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SHADE COFFEE AND CACAO REFORESTATION PROJECT
Document Prepared By ECOTIERRA
Project Title SHADE COFFEE AND CACAO REFORESTATION PROJECT
Version Version 4
Date of Issue 11 April 2014
Prepared By ECOTIERRA Celso Alexis Navia Cuba
Contact
35, Belvdre Nord, Bur. 500, Sherbrooke, Qubec, Canada. J1H 4A7
+1-819-346-1000 Etienne Desmarais [email protected]
http://www.ECOTIERRA.co/en/
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Table of Contents
1 Project Details
..................................................................................................................
3 1.1 Summary Description of the Project
...............................................................................................
3 1.2 Sectoral Scope and Project Type
...................................................................................................
4 1.3 Project Proponent
...........................................................................................................................
4 1.4 Other Entities Involved in the Project
.............................................................................................
5 1.5 Project Start Date
...........................................................................................................................
7 1.6 Project Crediting Period
..................................................................................................................
7 1.7 Project Scale and Estimated GHG Emission Reductions or
Removals ......................................... 7 1.8
Description of the Project Activity
...................................................................................................
9 1.9 Project Location
............................................................................................................................
26 1.10 Conditions Prior to Project Initiation
..........................................................................................
32 1.11 Compliance with Laws, Statutes and Other Regulatory
Frameworks ...................................... 45 1.12 Ownership
and Other Programs
...............................................................................................
46
1.12.1 Right of Use
.......................................................................................................................
46 1.12.2 Emissions Trading Programs and Other Binding Limits
.................................................... 47 1.12.3
Other Forms of Environmental Credit
................................................................................
47 1.12.4 Participation under Other GHG Programs
.........................................................................
47 1.12.5 Projects Rejected by Other GHG Programs
......................................................................
47
1.13 Additional Information Relevant to the Project
..........................................................................
48 2 Application of Methodology
...........................................................................................52
2.1 Title and Reference of Methodology
.............................................................................................
52 2.2 Applicability of Methodology
.........................................................................................................
52 2.3 Project Boundary
..........................................................................................................................
54 2.4 Baseline Scenario
.........................................................................................................................
56 2.5 Additionality
..................................................................................................................................
68 2.6 Methodology Deviations
...............................................................................................................
68
3 Quantification of GHG Emission Reductions and Removals
.......................................69 3.1 Baseline
Emissions.......................................................................................................................
69 3.2 Project Emissions
.........................................................................................................................
70 3.3 Leakage
........................................................................................................................................
79 3.4 Net GHG Emission Reductions and Removals
............................................................................
82
4 Monitoring
........................................................................................................................84
4.1 Data and Parameters Available at Validation
...............................................................................
84 4.2 Data and Parameters Monitored
..................................................................................................
87
5 Environmental Impact
.....................................................................................................99
6 Stakeholder Comments
................................................................................................
101 HISTORY OF THE DOCUMENT
.............................................................................................
102
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1 PROJECT DETAILS
1.1 Summary Description of the Project
The Project Shade Coffee and Cacao Reforestation proposed by
ECOTIERRA is an ARR carbon
sequestration grouped project based on improving agricultural
farming techniques to include
coffee and cocoa under shade. The project aims to turn
traditional land use schemes into shade,
organic and fair trade coffee and cocoa production systems by
the mean of massive plantation of
trees, environmental education, technical training and
accompaniment.
This Canadian-Peruvian initiative is led by ECOTIERRA, a company
specializing in the
development and implementation of environmental, carbon and
sustainable development
projects.
In Peru, 25% of small coffee and cocoa producers are members of
cooperatives. This project was
initiated as a result of the findings by some cooperatives of
the limitations and problems faced by
a large number of these producers such as inadequate management
of the land, environmental
degradation, lack of income, limited technical knowledge,
resistance to change and innovation,
inability to invest in developing and maintaining their parcels,
difficult working conditions and the
limitations of these cooperatives to offer technical and
financial help to its members. In fact,
cooperatives have very limited access to financial resources
that allows them to develop and
maintain over time the technical expertise, or sufficient
lending capacity, to properly support their
members in an attempt to break the state chronic poverty.
This lack of knowledge limits the ability of the producers to
increase the productivity, to diversify
the agroforestry systems as well as to protect /improve the
environment. At the same time the
customary management of their land, crops, pastures and their
reluctance to change can affect
the overall profitability of their work and often leads to
disastrous environmental impacts such as:
migratory agriculture on mountainsides with no protective
measure for soil erosion, slash and
burn agriculture and poor fertilization to name a few. With the
land becoming less productive over
time, the small producers abandon the parcels and move onto a
neighbouring parcel and start the
whole process again.
The "SHADE COFFEE AND CACAO REFORESTATION PROJECT" has been
developed in
association with 32 cooperatives of small coffee and cocoa
producers. The purpose of the project
is to convert degraded, low production or abandoned plots into
high quality (fairtrade organic)
crop producing parcels with forest cover while focusing on
sustainable development practices.
These Agroforestry projects will allow producers to increase
their incomes by both agricultural
production and by adding the sustainable use of forestry
resources.
Beyond the environmental objectives (carbon sequestration), the
project focuses on sustainable
development objectives that include socio-economic and also
their own environmental objectives.
The incentive related to the carbon aspect of the project as
well as the initial funding will allow a
multitude of small producers to improve the management of their
plot, increase crop yield,
diversify the source of income ensuring the sustainability of
their farm and improving access to
education and healthcare. Reforestation, education and training
related to the project will also
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promote the improvement and protection of the environment by
combating soil depletion, erosion,
contamination and the drying up of rivers, siltation of the
landslide while regenerating local
biodiversity.
In total 12,111 ha of land will be reclaimed over 11 years
covering 13 departments of Peru from
the border of Ecuador to that of Bolivia. According to the
member list of participating Centrales
and cooperatives, more than 16,000 small producers will benefit
directly and indirectly from the
project. The project is expected to generate about 1,969,139
tons (LTA) of CO2 over the 40 year
period. Given that this is a grouped project the total is an
estimate of future participation.
1.2 Sectoral Scope and Project Type
Sectoral scope: 14-Agriculture Forestry and Other Land Use
(AFOLU)
Project category: ARR
Project activity: Afforestation, Reforestation and
Revegetation
The proposed project is a grouped project, including multiple
instances in each year of
implementation of activities.
1.3 Project Proponent
Project Proponent: Socit de gestion de projets ECOTIERRA
Inc.
Contact : 35, Belvdre Nord, Bur. 500,
Sherbrooke, Qubec, Canada.
J1H 4A7
Contact person : Etienne Desmarais
[email protected]
+1 819 346-1000
Roles and responsibilities: The project proponents and project
developer is ECOTIERRA, a
Canadian based company which developed the project from the
ground up. From field research
to building partnership, developing the project document,
setting up planting and monitoring
procedure and training the local partners and management
team.
Ecotierra will be responsible for the monitoring of GHG Emission
and removal. The field team
collecting the data will be comprised of personnel from
ECOTIERRA and duly qualified
contractors. Data inputting, gathering, computerization for
storage as well as analysis will be
performed by qualified ECOTIERRA personnel.
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1.4 Other Entities Involved in the Project
Implementing Partner
The project is based on a solid partnership between ECOTIERRA
and the rural communities in
Peru. To achieve this we have been solidifying our relationship
for the past year with the different
associations of producers as well as the individual producers.
Our structure is composed of 4
group.
1. ECOTIERRA
2. CENTRALES (grouping of cooperatives) and other partners
3. COOPERATIVE (We are partnered with 32 cooperatives in the
development of this
project.)
4. Small producers of coffee and cocoa associated with our
partner cooperatives.
Cooperatives are organizations whose members are individual
small producers whom mainly
produce coffee and cocoa. They may be small in size (regrouping
40-50 members) or large in
scale (regrouping 4,000 members). The main purpose of the
cooperatives is to market the crop
production of its members. The majority of the cooperatives have
Organic and Fair Trade
certification and encourages all of its members to adopt these
practices. Some cooperatives also
assist their members by providing some training and field
technicians. Their expertise is key in
the development and the management of the project.
Roles and responsibilities: The cooperatives are responsible for
the planting activities such as
the selections of the plots, the planting, the monitoring of the
project including the sustainable
husbandry and commercialization of the trees. In the monitoring
process they are responsible for
monitoring the integration of new plots (new instances) of the
project, by onsite visits and surveys
to the producers. The cooperatives will also have the
responsibility to monitor the implementation
of the project activities. For more details, see section 4
(monitoring).
Centrales were created by the grouping of smaller cooperatives
whose main objective was to
reach critical mass for exporting their products. They
specialize in the direct marketing and
exporting of the crop. Within the organizational structure
sometimes can be found other types of
partners: Cooperatives that are not regrouped and an NGO.
