forests' inclusion in the EU Emissions Trading Scheme).
Sustainable forest management enhances carbon sequestration , incomparison to wood plantations where erosion is higher.
The inclusion of biodiversity in re-/afforestation project activities mitigates the risks for public and private forest owners / investors in CDM/JI-forestry projects as a result of:
o reduced risk of windfall after storm, o reduced risk of loss due to disease, o reduced risk of loss due to climate change.
Therefore we support the integration of biodiversity in the new procedures to demonstrate the eligibility of lands for re-/afforestation activities.
Therefore, we plea for the inclusion of biodiversity in the new procedures to demonstrate the eligibility of lands for AR activities. We foster the ecological exploitation styles of wood plantations, where multiple species and natural species are preserved and, together with the biodiversity itself, are seen as a natural reinforcement for the growth of the trees selected for exploitation and the permanent sequestration of carbon in forest sinks.
We would like to know whether a spokesperson of our team may contribute to the AR Working Group. Therefore we will await your feedback with details on our participation.
for the BDinCC Group as signed below:
Anna VAN DER HEIJDEN, Engineer in Forestry/Nature Management - Policy, The Netherlands
Notes
Besides the exclusion from the EU ETS, the main barriers preventing funds and companies from purchasing forestry CERs are the temporary character of the CERs (tCERs, lCERs) and perceived risk related to forestry CDM projects in general (Results of a survey of demand-side actors by EcoSecurities Consult, March 2006, http://www.climate-standards.org/images/pdf/EcoSecurities-demand-survey-March06.pdf). The intergration of biodiversity reduces both ..