Initial Focus: ‘Avoided Deforestation’

The battle against global warming is widely acknowledged to have two fronts: abatement of green house gas emissions and the preservation of carbon sequestration mechanisms that take green house gases out of the air. Avoided Deforestation projects address both of these objectives at the same time. This means that avoided deforestation projects (with their added side benefits of preserving watersheds, biodiversity and community livelihoods) play a critical roll in the larger fight against climate change and global warming. Deforestation accounts for close to 20% of worldwide CO2 emissions. Consequently, global warming cannot be addressed unless deforestation rates are drastically reduced.

• Forestry projects offer more CO2 equivalent gas abatement than energy and/or industrial projects.
• Avoided deforestation projects offer more CO2e abatement than reforestation or afforestation projects and yield results in a shorter time frame and with lower costs.
• Avoided deforestation projects cost on average $4 per hectare to implement and manage, while reforestation projects cost $10 or more per hectare to implement. At current voluntary market prices for forestry carbon credits, avoided deforestation projects are much more economically viable than reforestation projects.