Roles and responsibilities:
The Centrals have a role of support, training and monitoring
activities. The project partners can
be found in the table below. In the monitoring process centrales
will assume the role of first
verification and quality assurance of the monitoring of the
cooperatives. For more details, see
section 4 (monitoring).
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Table 01 - List of the Implementing partners in the project
CENTRALES COOPERATIVES
(class partner)
NAME ACRONYM
PRO-A
ASOCIACIN DE PRODUCTORES ECOLGICOS SAN JUAN BAUTISTA DE
CAARIS
APE CAARIS
ASOCIACIN DE PRODUCTORES AGROPECUARIOS DE SHATOJA- SAN MARTN
APA SHATOJA
LA ASOCIACIN DE PRODUCTORES CAFETALEROS JUAN MARCO EL PALTO APC
JUMARP
APC JUMARP
ASOCIACION DE PRODUCTORES CAFETALEROS Y CACAOTEROS DEL
AMAZONAS-APROCAM
APROCAM
CENTRAL DE PRODUCTORES AGROPECUARIOS DE AMAZONAS
CAC CEPROAA
ASOCIACIN PROVINCIAL DE CAFETALEROS SOLIDARIOS SAN IGNACIO
APROCASSI
COOPERATIVA AGRARIA CAFETALERA FRONTERA SAN IGNACIO
CAC FRONTERASI
ASOCIACION DE PRODUCTORES AGROPECUARIOS DEL ALTO MAYO
APAVAM
COOPERATIVA AGRARIA CAFETALERA SAN IGNACIO DE LOYOLA
CASIL
COOPERATIVA AGRARIA CAFETALERA LA PALMA CAC LA PALMA
COOPERATIVA DE SERVICIOS MULTIPLES CEDROS CAF LTDA
CEDROS CAF
APPCACAO
COOPERATIVA AGRARIA CAFETALERA SAN GABN - PROYECTO SAN GABAN
CAC SAN GABAN
COOPERATIVA AGRARIA CAFETALERA ALTO URUBAMBA
CAC ALTO HURUBAMBA
COOPERATIVA AGRARIA CAFETALERA EL QUINACHO CAC QUINACHO
FUNDACION AMAZONIA VIVA-FUNDAVI
COOPERATIVA AGRARIA CAFETALERA ORO VERDE CAC ORO VERDE
COPERATIVAS ASOCIADAS CECOVASA
CAC DE SERVICIOS VALLE SAN IGNACIO CAC DE SERVICIOS VALLE SAN
IGNACIO
CAC INAMBARI LTDA CAC INAMBARI LTDA
CAC TUPAC AMARU CAC TUPAC AMARU
CAC SAN JORGE CAC SAN JORGE
CAC SAN ISIDRO DE YANAHUAYA CAC SAN ISIDRO DE YANAHUAYA
CAC VALLE GRANDE CAC VALLE GRANDE
CAC UNION AZATA CAC UNION AZATA
CAC CHARUYO CAC CHARUYO
COCLA By defining cooperatives By defining cooperatives
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COOPERATIVA AGRARIA INDUSTRIAL NARANJILLO
COOPERATIVA AGRARIA INDUSTRIAL NARANJILLO COOPAIN
COPERATIVA AGRARIA CAFETALERA LA DIVISORIA
COPERATIVA AGRARIA CAFETALERA LA DIVISORIA CAC DIVISORIA
COOPERATIVA AGRARIA CAFETALERA SATIPO
COOPERATIVA AGRARIA CAFETALERA SATIPO CAC SATIPO
COOPERATIVA AGRARIA RODRGUEZ DE MENDOZA
COOPERATIVA AGRARIA RODRGUEZ DE MENDOZA COOPARM
CAC PANGOA COOPERATIVA AGRARIA CAFETALERA PANGOA CAC PANGOA
CENTRAL DE PRODUCTORES AGROECOLOGICOS DE
PICHANAKI
CENTRAL DE PRODUCTORES AGROECOLOGICOS DE PICHANAKI
CEPROAP
COOPERATIVA AGRARIA CAFETALERA LA FLORIDA
COOPERATIVA AGRARIA CAFETALERA LA FLORIDA CAC FLORIDA
CAC VALLE DE INCAHUASI COOPERATIVA AGRARIA CAFETALERA VALLE DE
INCAHUASI
CAC VALLE DE INCAHUASI
COOPERATIVA AGRARIA DE MUJERES PICHANAKI
COOPERATIVA AGRARIA DE MUJERES PICHANAKI CAMPC
1.5 Project Start Date
The project start date is the 30 September, 2013.
The date on which we begin activities with management
operationalization nurseries for planting
the first group of instances. This date has been defined as the
start date of the project.
1.6 Project Crediting Period
For this Grouped Project the total length of the grouped project
crediting period is: 40 years
Start Date: September 30th, 2013.
End Date: September 30th, 2053.
1.7 Project Scale and Estimated GHG Emission Reductions or
Removals
Project Scale
Project x
Large project
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First Grouped Instances
The whole grouped project
Years Estimated net GHG emission reductions or removals
(tCO2e)
Years
Estimated net GHG emission reductions or removals (tCO2e)
2,013 0
2,013 0
2,014 117
2,014 117
2,015 339
2,015 2,615
2,016 697
2,016 9,657
2,017 829
2,017 24,201
2,018 1,283
2,018 43,960
2,019 1,875
2,019 76,479
2,020 2,617
2,020 125,250
2,021 3,488
2,021 194,905
2,022 4,559
2,022 293,442
2,023 5,805
2,023 429,160
2,024 4,210
2,024 605,221
2,025 5,127
2,025 772,658
2,026 6,181
2,026 970,408
2,027 7,380
2,027 1,188,528
2,028 8,706
2,028 1,438,820
2,029 7,919
2,029 1,727,466
2,030 9,229
2,030 2,000,067
2,031 10,691
2,031 2,268,614
2,032 12,311
2,032 2,552,370
2,033 14,095
2,033 2,788,528
2,034 2,549
2,034 3,018,079
2,035 2,936
2,035 3,192,166
2,036 3,423
2,036 3,345,098
2,037 3,997
2,037 3,438,934
2,038 4,673
2,038 3,380,910
2,039 5,459
2,039 3,303,268
2,040 6,364
2,040 3,288,673
2,041 7,394
2,041 3,106,004
2,042 8,528
2,042 2,892,521
2,043 9,818
2,043 2,419,005
2,044 5,612
2,044 1,875,496
2,045 6,318
2,045 2,065,730
2,046 7,113
2,046 2,280,608
2,047 8,007
2,047 2,495,655
2,048 9,007
2,048 2,689,508
2,049 10,093
2,049 2,903,110
2,050 11,316
2,050 3,108,290
2,051 12,655
2,051 3,263,034
2,052 14,117
2,052 3,423,447
2,053 15,706
2,053 3,495,692
Total estimated ERs
15,706
Total estimated ERs
3,495,692
Total number of crediting years
40
Total number of crediting years
40
Average annual ERs
393
Average annual ERs
87,392
The Long-Term Average GHG benefit from the first group of
instances is 5,541 tCO2e, while
the whole grouped project sums up to 1,969,084 tCO2e, according
to the document AFOLU
Requirements: VCS Version 3.0 section 4.5.5.1.a. The established
period determined by the
estimated LTA GHG benefit is 61 years, considering the last
harvest/cutting cycle as
indicated in that section.
The buffer for the non-permanence risk is not counted here.
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1.8 Description of the Project Activity
Nature and objective of the project
The Shade Coffee and Cacao reforestation project was developed
to break the cycle of land
degradation and destruction caused by traditional agricultural
practice in the rural areas of the
Peruvian Andes.
The traditional land use have had long-term disastrous results
which affected not only the land
where these practices took place but also affected neighbouring
areas as the farmers moved
from less fertile parcel to another which meant deforestation of
the new parcels. The project
does not intend to take into consideration the avoidance of
further land degradation avoided by
the carbon project. The project will focus on the ARR aspect for
to evaluate the carbon footprint.
We consider the avoidance of deforestation as an environmental
sustainability benefits to the
project.
Therefore the objective of the project is:
The capture of atmospheric carbon and long-term storage through
reforestation within
agroforestry systems, more precisely the growing of coffee and
cocoa under shade and small
forestry systems with sustainable timber harvest.
The purpose of the project is to convert degraded low production
or abandoned plots into high
quality (fairtrade organic) crop producing parcels with forest
cover while focusing on sustainable
development practices.
