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Regenerate degraded forests in France

Boost natural carbon sinks by regenerating degraded private forests in France

Climate impact

Removal

Solution

Reforestation

Location

France

Evaluation

Label Bas Carbone

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Learn more about the
project

ln France, 75% of the national forest coverage is privately owned. 90% of the landowners, representing around 3 million people, have a forest smaller than 25 hectares – the critical size to make forest management economically viable.

This extreme fragmentation of the private forests combined with the need for a very long-term investment is a barrier prejudicial to a sustainable management of the private forest, while it would be nevertheless necessary in a context of tensions over wood supply and increasing climatic risks.

Neosylva aims to awaken the dormant potential of these degraded private forests by promoting sustainable and responsible forest management. They support private forest owners in renewing and sustainably managing their degraded forests long-term. This is done in collaboration with the local players in the wood industry such as forest experts and local timber and reforestation companies.

This project contributes to French climate commitments by increasing carbon sinks in forests, and provides the local wood industry with high quality, sustainable timber. It also reinforces the other natural benefits of forests, like water regulation, soil retention, and preserving biodiversity.

Neosylva

Neosylva aims at helping private forest owners in the long-term development of their forests. We provide them with a financing solution and a turnkey support to manage their forests all allong its cycle.

ASSESSMENT

Everything about this project at a glance.

Climate impact

Removal

How to read this

Our atmosphere is like a bathtub, which we have been filling for decades with greenhouse gasses. Each ton of CO2e in the tub increases the global temperature and affects the climate.

In order to prevent our bathtub from spilling - which would mean reaching a +2°C temperature increase - 3 types of actions exist:

Reduction: These projects reduce emissions, closing the tap and slowing down the filling of the tub (e.g. switching to more efficient fuels)

Avoidance: These projects preventing future emissions, stopping a new tap from being opened (e.g. protecting forests and peatlands so that they don’t start releasing CO2)

Removal: These projects remove and capture greenhouse gasses, emptying the bathtub (e.g. reforestation and direct air capture technology)

Solution

Reforestation

How to read this

Solutions are different ways we can reduce, avoid and remove our emissions. They vary in terms of cost, level of maturity, potential to scale, and other factors. To make comparisons easier, Sweep groups solutions into categories such as Forests, Geoengineering or Buildings. Climate solutions are numerous: to learn more about what can be done, explore our catalog.

Location

France

How to read this

Solutions can be deployed in a large range of locations, from a micro-regions to entire sections of a continent. You might want to focus your contributions on specific areas to maximize local socioeconomic impacts or contribute where your activities are based.

Evaluation

Certified • Label Bas Carbone

How to read this

Various international and regional standards rely on established methodologies, dedicated processes and third-party verifications to guarantee that a project delivers on its promises.

Certified: Standards, such as Gold Standard or Verra, are listed for maximal transparency

Not certified yet: The process to be certified is expensive and cumbersome, and ad-hoc methodologies might not exist for specific projects, preventing them from being certified. Sweep promotes other projects after a necessary due diligence, bringing more projects to a wider audience while also offering opportunities to develop and tailor new projects according to your own needs.

Capacity

5kt

How to read this

Capacity is the projected volume of tCO2e reduced or removed during the crediting period. This indicates the projected net impact of a project after adjusting for potential negative impacts and other externalities. This is key to assessing the current scale of a project and can give a quick estimate of what the considered volumes represent at the project scale.

Capacity does not reflect the available quantity of credits as some of them can already be sold.

Crediting Period

2022 - 2052

How to read this

Certified projects are eligible to generate carbon credits over a certain period of time. This crediting period gives a good estimate of the progress of a project.

Older crediting periods means that projects have delivered their promises and that third-party auditors have recognized the climate impact

Crediting periods covering coming years may have already been audited for a fraction of the volumes. The rest will be generated along future audits.

Co-benefits

4 SDGs

4 SDGs

SDG 7: Affordable and Clean Energy

We estimate that an average of 150 tons per restored forest of wood energy can be harvested at the beginning, and we have the ambition to produce 300 additional tons per reforested hectare during the next 50 years.

SDG 8: Decent Work and Economic Growth

We consider 1 job in the wood and forest industry is created every 20 hectares of forest converted in a sustainable and productive forest.

SDG 12: Responsible Consumption and Production

Ambition to produce between 800 and 1000 m3 of timber wood per reforested hectares over the next 50 years.

SDG 13: Climate Action

We assess that our action allows the generation of between 100 t CO2 and 150 t CO2 per rehabilitated hectares of forest during at least 30 years

How to read this

Projects often have positive side effects beyond reducing, removing, or avoiding emissions. For example, projects might reduce waste, protect biodiversity, or support indigenous people. These co-benefits are modelled after the UN Sustainable Development Goals (UN SDGs).

Durability

Medium

How to read this

Durability only applies to to removal solutions. It indicates for how long the carbon will be removed from the atmosphere - the longer this is the more desirable. For example, storing carbon as mineral underground is more durable than in a tree, making it a less risky and longer term solution.

Financial additionality

High

How to read this

Additionality reveals the impact of your financial support. It indicates what percentage of the global project budget is coming from contributions.

High additionality means most of the project revenue relies on contributions, and they would likely not be able to happen without this financing.

Low additionality projects are less reliant on contributions.

Other additionality criteria, such as policy or regulatory additionality, are tackled through certifications and not assessed here

Barriers

Medium

The total project barrier score is available when all types of barrier are provided. It is a composite score based on the 5 barriers assessed.

Technical
Medium
Financial
High
Social
Low
Political
Medium
Economical
Low

The required technology and skills are not complicated and already existing in our territories, and the permanency risk is partially removed thanks to the long-term contract with establish with the professional forest experts and with the landowners and their heirs. However, the main barriers to implement successfully this project are dual : both financial and social. Convert degraded forest into productive forests, adapted to their climate and managed sustainably require investments that will generate profit only on a long-term perspective. Then, the barrier is also social since we need to convince landowners to implement (or change) a forest management that will only bear fruit in the very long term. There is not matter of urgency for them to take such a decision, and the decision has to be taken collectively with their heirs. Carbon revenues clearly make the difference in the implementation of such projects since it allows to rehabilitate a forest massif without tying up a capital for a long period of time

How to read this

Barriers are the different hurdles a project might need to overcome. Barriers can give you a sense for the challenges a project faces, but also how it can add deeper value and create change. We differentiate five types of barriers: economic, social, institutional, technical and financial.

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