Publications

State of the Voluntary Carbon Markets 2011

Back to the Future

For five years, Forest Trends’ Ecosystem Marketplace and Bloomberg New Energy Finance have published the State of the Voluntary Carbon Markets Reports to shed light on trading volumes, credit prices, project types, locations, and the motivations of buyers in this market. Every year’s marketplace seems more complex than the one before, as actors continually refine […]

Introduction to Payments for Ecosystem Services

A Reference Book for Uganda

This manual introduces the basic concepts related to payments for ecosystem services and their application in Uganda in a clear and accessible manner. The Annex also presents concepts related to climate change and forest carbon markets.

Surui Carbono

Free, Prior, and Informed Consent - Surui Carbon Project

This report documents, demonstrates and analyzes the process of obtaining free, prior and informed consent from the Paiter-Surui People regarding the Surui Carbon Project. This project represents a promising and innovative scenario in the Amazon, because it is designed to enhance environmental conservation and the sustainable use of natural resources, while ensuring financial resources for […]

Nested Approaches to REDD+

An Overview of Issues and Options

Interest in “nested” approaches to REDD+ has grown steadily as policy makers, practitioners and investors seek to reconcile approaches to reducing, and rewarding, emissions reductions at different scales – national, subnational and project.  The 16th session of the Conference of the Parties to the UNFCCC in Cancun marked the UNFCCC’s formal acknowledgement of subnational approaches […]

Investing in Forest Carbon

Lessons from the First 20 Years

The first carbon offset sales from forestry projects occurred as early as 1990. Over the past two decades, a diverse marketplace has developed. Despite limited regulatory drivers, this development has included the establishment of some industry infrastructure—legal and political frameworks, project standards and methodologies, and expert resources. While much of this infrastructure was developed in […]

Taking Stock: Payments for Forest Ecosystem Services in the United States

This report compiles data on a wide range of PES mechanisms – from government conservation incentive programs, to voluntary markets, to compliance-driven ecosystem service markets such as wetland mitigation credits. According to the report, more than 80% of all forest-based PES money in the US came from non-governmental sources, including payments for wetland mitigation, hunting […]

Avoided Deforestation (REDD) and Indigenous Peoples: experiences, challenges and opportunities in the Amazon context

Instituto Socioambiental and Forest Trends, 2010

This book published by the Instituto Socioambiental, with support from partner institution Forest Trends, seeks to provide a source of information and reflections which can be useful for the discussion and implementation of REDD projects in indigenous lands, in Brazil, and other Amazon countries. Contents include: – Indigenous Lands and the Climate Crisis – Forest […]

Dependent Documents

Desmatamento evitado (REDD) e povos indígenas

By Forest Trends, Instituto Socioambiental

Surui

Carbon Finance and the Protection of Indigenous Peoples' Forests in the Amazon

In late 2007 Almir Surui, the internationally-recognized leader of the Surui people, approached Forest Trends and the Katoomba Group to seek support in developing a project to restore and conserve portions of their ancestral lands. From this conversation grew a commitment to collaborate and explore the potential for emerging carbon markets to strengthen the protection […]

Baker & McKenzie Legal Analysis – Surui REDD Project

Forest Trends has received a new analysis commissioned from Baker & McKenzie on the legal aspects of the Surui Community Reduced Emissions from Deforestation and Degradation – REDD Carbon Project, involving approximately 248,000 ha of their traditional territory located in the states of Rondônia and Mato Grosso in the Brazilian Amazon. This Surui REDD Carbon […]

Sweetening the Deal for Shade-Grown Cocoa

A Preliminary Review of Constraints and Feasibility of 'Cocoa Carbon' in Ghana

The main implication of these preliminary economic results is that carbon finance alone (at current carbon prices) will not likely be the sole or necessarily the primary means for persuading farmers to adopt higher shade cocoa systems. It could however be an enabling factor to encourage improved farming practices and productivity. The models imply that […]