The project will be implemented on land that have been
deforested for more than 10 years and
are underused and unprofitable due to their condition. Those
abandoned or low yielding plots are
currently covered with annual crops, perennial fruit crops,
wasteland and fallow or degraded
pasture. Their uses will completely switch to a new production
systems. This Agroforestry
projects will allow producers to increase their incomes by both
agricultural production and by
adding the sustainable use of forestry resources. Strategy to
achieve this objective:
We have developed a strong partnership with local central and
cooperatives that will facilitate the
implementation of the project. These partners are well
entrenched in the community where they
serve and have established relationships with many of the local
producers. Many of them have
expert agro technician who are expert in the field of coffee and
cocoa agriculture.
Through the centrales and cooperatives, we provide the
opportunity for small producers
(members or non-members) to participate in the project by
converting their degraded, low
producing, abandoned parcels and convert them into shade coffee
or cocoa producing parcels or
implement small forest massifs. The producers will benefit from
the increase revenue as
described earlier. These sources of revenues are key factor in
the longevity of the carbon
sequestration project.
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Support and training will be provided to the centrales,
cooperatives in order to assure the proper
execution of the approved plan. ECOTIERRA will perform its own
monitoring as a form of quality
control that will ensure that the work is done in accordance to
the plan.
Project management structure: A community based approach
The entire project has been developed in collaboration with the
initial participating centrales and
cooperativesentities that are closest to the small
producers.
ECOTIERRA`s role
ECOTIERRA will coordinate and participate in the activities
related to the project including the
creation of a training program such as material, visual aid,
workshops etc. It will be responsible
for the gathering of all information, its inputting, storage and
its safeguard.
ECOTIERRA will take responsibility of the financing of the
project and will work in the
development of a market for the crops generated from the
project.
ECOTIERRA will also be responsible for the monitoring of the GHG
emissions reduction.
The role of the Centrales
Centrales will have the responsibility of developing and
creating some synergies between the
different regional cooperatives while monitoring the work done
by both the producers and the
cooperatives and authorize payments to the producers. The hiring
of forest engineer whose role
is to train and offer technical assistance to the cooperatives
and the creation of forestry
cooperative will be part of the Centrales mandate.
The involvement of cooperatives
The cooperatives are responsible to offer technical support to
the producers by delineating plots,
collecting data and supplying them with seeds. They will also
offer technical training on the
growing and the implementation of a forestry crop, preparation
of the field in accordance to the
PD and schedule field visits during the initial stage
(nursery).
The cooperative will be responsible for the first level of
monitoring as well as the educational
workshops and training. In the case where the trees are provided
by outside sources (municipal
and regional), the cooperatives will be responsible for the
transportation and the distribution of
these trees. They also have the opportunity to develop
cooperative nurseries which provide
seedlings to farmers.
The role of the producers
The producer will be responsible for preparing the plot; to
create a small nursery on it (in some
cases, trees will be provided by municipal or municipal
nurseries), plant the trees, ensuring
proper nurturing (pruning, weeding and thinning) to assure good
growth as well as replacing
seedlings in the event of high mortality in its first year.
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The producers will be paid after a satisfactory verification of
the completed work. The planting of
the coffee and cocoa crop are not financed by the project but
related training and technical
support related to the improvement of the crop yield, quality of
the crop (organic) and the proper
use of will be part of the training received.
The 3 phases of the project
Pre-implantation phase
The projects activities begin with an information phase were
ECOTIERRA in coordination with the
cooperatives and centrales present the project and its benefits
to their members or groups of
producers who have shown interest.
After the information phase, producers who are interested in
being part of the project can register
on a voluntary basis for the land eligibility assessment. If the
land is eligible, the producer with
support of the project developer will chose the species and the
technology package that is suited
and the parcels will be included as an instance.
Implantation Phase
This technical phase is described below. It is also accompanied
by technical and more general
training:
Producers will receive training on planting and caring for trees
(fertilization, pruning, fight against
diseases, etc.) adapted to their circumstances. As well the
responsible technicians will provide
the necessary technical advice in the management of the planting
to maximize the productivity
and to educate them in the value of organic agriculture. The
improvement and protection of the
environment and biodiversity is part of the formation.
Through time the producers will develop a sensitivity to the
effect of climate change and the
impact it has locally, as well as the negative impact of
deforestation and the degrading of the
forest this leading to a sustainable development project.
Monitoring phase
Described in section 4.
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Grouped project and inclusions of instances
Because of the sheer size of the grouped project and inclusions
of instances due to the number
of small producers involved, it is impossible to anticipate all
reference plots that could participate
in the project. In addition, the gradual implementation of the
project will have a ripple effect on
other producers who may want to participate once their neighbour
start seeing the positive effect
of the project. We anticipate that the first year implementation
will be leverage to generate
interest amongst producers/investors that will then increase the
size of the project in subsequent
years. It is for this reason that we opted for the grouped
project option.
Each of the participating cooperatives will have supporting
tools to promote and inform about the
project1. Ecotierra will also develop workshops to present the
project to local producers (members
and non-members of cooperatives). Interested producers may
register in the cooperatives,
participation is free and is voluntary.
Once the producer is interested in the project, the cooperative
is required to inform the producers
the rules and regulations of participation. For instance: Land
eligibility criteria, in which the
producer agrees to participate and confirm that its lands comply
with the rules and regulations of
participation, the cooperative technician will visit the
producer land or farm, he will
georeferenciate it with a GPS, take photos (Photos having
geographical location -GPS) where the
producer will implement the reforestation activities and have
the option to choose an agroforestry
scheme or forested area that he may want to implement. All
information collected is recorded in
Ecotierra database (MINKA2) for assessing the plot as per the
eligibility criteria (See section 1.13)
for it to be included in the project. A MINKA3 software user
manual was drawn up in order to
register the Coffee and Cacao Project activities.
After reviewing all compiled data from the instance and its
processing in the MINKA software, the
results of the evaluation can be: Instance Accepted, Rejected or
Pending; in any case, the
instance information is already recorded in the database. The
plot is rejected when it does not
comply with land eligibility criteria; the plot is in pending
status when they did not submit the land
property title of the land that will be involved in the project,
or the plot was not yet assessed. Once
the parcel is accepted, the producer must sign an assignment
agreement for transferring the
rights of greenhouse gases (those that will be produced inside
the plot) in favor of Ecotierra. Also
a socio-economical questionnaire will be applied to the
producer. The information will be kept
stored for two years after the end of the accreditation period.
The reforestation schedule will be
decided based on the available funding for the future plots to
be implemented.
This validation procedure is applied to demonstrate the
eligibility of land for afforestation and
reforestation CDM project activities with an adaptation to the
VCS criteria.
1 ECOTIERRA will facilitate to the cooperative awareness
documents about the shade coffee and cacao
reforestation project. 2 Special software developed by ECOTIERRA
to manage the execution of activities for the projects. In the case
of
coffee and cacao project, it records the information of the
processes linking the eligibility of areas, reforestation,
monitoring and disbursements (nursery, planting, monitoring,
etc.). 3 Ecotierra, MINKA User Manual Shade coffee and cacao
Project 2013
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How to achieve GHG removals
First and foremost this project is an ARR carbon sequestration
project. The project focuses on
traditional economic activities of producers in the Peruvian
Andes region such as growing coffee
and cocoa. Using their parcels the producers will create a new
crop under shade trees generating
a forest cover and capturing carbon. The project is expected to
generate an increment in existing
carbon stocks and GHG removals by sinks that are additional to
those changes that would have
occurred in the absence of the project activity. This will be
achieved by replacing unsustainable
activities with a sustainable commercial activity.
The project will take place on land with low vegetation cover
and low biomass (crops4, Wasteland
and fallow of one to three years old, degraded pasture).
More specifically, the project offers the following benefits
related to the sustainability of the
carbon sequestration:
Given that the producers are working with known crops and are
aware of the economic value that
they generate and how to market them makes these individual
comfortable with the project.
Training and education provided by the Centrales/Cooperatives
and the implementation of shade
trees will improve quality of their crop and revenue generated
by them. The adoption of modern
farming techniques without the destruction of the shade cover
will ensure the sustainability of the
carbon sequestration. The revenues generated from the coffee and
cocoa crop is a sufficient
incentive for the producers to keep the forest cover.
These updated management of greener and sustainable practices
that does not include
deforestation and slash and burn activities will contribute to
increase the carbon sequestration of
the soil, as well as the aerial and underground biomass.
Similarly, by working on the privately owned land of producers
and demonstrating the long-term
impact on their income, they can apply the knowledge to other
parcels that may not be part of the
project. The knowledge is not limited to participants of the
project other producers will be
exposed to these practices and can adapt them to their needs.
This ultimately will strengthen the
collective organizations and the service they can offer to their
members and becomes a trusted
partner assuring the sustainability of the project.
The introduction of new economic activities for local producers
such as the sustainable forest
management and timber harvesting from shade trees for coffee and
cocoa plantation is also a
factor that favors the sustainability of the project. The
diversification of the revenues is a crucial
element in the economic structure of the producers subject to
global food markets.
