Since 2021, we at Ecotierra, our parent company, have been dedicated to the development of the Pivot Forestry Project. This week, we are excited to introduce you to this groundbreaking project based in Québec. It represents a significant milestone in our ongoing commitment to sustainable forestry practices and nature-based solutions for climate change initiatives.
The Pivot Forestry Project is a pioneering endeavor in Quebec, leveraging innovative carbon finance mechanisms and developed under the VCS standard by Ecotierra, a leading Sherbrooke-based social enterprise recognized globally for its expertise in designing, developing, and operating sustainable forestry and agriculture projects linked to climate finance.
Project Activities
Conservation:The project aims to conserve and increase carbon stocks while reducing greenhouse gas emissions associated with commercial exploitation activities. As part of this activity, landowners forego logging activities for the project's duration.
Extended Harvest Cycles:This activity focuses on conserving and enhancing forest carbon stocks while decreasing greenhouse gas emissions associated with commercial exploitation activities by extending the periods between commercial timber harvests.
Afforestation:Creating a new carbon sink, afforestation involves vegetating non-forested areas by planting trees.
Key Principles of Carbon Capture Projects
Additionality:The project must exceed the most likely scenario of "business as usual" and demonstrate that emissions reductions or carbon captures would not occur without the impact of the carbon capture project.
Real, Measurable, and Conservative:The project must apply an approved methodology to ensure emissions reductions or carbon captures have occurred and are measurable.
Permanence:AFOLU (Agriculture, Forestry and Other Land Use) category projects like Pivot must ensure carbon captures are not lost due to unforeseen events such as fire or other major natural disturbances, and that in the case of an unforeseen event, robust measures are taken into account to identify, report and compensate these losses.
Independent Verification:The project must engage an accredited validation/verification body (VVB) to confirm project design compliance with VCS criteria and quantify all emissions reductions or carbon captures in line with VCS requirements.
Project Partners
The Hereford Community Forest is a vast private community forest spanning over 5,600 hectares, resulting from the largest ecological donation in Quebec's history. As a founding partner, the charitable organization is the first participating forest owner actively collaborating on the Pivot Forestry Project's development. Working in conjunction with 20 aggregators in 13 administrative regions, Pivot aims to maximize its impact across diverse landscapes. Additionally, the project's scientific partner, Laval University, ensures the project's theoretical applicability to Quebec forests and access to essential data for technical project development.
Understanding Carbon Offset
Carbon offsetting entails compensating for greenhouse gas emissions emitted in one location by reducing or sequestering an equivalent amount of greenhouse gases elsewhere. To mitigate the impact of unavoidable, unmitigated, or uneliminated greenhouse gas emissions, buyers financially support organizations to reduce emissions on their behalf, typically through purchasing carbon offset credits. It's important to note that we prioritize selling credits to companies that are already actively working to reduce their emissions, viewing offsetting as a complement to their existing emission reduction plans. Additionally, we do not sell credits to the oil and gas sector, aligning with our commitment to support industries that prioritize sustainability and environmental stewardship.
Verification Standard
The Verified Carbon Standard (VCS) by Verra, developed on the basis of the UN's Clean Development Mechanism, serves as the carbon standard for the Pivot project. The verification process concluded in August 2023. Currently, we are in the final stages of the technical review of the VCS, with issuance scheduled for the first quarter of 2024. VCS is a rigorous standard ensuring project additionality and leadership in land use and forestry protocols. The VCS standard ensures no adverse impacts on the sustainable development of local communities.
The Grouped Project Approach
Unlike most forest carbon projects that target a defined territory from the project's outset, such as conserving extensive forests, a grouped project allows for the gradual integration of new parcels owned by other private forest owners, adjusting supply based on demand as the project evolves. A grouped project enables cost-sharing, risk-sharing, and accessibility, even to small forest landowners. The Pivot Project aligns perfectly with Quebec's private forest context, especially small and medium-sized family properties that would otherwise be overlooked.
Innovative and Rigorous Approach
The Pivot Project's methodology distinguishes itself through an innovative approach to baseline adjustment on an instance scale, a rare or unique practice in collective forest projects worldwide. On-ground inventories conducted during wooded parcel inclusion establish a baseline scenario for evaluating its evolution. Unlike many carbon credit projects using regional or supraregional forest conditions as a reference, this baseline adjustment approach ensures a more precise assessment and reinforces the carbon credits' additionality, contributing to the climate integrity of our activities. This year, we initiated an innovative project aimed at integrating AI and satellite data into the verification process.
We are proud to introduce the Pivot Forestry Project and its potential to drive positive environmental and social change. We'll keep you informed about the upcoming availability of carbon credits for purchase.
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