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Serra do Sudeste

Restore 10,000 hectares of degraded forest in Brazil

Climate impact

Removal

Solution

Reforestation

Location

Brazil

Evaluation

VERRA/VCS

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ABOUT

Learn more about the
project

Sequester carbon and provide a habitat for endangered species by helping restore over 10,000 hectares of degraded Amazonian forest in southern Brazil.

The Serra do Sudeste Grouped Project aims to restore forest in the transition zone between the Atlantic Forest and the Pampa biome in Rio. This environment has been degraded by the overgrazing from extensive cattle ranches and other unsustainable land use practices like intensive agriculture and silviculture systems. By restoring this forest through Assisted Natural Regeneration and enrichment planting of native species, this project turns this land into a productive carbon sink and a home for local biodiversity, including many endangered species. The project area also stimulates the local economy through sustainable apiculture, crop production and non-timber products.

On top of the environmental impacts, this project has strong benefits for the local community, involving them in project operations to provide employment, work with local suppliers, and give landowners and workers new and more sustainable income streams. All these impacts have been certified by the Climate, Community & Biodiversity Standards.

The Green Branch

The Green Branch is B Corp certified project developer of Nature-Based Solutions projects for the Voluntary Carbon Market through reforestation, land restoration and conservation. Our carbon forestry projects are supported by companies across the globe that want to make a positive contribution towards ecosystem restoration and want to take responsibility for their irreducible carbon emissions.

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

Brazil

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 • VERRA/VCS

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

15kt

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

2021 - 2056

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

5 SDGs

5 SDGs

SDG 4: Quality Education

50 local workers were trained

SDG 8: Decent Work and Economic Growth

50 local workers employed

SDG 13: Climate Action

15.000 tCO2 sequestered per year

SDG 15: Life On Land

1143 ha of degraded land restored

SDG 17: Partnerships for the Goals

3 partnerships with local suppliers were established

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
Medium
Political
Low
Economical
Medium

The lack (of quality) of seeds/seedlings in supply chain has been addressed with a network of growers that follow a 1-year seed collection and seedling grow plan for the amounts of seeds and seedlings we need. The risk of droughts is monitored by our local operational manager to adapt the planning of project implementation. Rain is timed with the days for the workforce to make sure the plants receive enough water. We plant in the wet season, so the roots develop well. In case there is a drought, we have an irrigation plan in place to be able to water the plants that are most at risk, mitigating the risk of droughts. Irrigation and water supply is not affected by droughts as we have water sinks over the project. To mitigate this risk, we systematically monitor plant health and implement response measures such as application of mulch or removal of weeds. Simulating the potential change in mean annual 2-m air temperature, the models predict a significant impact of global warming on all countries of South America. In the region natural fire doesn’t occur. However, man-made fires are common to clear pasture. In order to mitigate the risks arising from the use of fire for clearing land in the project region, a comprehensive fire management and mitigation plan is implemented in each project site with the establishment of fire fighting equipment and the creation of strategic firebreaks around vulnerable areas. The readiness of the plan will also be monitored on a monthly basis.

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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