The diversification of tree species in coffee and cacao project
(that is normally 1-2 species per
parcels in traditional system but will reach as much as 18
certain models in this project) has many
advantages some related to the carbon capture. Some species have
a high economic value,
other are fruit bearing while others have various utilities for
the producers. Therefore not all trees
4 This includes annual crops and non-woody perennial fruit
crops.
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will be harvested. The harvested species have different growth
cycle but the majority of them are
longer cycles leading to longer harvesting period favouring the
carbon sequestration.
In addition, the tracking and monitoring of the carbon capture
will enable ECOTIERRA and its
partners to adapt and react quickly to situations that can
adversely affect the carbon capture of
the project.
By solidifying its presence in the customary economic activity
in the Peruvian Andes and by
reinforcing its activities, increase production and revenues
proposed to the producers this
carbon capture project ensures the sustainability and the
adoption of the proposed project by
small producers in the following years.
Technology, models of plantation and activities
The grouped project is based on a flexible technological package
that can be adapted to the
particular circumstances of each instance, as inter alia:
selected species, tree density, thinning
and harvesting. Ten different planting patterns are proposed in
which 30 species of trees can be
selected.
Although ECOTIERRA emphasizes the promotion of mixed stands the
different planting patterns
allows the producers to choose its mix of species. No less than
4 species are accepted for the
cocoa plantation, 5 for the coffee plantation and 3 for the
forest system (18 or above). This
system has been developed considering the geographical magnitude
of the project and to meet
and the requirements of the participants.
Each producer will choose, with some technical support the
variety of tree species based on the
specificities of his land (climate, altitude, soil, etc.). This
will include a combination of fast,
medium and slow growth tree species to plant in association with
their coffee or cocoa plantation
or in little forest massif. The tree species are selected to
provide shade and improve productivity
on the project area and include species of commercial value.
Each instance will provide information of the specific details
of the package to be applied: the
choice of planting patterns and the number of trees of each
species chosen. The information will
be stored in ECOTIERRA`s database (MINKA).
ECOTIERRA favours, without imposing the selective collection of
trees and promote the natural
regeneration of trees generated by the seeds grown on the
planting sites.
Species choice for reforestation and enrichment plantings
Tree species that are considered for planting in the project
area were originally selected
according to the following factors: adaptability, compatibility
in agroforestry systems with coffee
and cocoa, ecological and cultural value, availability of seeds,
and resistance to pests and
diseases, as well as for their commercial value (for parts of
the species). The project has
prioritized a large group of native species to maximize positive
impacts on biodiversity, and few
exotic species. The wide list of species is explained by the
extension of the project and variety of
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planting systems (forestry and agroforestry). Even though all
the regions included in the project
have similar ecological conditions, native local species are the
ideal or most popular ones to be
planted in each region. The list tree species that will be used
in the whole project is shown in the
following table.
Table 2. Tree species of the project
Tree
Group Tree name
Harvest
time Familly
Growth
speed Origen
A
Capirona (Calycophyllum spruceanum) 20 Rubiaceae Fast Native
Tornillo (Cedrelinga catenaeformis) 40 Fabaceae Slow Native
Cedro (Cedrela odorata) 40 Meliaceae Slow Native
B
Moena (Aniba ssp.) 20 Lauraceae Fast Native
Sangre de grado (Croton ssp.) 20 Euphorbiaceae Fast Native
Caoba (Swietenia macrophylla) 40 Meliaceae Slow Native
Romerillo (Nageia rospigliossi) 40 Podocarpaceae Slow Native
Huamanzamana (Jacaranda copaia (Aubl.) 10 Bignoneaceae Very fast
Native
C
Andalan (Senna ssp.) 15 Fabaceae Fast Native
Shimbillo (Inga edulis) 15 Fabaceae Fast Native
Pian (Styrax ssp.) 15 Styracaceae Fast Native
Pino tecunumani (Pinus tecunnumanii) 20 Pinaceae Slow Exotic
Laurel (Cordia alliadora) 15 Boraginaceae Fast Native
Albizia (Albizia falcataria) 30 Mimosoidea Fast Native
Teca (Tectona grandis) 30 Verbenaceae Fast Exotic
Erytrina (Erythrina poeppigiana) 20 Fabaceae Fast Native
Guaba (Inga ssp) 15 Fabaceae Fast Native
Nogal (Juglans neotropica) 20 Juglandaceae Slow Native
Copal (Vochysia ferruginia) 30 Vochysiaceae Fast Native
Oropel (Erythrina ssp.) 20 Fabaceae Fast Native
D
Paliperro (Tabebuia ssp.) 30 Bignoniaceae Slow Native
Cedro Lila (Cedrela lilloi) 20 Meliaceae Slow Native
Pashaco (Schizolobium amazonicum) 10 Fabaceae Very fast
Native
Ishpingo (Amburana cearensis) 20 Fabaceae Slow Native
E
Shaina (Colubrina glandulosa) 10 Rhamnaceae Very fast Native
Higueron (Ficus ssp.) 40 Moraceae Fast Native
Podocarpus (Podocarpus rospigliossi) 40 Podocarpaceae Very
Slow Native
Lanche (Calyptranthes ssp.; Syzygium
ssp.) 40 Myrtaceae Fast Native
Bolaina (Guazuma crinita) 7 Sterculiaceae Very fast Native
Cascarilla (Cinchona ssp.) 40 Rubiaceae Slow Native
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The Schematic layout of various systems:
The tree species were grouped in 5 groups: A, B, C, D and E. The
Proposed ten different planting
patterns are based on these groupings. Thus, each pattern has a
total amount distributed by the
various groups of species as shown in the following table
tree:
Table 03. Table of the different planting patterns
Planting patterns Tree species groups Total Nb
of trees A B C D E
Cocoa 1 45 90 45 0 90 270
Cocoa 2 48 35 80 14 133 310
Cocoa 3 84 25 80 14 133 336
Coffee 1 17 34 84 17 80 232
Coffee 2 34 25 62 17 133 271
Coffee 3 51 34 69 34 133 321
Forest massif 1 370 370 370 0 0 1110
Forest massif 2 199 422 289 133 67 1110
Forest massif 3 255 178 422 178 77 1110
Forest massif 4 133 289 311 133 244 1110
The producer and cooperative`s technician must first choose the
preferred system (Coffee,
Cocoa or Massifs). Then choose one planting patterns of the
system in function of the desired
tree density and the number of species. The proposed planting
patterns offer a variety of species
growing in terms of their number.
Then, the producer, still with the technical support of the
cooperative will choose the desired
species. For each planting pattern densities of trees (number of
trees) in each group must be
respected. However, the producer may choose in each group one or
more species, or even all
species of tree respecting the minimum number determined for
each planting patterns.
Among the ten different planting patterns proposed:
Three were developed for coffee growers:
Coffee 1: More traditional planting pattern: Minimum number of
species 5
Coffee 01: Minimal number of species
Species Distance Quantity
A 8x8 17
B 8x8 34
C 8x8 84
D 8x8 17
E 5x5 80 tree hedge
Coffee 1.5 X 1.5 4444
Total of tree 232
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Coffee 2: Improved planting pattern: Minimum number of species
7
Coffee 02: Minimal number of species
Species Distance Quantity
A 8x9 34
B 8x9 25
C 8x9 20
C 8x9 21
C 8x9 21
D 8x9 17
E 3x3 133 tree hedge
Coffee 1.5 X 1.5 4444
Total of tree 271
Coffee 3: Ideal planting pattern: Minimum number of species
12
Coffee 03: Minimal number of species
Species Distance Quantity
A 10x5 17
A 10x5 17
A 10x5 17
B 10x5 34
C 10x5 23
C 10x5 23
C 10x5 23
D 10x5 11
D 10x5 11
D 10x5 12
E 3x3 66 tree hedge
E 3x3 67 tree hedge
Coffee 1.5 X 1.5 4444
Total of tree 321
Three were developed for Cocoa:
Cocoa 1: More traditional planting pattern: Minimum number of
species 4
Cocoa 01 : Minimal number of species
Species Distance Quantity
A 3x3 45
B 3x3 90
C 3x3 45
E 3x3 90
COCOA 3 x 3 814
Total of tree 270
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Cocoa 2 : Improved planting pattern: Minimum number of species
6
Cocoa 02 : Minimal number of species
Species Distance Quantit
y
A 7x8 54
B 7x8 35
C 7x8 52
C 7x8 28
D 7x8 14
E 3x3 133 tree hedge
COCOA 3 x 3 1111
Total of tree 310
Cocoa 3 : Ideal planting pattern: Minimum number of species
9
Cocoa 03: Minimal number of species
Species Distance Quantity
A 8x6 28
A 8x6 28
A 8x6 28
B 8x6 25
C 8x6 26
C 8x6 26
C 8x6 28
D 8x6 14
E 3x3 133 tree hedge
COCOA 3 x 3 1111
Total of tree 336
Four planting has been developed for the Forest system.
Forest system 1: traditional: Minimum number of species 3
Forest massif 01: Minimal number of species
Species Distance Quantity
A 3 x 3 370
B 3 x 3 370
C 3 x 3 370
Total of tree 1110
Forest system 2: Improved 1: Minimum number of species 5
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Forest massif 02: Minimal number of species
Species Distance Quantity
A 3 x 3 199
B 3 x 3 422
C 3 x 3 289
D 3 x 3 133
E 3 x 3 67
Total of tree 1 110
Forest system 3: Improved 2: Minimum number of species 7
Forest massif 03: Minimal number of species
Species Distance Quantity
A 3 x 3 77
A 3 x 3 178
B 3 x 3 178
C 3 x 3 67
C 3 x 3 345
D 3 x 3 178
E 3 x 3 77
Total of tree 1110
Forest system 4: Ideal: Minimum number of species 18
Forest massif 04: Minimal number of species
Species Distance Quantity
A 3 x 3 44
A 3 x 3 89
B 3 x 3 144
B 3 x 3 145
C 3 x 3 67
C 3 x 3 111
C 3 x 3 133
D 3 x 3 44
D 3 x 3 44
D 3 x 3 45
E 3 x 3 122
E 3 x 3 122
Total of tree 1110
Following are the schemes of plantation for each system:
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COFFEE PLANTATION PATTERN
Coffee 01: Conventional Planting Pattern
Coffee 02: Improved planting pattern
Coffee 03: Ideal planting pattern
COCOA PLANTATION PATTERN
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Cocoa 01: Conventional Planting Pattern
Cocoa 02: Improved planting pattern
Cocoa 03: Ideal planting pattern
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FOREST PLANTING PATTERNS
Massif 01: Convetinal Planting pattern Massif 02: Improved
planting pattern 1
Massif 03: Improved planting pattern 2 Massif 04: Ideal planting
pattern
The proportion of agroforestry coffee systems, agroforestry
cocoa systems and forestry plantations
will also vary according to the new instances and region.
Plantation Management Plan
All activities will follow the forestry protocol 5 . While most
producers have already managed
nurseries for the establishment of coffee and cocoa and the
planting of their plots - they will
receive training at different stages of the project life.
1. Nursery preparation. The plants will come from nurseries set
up by the producers. These will
be near/on their parcels (in some areas the plants come from
municipal nurseries).
Cooperatives technicians will supervise the work. The Centrales
are in charge of seed
supply.
5 ECOTIERRA, FORESTRY PROTOCOL ON SHADE COFFEE AND CACAO
REFORESTATION PROJECT.
2013
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Parcel preparation
2. Clearing: Site clearing is done by hand with tools such as
machetes, hoes or other
instruments in order to remove weed grasses located on the site
chosen for the plants to
facilitate other work and promote the availability of water,
nutrients, light and space for new
trees.
3. Protective barrier around the settlement area: In the case
where plantations can be in contact
with animal pasturage, a protective barrier will be erected
planted with trees (e.g. Eritrhina
spp.).
4. The preparation of holes: Holes will be done by hand with
simple tools, in accordance with
the installation plan, scheme established according to tree
species and soil structure. A
period of 4 to 8 days preparation is provided between the holes
and planting trees to promote
better ventilation. The holes have a volume of approximately 30
cm x 30 cm x30 cm.
Tree planting phase
5. The trees are then planted and fertilized: Most plots are
composed of a nutrient-poor soil;
small amounts of organic and inorganic fertilizers will be added
at planting.
6. Replacement of dead trees. Replacement of dead trees will be
during the first year after
planting.
7. Weeding: The weeding will manually be done using a machete,
twice during the first year of
planting and as needed during the next two years.
Pest and Disease control:
8. Monitoring of pests and diseases. This activity will be the
responsibility of the cooperative and
will be monitored for the first 3 years after the initial
planting by one of the cooperatives
technician. The producers will be responsible to monitor and
inform the cooperative.
9. Control pests and diseases. The project calls for compliance
with specifications organic load
to achieve the certification of crops.
Managements of the trees
10. Tree pruning: In order to have a high quality wood, the
pruning is done in the resting period of
the trees (July-September), or at the end of the rainy season
(May-June). The pruning activity
is done in the early years with a pruner, and then it will be
done with telescopic scissors or
hand saws. The first pruning will be called "formation pruning",
the purpose of this initial or
formation pruning is to ensure that the trees have a good
structure, that is to say, a single
main stem and avoid the formation of plagiotropic branches. The
second pruning or
maintenance pruning is done as from the year and a have old to
the third year by removing
the branches found below the 4 m high.
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11. Thinning: Thinning will be determined according to each
species (2 to 4 cutting). This
elimination of the least productive in order to promote more
robust trees will average in the
third, tenth and twentieth year after planting, and sometimes
the thirtieth year. Because of the
variety of growth depending on the species, many of these cuts
will be coupled with
commercial crops.
12. Commercial Harvest: The commercial harvest is performed
based on the harvest, of
implanted species and based on minimum DBH for harvest. So
around the age 7, 10, 15, 20,
30 or 40 depending of species. This harvest will selectively
pick the best bole for harvesting,
preserving other high quality trees for seed production and
other to harvest in a few years.
This is done in order to never completely strip the field,
maintain a certain shade level, and to
preserve the different age strata. The successive selective cuts
are then followed by
replacement plantings or selections of natural seedlings. This
will allow permanence in time
of the different age strata in plantations and will ensure the
continuity of the project activity
without any interruptions of the forest cover. At the same time,
it will allow for the producer, a
better distribution of is income in time.
13. Replanting: As the project document suggests the use of
diverse forest species with different
growth rates (rapid and slow growth forest species), there will
be different crop years, 7, 10,
15, 20, 30 or 40 years so that when the rapid growth trees are
cut, they will give the
opportunity to the slow growth trees to develop. The replacement
of trees will be made
gradually and conservatively after these have served their
cutting cycle by keeping the
continuity of the trees throughout the useful life of the
project, for each of the planting
schemes shown in Table 04.
Table 04. Projection of the presence of trees during the life of
the project considering the intervention of
thinning, harvesting and replanting.
The forest protocol includes a timeline with forest management
activities of the project.
Initial trees/he
ctare PRESENCE OF TREES DURING THE
PROJECT
FENCE
SCHEMES AND GROUPS Year 3
to 30 TOTAL
A B C D E Year 01 Year 03 Year 10 Year 20 Year 30 Year 40
COCOA1 45 90 45 0 90 270 130 108 90 90 --- 90 trees
COCOA2 48 35 80 14 133 310 137 122 106 100 67 167 trees
COCOA3 84 25 80 14 133 336 161 143 119 110 67 177 trees
COFFE 1 17 34 84 17 80 232 135 120 120 120 64 184 trees
COFFE 2 34 25 62 17 133 271 129 120 120 120 67 187 trees
COFFE 3 51 34 69 34 133 321 149 133 120 120 67 187 trees
MASSIF 1 370 370 370 0 0 1110 555 444 354 300 --- 300 trees
MASSIF 2 199 422 289 133 67 1110 557 446 446 357 --- 300
trees
MASSIF 3 255 178 422 178 77 1110 555 443 356 301 --- 300
trees
MASSIF 4 133 289 311 133 244 1110 553 438 345 302 --- 300
trees
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Positive impacts of the project6
This project is supported by a global vision and analysis of
socio-economic and environmental
conditions. The study of the conditions prior to project
initiation led us to the conclusion that
reforestation (ARR) for carbon capture, integrated into a larger
project could generate local
benefits guaranteeing carbon capture and long-term retention. In
addition to the environmental
objective of biological carbon sequestration, the project
includes sustainable development
objective for the local population, including social and
economic objectives. This initiative aims to
ensure the initial funding for the project implementation that
will allow a multitude of small-scale
producers to improve the management of their lands, increase
their productivity, diversify their
income and ensure long term sustainable development business
model. Indirect impacts may be
generated on the education, health, cooperative organization,
etc. The project impacts go far
beyond the environmental benefits of carbon sequestration,
Among Them:
Improved economic conditions for farmers and surrounding
communities through development
of business and job creation related to reforestation,
diversification of income and the
accreditation plots labels "Organic" and "Fair Trade". It
promotes formalization and organization
of smallholders by strengthening Centrales and cooperative
institutions, contributing to the
Peruvian commercial balance in the agriculture sector.
Improved production systems using the technology package of
coffee and cocoa plantations.
Including, the installation of crops under shade (creation of
agroforestry systems) through
improved management (pruning and high growth, diversification of
species), and the
management of the plots according to the standards of organic
agriculture
Improvement and protection of the environment the creation of
large and perennial vegetation
cover on degraded patches or recurring cycles of destruction
with organic farming techniques will
provide an (alternatives to deforestation and land degradation
as well as the negative
consequences such as soil erosion, landslides, poor water
quality and biodiversity loss. At the
same time it will help Increase awareness stakeholders thesis is
based.
The reinforcement of the organizational capacity of producers
and cooperatives and
technical capacity of cooperatives. Carbons income and other
investments made by the project
will provide the means to co-develop and retain engineers,
agronomists and foresters can provide
adequate services and training to producers. In addition, the
project training will be offered to
cooperatives by our partners to strengthen collective
organizational capacity to ensure proper
long-term development project
Training and education of producers. Technical training related
to the development of the
project will be done first. While the environmental protection
and related topics will be addressed
and adapted to regional realities.
6: Ecotierra, Environmental Report of the activities of the
shade coffee and cacao reforestation project 2014.
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1.9 Project Location
In general, the project is spread throughout the Andes from
North to South. The projects activities
are located on the eastern slopes of and inter-Andean valleys of
the Peruvian Andes. The project
which encompasses 12 department of Peru is limited in its
altitudinal zone - with a minimum of 80
Meters Above Sea Level (masl) for the cocoa agroforestry systems
to a maximum of 2 500 MASL
for forest plantation. However, approximately 90% of the project
will be developed between 300
masl and 1 500 masl.
These regions between 300m et 1500masl are known as the most
suitable coffee and cocoa
production zones in the country, due to their similar ecological
conditions (temperature,
precipitation and soil). Land use patterns in the project areas
can be considered as
homogeneous. It comprises areas that are managed by producers
members, the Cooperatives
(see section 1.4) and some independent small-scale producers who
are joining the cooperative.
The General map of the SHADE COFFEE AND CACAO REFORESTATION
PROJECT (SCCR).
Note in green on this map, the zones where are the first group
instances of the project.
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Figure 1: General map of The SCCR project
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The project is a grouped project. The partners of the project
are located in 12 departments and 37
provinces of Peru, as shown in the following table:
Table 05. Geographic Location
The grouped project is made on a single geographic area for the
inclusion of new instances as
defined by the VCS criteria. Indeed, the initial conditions that
can influence the baseline scenario
and additionality (land use, socioeconomic conditions
biophysical and ecological) are sufficiently
homogeneous throughout the scope of the project to justify this
grouping. Small Peruvian
producers of coffee and cocoa, with whom we work, form a very
homogeneous group with
respect to the management of their lands and plantations and
their socioeconomic conditions.
Popular and current agricultural practices (such as "slash and
burn, Migratory agriculture, low
density and diversity in the use of shadow when used, etc.) are
common to all. We use the same
unique geographic area for the non-permanence risk
assessment.
12 country 37 provinces
12 country 37 provinces
Lambayeque Caaris
Junin
Chanchamayo
Amazonas
Uctubamba
Satipo
Bagua
Madre de Dios
Tambopata Rodrguez de Mendoza
Ayacucho Huanta
Pasco Oxapampa
Cajamarca San Ignacio
Puno
Carabaylla
Jaen
Sandia
Cusco La Convencion
San Martin
El dorado
Huanuco
Leoncio Prado
tarapoto
Huanuco
Moyobamba
Pachitea
Tocache
Maran
Mariscal Cceres
Jose Crespo y Castillo
Shunte
Rupa Rupa
Uchiza
Marino Damaso Veraun
Lamas
Luyando
Ucayali
Padre Abad
Daniel Alomia Robles
Curimana
Chinchao
Irazola
Hermilio Valdizan
Campo Verde
Monzn
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The geographic area within which new project activity instances
may be developed is delimited by
the sphere of influence of the participating cooperatives:
Each cooperative has its producer members and performs these
activities in a zone of influence.
Each of these geographic zones forms a unit for an implementing
partner. In addition, producers
who are not related to a cooperative of the project but are
located within the area of influence of a
cooperative may choose to become member and join the project.
The following maps show areas
of cooperatives or central that are part of the SHADE COFFEE AND
CACAO REFORESTATION
PROJECT. In some cases these territories may overlap. All these
maps are stored in ArcGis, and
also joined in KML files, where each one is delimited by a
geodetic polygons. Below are few
examples of maps of the territories covered by each cooperative.
The complete list of these maps
is attached.
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Geographic area for the first group instances
Every instance has its polygon defined by a GPS during the
initial visit. The geographic
coordinates of the boundaries of each one of the plots include a
georeferencing procedure by
registering the UTM coordinates with horizontal projection WGS
1984 South. This information is
stored in our database (MINKA), processed in ArcGIS and
identifies every instance of the project.
Also KML digital files referring to the cooperative size and
location of the first group of instances
were prepared.
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Cooperative Department Province District Sector Area (ha)Total
Area By
Cooperative (ha)
CAC SATIPO JUNIN SATIPO LLAYLLA CHALLHUAMAYO 3.0293
CAC SATIPO JUNIN SATIPO LLAYLLA VISTA ALEGRE 0.6799
CAC SATIPO JUNIN SATIPO RIO NEGRO HUAHUARI BAJO 4.7626
CAC SATIPO JUNIN SATIPO RIO NEGRO UNION PROGRESO 0.6608
CAC SATIPO JUNIN SATIPO RIO TAMBO VISTA ALEGRE 0.8968
CAC SATIPO JUNIN SATIPO SATIPO CAPIRO BAJO 1.7128
CAC SATIPO JUNIN SATIPO SATIPO NUEVA ESPERANZA 1.8801
CAC SATIPO JUNIN SATIPO SATIPO PARATUSHALI 7.6429
CAC SATIPO JUNIN SATIPO SATIPO SANTA CLARA 3.1111
CAC SATIPO JUNIN SATIPO SATIPOPUEBLO LIBRE DE
AZOPE3.58
JUMARP AMAZONAS UTCUBAMBA YAMON NUEVO AMAZONAS 1.8139 1.8139
29.7702
First group instances: Partners and Locations
27.9563
The following table shows the participating cooperatives of the
first instances group, with
departments, provinces, districts and the number of hectares.
Implementation of the reforestation
activities with the first instances group will be carried out
during the first year of the project, as
pilot test to collect lessons learned. Almost 30 hectares will
be reforested in the departments of
Amazonas and Junin scattered in "different producer areas".
Table 06: Participating cooperatives, geographic reference and
size of the first group of instances
The following maps are example of the first instances.
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1.10 Conditions Prior to Project Initiation
Global geographical areas of the project
Natural and physical description of the development area of the
grouped project
Ecoregions
As previously noted in section 1.9 the project will be developed
over a large area encompassing
the northern and southern Peruvian cordillera. Given that the
projects aim to reforest these
areas with agroforestry systems based on the coffee and cocoa
crop and in its area altitudinal
limits of these cultures. For these reasons, the project will be
mainly developed on the slopes
and inter-Andean valleys (between 300masl and 1,500masl) but can
reach 2,500masl (forestry)
for a few cooperatives in the Cusco, Puno et Lambayeque regions
and a minimum of 80 meters
for cocoa agroforestry systems. For this, only one ecoregion is
affected by the project the
lower section of the Selva Alta. The project will also encompass
to a lesser degree other
ecoregion in Peru the upper section of the Amazonian tropical
forest (Bosque Tropical
Amaznico o Selva Baja) and Equatorial dry forest (Bosque Seco
Ecuatorial) which represent
less than 5% or the project. The MINAN (Ministry of the
environment Peru) defines an
ecoregion as a geographical area having similar characteristics
(climate, soil, hydrology, flora
and fauna) that are interrelated and interdependent. These zones
can be differentiated from one
another with relative ease (Brack-Egg, 2004)
Selva Alta: This area on the eastern flank of the Andean
cordillera spans from the Ecuadorian
border to the Bolivian border at between 500 and 3 500 masl in
altitude as well as on the
western flank in the high watershed of the Jequetepeque, Zaa, La
Leche, Chira and Piura
rivers. The climate is semi-hot in the lower region and cold in
altitude. Three distinct altitudinal
areas are present. From top to bottom they are: the Rainforest
where rain accumulation can
exceed 3,000mm, the Cloud forest and the high altitude Dwarf
forest. The moisture allows the
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abundance of epiphytic plants that grow not only in trees, but
also on the ground. The project is
located in the lower part: the rainforest.
The Amazonian rainforest (lower forest): It includes all the
Amazon rainforest (east of the
Andes, below 600 masl The climate is hot and humid Its average
temperature is 24 to 26 C.
It.. find the greatest diversity of species. vegetation is more
heterogeneous and fauna is rich and
varied. The project is located in the upper part of this zone.
(more than 300m) .
The equatorial dry forest: coastal strip 100 to 150 km wide. The
main vegetation types are
carob wood, dry wood and savannah formations. The fauna is of
Amazonian origin while its
maximum altitude is of 1 500m. The climate is characterized by a
prolonged dry season, which
can lasts up to 9 months.
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Map 1- Ecoregions.
The Soil:
The type of soil found in our project area is of the Acrislica
variety. They are typicaly found in
coffee growing area. On the other hand, in the cocoa growing
regions of the project that
stretches further down the rain forest it is also possible to
encounter the following types of soils:
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Acrslica Litoslica and waved. As for the Cusco, Puno and
Lambayeque departments we will
encounter Lito-cambislica and Kastanoslica.
Acrislica: This type of soil is found in the middle and lower
section of the forest between 500
and 2800 masl in altitude. This includes a few valleys where the
soil is rich. Deep, red and
yellow soil with good drainage (acrisols) and deep clay soils
(nitosols) are predominant. As we
move to the lower forest, the appearance of clay soils, acid and
ferrous (acrisols plinthic)
become apparent. On the hillside a rocky soils (litho) is
present while in the bottom of the valley
we encounter alluvial (fluvisoles), sometimes with poor drainage
(gleisoles) or clay (Vertisols).
Acrslica ondulada: soil found in the lower forest. This includes
red and yellow, acidic soil and
naturally infertile (Ultisols), young undistinguishable soils
(Entisols), young distinguishable soil
(Inceptisols), poorly drained soils (aguajales), well drained
moderately fertile (Alfisols, Vertisols,
Mollisols) and very infertile sandy soils (Spodosols), or white
sand.
Litoslica : On the western slopes and on the arid slopes where
the topography is very
unfavorable predominate rocky and rocky soils (litho) is
encountered. In the lower region there
is an accumulation of sand (regosols) gravel and lime (calcium
Yermosols). While in the middle
section clay and lime (Yermosols Luvic), soil with lime and dark
layer (xerosols) and brown soils
(Kastanozems) can be found.
Lto-cambislica : This type of soil is encountered in the
intermediate and high forest zone or
between 2200 and 3000 masl in altitudes. The soils are poor due
to the steepness of the slope
and are susceptible to erosion in heavy rainfall. The topsoil is
predominantly litho and Cambisol
and can be acidic or limestone and are often yellow in
color.
Kastanoslica : This soil can be found in valleys between 2,200
and 4,000 m in altitudes.
Predominantly, red and reddish-brown color ( Kastanozems
calcium), clay (Kastanozems storm)
and depth and thin (Phaeozems). In the south dominated by
lacuster soils (planosols),
sometimes poorly drained (gleisoles) and volcanic soils
(Andosols).
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Map 2- Soils of Peru
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Elevational ecoregions of Peru
Hydrology:
The project will be developed on the territory of most of the
Peruvian river basins. The project
activities are carried away from the altitudes refill areas or
the origin of these basins (heads of
watersheds). Among the most important watersheds, the project
goes through the Maraon
basin, characterized by the importance of its tributaries. The
Following basins are located within
the project's area:
Chinchipe River Basin, Utcubamba River Basin, Alto Maran Basin,
Imaza River Basin, Sisa
River Basin, Alto Huallaga Basin, Aguayta River Basin, Peren
River Basin, Ene River Basin,
Tambo River Basin, Apurimac River Basin, Inambari River Basin,
Tambopata River Basin.
Regarding minor courses or streams, it should be noted that
these are irregular. Many of them
are dry most of the year despite having at certain times of the
year a strong water flow. Others
have a more regular and higher flow allowing intensive
agriculture in irrigated areas.
Climate:
In general the project is located on the Eastern flank of the
Andes cordillera subject to the dry
coastal climate. Although rain can be observed all year, the
climate can be divided into the dry
(summer) and rainy (winter) season. North to South variation
depends on the seasons but heat is
more of a factor in the North. Altitude plays an important role
in the climate where hot and
humid temperature is found in the low lying areas and the
reverse is also true even though the
humidity always remain relatively high. Differential in
temperature are high in high altitudes and
narrows as we move toward the coast. The following table
summarizes the temperatures and
average precipitation of various departments and provinces
without taking into account the most
local variations (due to altitude).
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Department Province AltitudeTemperature range by
department
Annual precipitation
Average
Uctubamba 500 msnm a 2400 msnm
Luya 1000 msnm a 2000 msnm
Rodrigues de Mendoza 1500 msnm a 3300 msnm
Bagua 400 msnm a 1500 Climas msnm
Huanta 800 msnm a 1800 msnm
La Mar 800 msnm a 2200 msnm
San Ignacio 500 msnm a 2200 msnm
Cutervo 1400 msnm a 3300 msnm
Jaen 400 msnm a 2600 msnm
Cusco La Convension 500 msnm a 3000 msnm 6C min. A 22C max.
732,5 mm
Maraon 250 msnm a 600 msnm
Leoncio Prado 0 msnm a 1200 msnm
Huamalies 1000 msnm a 1800 msnm
Huanuco 1000 msnm a 2000 msnm
Satipo 400 msnm a 2600 msnm
Chanchamayo 700 msnm a 1900 msnm
Lambayeque
(Caaris)Ferreafe 2500 msnm a 3200 msnm 4C min. A 22 C max. 800
mm
Madre de Dios Tambopata 186 msnm 8 C min. A 36 C max. 2 217,9
mm
Pasco Oxapampa 800 a msnm a 2600 msnm 8C min. A 30 C max. 993,4
mm
Sandia 700 msnm a 3300 msnm
San Antonio de Putina 1000 msnm a 2000 msnm
Carabaya 500 msnm a 2700 msnm
El dorado 600 msnm a 1800 msnm
Lamas 600 msnm a 1400 msnm
Picota 300 msnm a 900 msnm
Tocache 500 msnm a 2000 msnm
Huallaga 400 msnm a 800 msnm
Mariscal Caceres 300 msnm a 1300 msnm
Rioja 900 msnm a 1900 msnm
Moyobamba 900 msnm a 2100 msn
Ucayali Padre Abad 200 msnm a 1400 msnm 20C min a 31 C max. 2
019,6 mm
SAN MARTIN 22C min A 33 C max. 1 298,6 mm
Junin 4,5 C min a 30 C max. 912,1 mm
Puno Promedio 0 C a 22C max. 760,5 mm
Cajamarca 20C min A 35C max. 1 247,2 mm
Huanuco 13,7 C min. A 36 C max. 701,0 mm
Project Area
Amazonas 4C min. A 36C+ max. 882,3 mm
Ayacucho 6C min. a 28C max. 613,5 mm
Table 07 Altitudinal range, temperature, mean annual
precipitation and geographical location of the
coffee and cacao project
For example, in the Amazonas in the Utcubamba Province the rainy
season starts between
October and November declining in December and continuing in
March and April, presenting a
summer season between May and August. Its precipitation ranges
between 630 and 1800 mm
per year and has 50% of relative humidity, the temperature
ranges from 14 C to 22 C in the high
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altitude. (Provincial Municipality of Utcubamba - Provincial
Institute Utcubamba) while the Bagua
Province has an average annual temperature that ranges between
22C and 27C and the
average annual rainfall range from 588 mm to 1.053 mm.
Flora and Fauna:
Despite the uniformity in this section, a variety of habitats
exists due to the varied mountainous
terrain and the area covered (low-high altitude) by the project.
These differences lead to a
multitude of smaller ecosystems.
"Peru is a very diverse country because of its location and the
presence of the Andes Range,
which gathers various climates (28 of 35 identified climates
around world), ecosystems and life
zones (84 of 117 worldwide life zones). This diversity also
makes Peru more vulnerable to climate
hazards as floods, droughts, hailstorms, freezing fronts, heat
waves, among others, that impact
severely our society and its assets". Second National
Communication of Peru to the UNFCCC,
2006.
It would be nearly impossible to individually describe all of
these areas as they are poorly
documented and the total biodiversity of these forests is not
known. It is possible that there are a
numbers of species endemic to a small area exist. For example,
orchids and other epiphytes
(bromeliads, aroids, etc.), are found in the Andean valleys in
northern areas of the country. In
reality, this only applies in areas or very low human
interaction. The areas related to our projects
are agricultural land and have been long cleared and frequently
disturbed by slash and burn
method. By increasing the productivity - therefore profitability
of these agricultural areas and
regenerating the soil fertility, the project will contribute to
the protection of the ecosystems by
reducing the deforestation due to migratory agriculture and
creating niches or corridors for many
species.
The flora and fauna are characterized not only by its relative
abundance but also by their great
variety, as well as species that are endemic to Peru. The
location of these species varies greatly
depending on the environment and the altitude where they are
located. A significant number of
species are threatened in the zone of influence of the grouped
project.
The area of first group instances of the projects holds a
landscape of humid montane forests with
mosses, lichens, characteristic fungi, tree ferns, palms and
countless epiphytes. Ecologically,
according to the Holdridge Classification System, the following
ecological formations have been
identified in the provinces: Pre-montane transitional dry forest
to tropical dry forest (Bagua area
and Jan) and Tropical Pre-montane Dry Forest Premontano
transitional to Pre-montane dry
forest. According to the Holdridge Classification, most of the
area of the first group instances is
classified within the Montane Humid Tropical Forest.
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Threatened Species 7 :
The project covers a large area of Peru and is home to many
endangered and threatened for its
commercial value. The list of these species can be found in the
annex.
Annex01: Flora Species Protected by National and International
Legislation in the Area.
Annex02: Fauna Species Protected by National and International
Legislation in the Area.
Development Zone of the grouped project and anthropogenic
activities:
The above descriptions relate the abiotic environment of the
project and its natural environment
of origin, without considerations of disturbance by human
presence. The project activities will
occur in inhabited area which has already been affected by human
presence. Given that the area
covered by our project, we will be utilizing national
statistics.
Deforestation is a growing problem in Peru, to year 2000 MINAM
estimated a deforested area
ascending to more than 7 million hectares, in the same way
INRENA8 confirmed the annual forest
loss to be 261000 hectares due to the increasing shifting
cultivation.
In Peru deforestation is one of the main sources for CO2
emissions. This activity is intrinsically
related to LULUCF (Land use, land-use change, forestry)
activities, whose emissions represent
63% of the National net CO2 emissions. On the other hand, these
deforestation related emissions
represent 47% of the net GHG emissions according to the National
GHG Inventory to year 20009.
The deforestation process has yet to stabilize and according to
the MINAM the natural Peruvian
forest continue to fall victim to deforestation (logging and
slash and burn) related to migratory
agriculture. These forests are always threatened by the arrival
of new populations migrating from
the highlands in search of a better life.
The problem is amplified by the fact that the Peruvian soils are
extremely vulnerable.
A large portion of the area, eastern and western slopes of the
Andes and the inter-Andean valleys
the soil is less than 60cm deep. In the project area, the soil
can be characterized as low infertility,
natural acidity, low in nutrient (caused by erosion) and because
clay as a low incidence of
transfer. All these characteristics make the soil more sensitive
to erosion.
According to MINAM, the erosion related to water and winds has
reached alarming proportions
and constitutes one of the most disturbing problems and are
generally of human origin. Poor
farming practices and destruction of vegetation cover are more
prevalent on the western and
eastern slopes of the Sierra mountain range.
7 Convention CITES- http://www.cites.org/esp/disc/how.php and
Decreto supremo N 043-2006-AG- Reference threatened plant species.
8 Currently is Direccin General Forestal de Fauna Silvestre (DGFFS)
9 MINAM, Segunda Comunicacin Nacional del Per a la convencin del
Marco de las Naciones Unidas sobre el
Cambio Climtico 2009
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More specifically in the Sierra and inter-Andean valleys where
deforestation is a common method
of converting forest into agricultural parcels water erosion
(river and rain) is a problem. Low
vegetation cover and frequent use of the slash and burn
techniques to clear the land makes 60%
of the agricultural land in the region susceptible to erosion.
Overgrazing and the massive
trampling of non-local species (sheep, horse and cattle) have
had a negative impact on the
vegetation destroying the roots and the surface structure.
Erosion related to water as caused
large scale damage during the rainy season. Given the pronounced
slope it is not uncommon to
see mudslide, rock slide and landslide. This problem is
widespread.
Peru`s deforestation problem can also be noticed by the "soil
classification according to their
ability to use." Although Peru is a poor country it has
relatively good soil. Of the 128 521 560 ha
of the country, only 25.525 million ha (19.86%) are suitable for
agriculture and livestock (in
Category A, C and D). While 3.81% (4.8 million HAS, of which
1.341 million hectares in the
mountainous region, the project site) are of category A or
suitable to all form of agriculture.
Type C soil represent 2.11% of the total land mass (2.7 million
Has) of which 20,000 Has are in
the mountainous region and should be used for permanent crops
that do not disturb the soil and
that maintain permanent cover and abundant ground cover. It is
therefore estimated that 94% of
the land against serious limitations to agriculture.
The Peruvian situation is exasperated by the fact that the
authorities have little to no resources
available to curb the problem. Illegal mining, logging,
migration, slash and burn methods,
deforestation are virtually unchallenged by the local
authorities. While there is some work done
on the characterization of the soil at the national level the
reality is that very little work has been
accomplished by the department. The most advanced department
barely finished their maps and
its current uses. In the field no concrete action has been taken
to manage the use of the soil.
The inappropriate use of the land can lead to major issues which
easily explains the speed at
which a parcel of land once deforested rapidly reaches the
quasi-irreversible stage
According to the Ministry of Agriculture of Peru 60% of
agricultural soil in the Andes is facing
moderate to extremely serious erosion conditions. In the lower
forest, 60% of these parcels are
already abandoned due lack of fertility.
As mentioned previously, the main cause of deforestation is
related to the migratory farming
practice in Peru. A pattern as emerged: new productive lands are
generated by slash and burn
technique. Then the ground begins to be cultivated. Crops are
either annual, permanent, but at
the end of each cycle of vegetation they are burned and razed.
The soil is degraded and
impoverished. Few years of annual crops are enough to make the
soil unproductive. The land is
fallow and cultivated again. The first fallow will normally last
four years before the land can be
used again. It is then replanted and the cycle begins again (The
second fallow will last at least 7
to 10 year) until depletion no longer allows the culture. The
land is either abandoned or use for
pasture requiring yearly burning to clear. In the end it becomes
totally depleted and abandoned
for up to 20 years in the hope that it naturally regains its
fertility.
The cycle looks like this:
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Deforestation Perennial culture Annual culture Abandoned Annual
culture Pasture
abandonment
After the land has finally been abandoned, the soil can stagnate
without cover becoming a sparse
pasture, one overgrown with invasive weeds, best indicators of
degraded areas, like the
herbaceous vegetation grasses as cashaucsha (Imperata), torourco
(Axonopus, Paspalum,
Homolepsis), foxtail (Andropogon), or fern (genus Pteridium) or
a secondary forest (Bosque
Secundario).
The following table highlights the impact on land degradation
caused by migratory agricultural
practice. If we assume as the MINAM and INRENA confirms that the
majority of these parcels
have been deforested for migratory farming purposes we notice
that these parcels go through
these 4 cycles. First, agricultural production - annual or
perennial (Agricultura, Bosque
Secundario / Agricultura), second becoming pasture (Pasto),
followed by degradation leading to
abandonment and ultimately becoming secondary forest (Bosque
Secundario) or soil without
vegetation (Areas sin vegetacion).
Table 8-Accumulated deforested area in 2000 according to soil
use
Source: PROCLIM 2000
Project development area
The project development area encompasses the area covered by our
partner cooperative. Within
these areas, the project focuses on parcels own by small
producers who are members of the
cooperative. These small producers are owner of a Finca often
far from his home. These
parcels are used for multitude purposes from coffee and cocoa
production, abandoned,
pasture, annual food crop, fallow land, fruits and unexploited
forest.
The project is developed small and low producing plots of these
fincas and are scattered
throughout the territory. According to the first group
instances, these plots are mainly located on
the slopes of the mountains and not in the valleys. These are
all agricultural plots that have been
deforested for more than 10 years. The soil is usually degraded
due their over-utilization, bad
farming practices and the regular uses of burning as a mean to
clear the land.
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In all cases no deforestation activities have been undertaken
for the purpose of claiming the GHG
removals of the subsequent reforestation. The project is only
claiming the removal related to the
reforestation and sequestration in the tree`s biomass. The
project has therefore not generated
any GHG emission for the purpose of their subsequent
removal.
Description of initial strata
We defined the project for three types of land use that are
eligible to run project activities.
A. Crop areas: It consists of annual and perennial fruit crop
areas.
These land use types (annual crop and perennial fruit areas)
have the same behavior, they will
always repeat the same soil use cycle: Crop Abandonment crop
Abandonment
crop.
Annual crop areas: The crop grown in these areas are maize,
sorghum, beans etc. The soils
have a low fertility because of past intensive use and often,
after harvest, the land will remain
as fallow for several years. An annual crop is a way of using as
much as possible the low
productive land and the crops cultivated are not always
necessary for the farmers
subsistence.
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Perennial fruit crops: These areas are destined to harvesting
over a two year period such as the Yuca, rice and caupi or over a
few years such as bananas, plantain, papaya