Background: Unitor REDD+ protects one of the regions of the Amazon most affected by deforestation, the county of Lábrea. In the Lábrea region, not only have natural ecosystems been extensively damaged, but land-use changes have provoked severe social conflicts through land-grabs and expansion of agriculture and cattle ranching activities, contributing to expulsion of communities of wild-harvesting families (“extrativistas”) from the region. Given the deforestation pressures and financial difficulties in the project area, sale of the farm to private investors is the most plausible future scenario, involving deforestation beyond Brazilian Forest Code limits and sale of illegal timber, followed by implementation of unsustainable cattle ranching operations. In recent years, some of the project landowners have already been approached to sell their properties. Activities: The project area entails 15 farms which represent 99,035.2 hectares of forest area. The project activities aim to address deforestation through ecosystem conservation and improved forest management practices including: - improving surveillance inside the project area to avoid trespassing and illegal logging, - protecting the ecosystem to improve above and belowground biomass and protect biodiversity, and - implementing sustainable forest management activities and sustainable cattle ranching. General facts: This Verra certified project estimates that 523,000 tCO2e will be avoided, which corresponds to 16 million tonnes of CO2e over 30 years or 24,031 hectares of avoided deforestation. The project applies Verra’s VM00015 methodology for ‘unplanned deforestation’ to calculate greenhouse gas emission reductions achieved through the project’s activities and is in the process of applying for the ‘CCB) co-benefit certification. Monitoring: The monitoring of the project area is performed annually using satellite and drone imagery to evaluate forest conditions related to wildfires, illegal logging and forest density. Two airplanes have been purchased specifically for this purpose. Additionally, regular terrestrial monitoring by foot is carried out on the grounds. The monitoring process also includes carbon stock changes, leakage and non-CO2 emissions from forest fires. Additionality: Carbon credit sales through the voluntary carbon market is the project’s only source of finance and crucial to implement the project activities. Brazil has seen a progressive weakening of governmental environmental policies since the 2012 Brazilian Forest Code which legalized a significant proportion of areas illegally deforested in the past, sending off the signal that deforestation will be amnestied in the future. Biodiversity co-benefits: The project area holds significant fauna and flora biodiversity and has been classified as “extremely high importance” for conservation. More than 300 vertebrate species have been identified, including endangered species such as jaguars or giant otters. Over the course of the project, biomass inventory and species surveys have been conducted to monitor biodiversity. Community co-benefits: The project activities have noticeable co-benefits to the community in terms of formal employment opportunities, capacity building and additional source of income. The local community is offered technical training on sustainable forest and cattle management and participates in monitoring illegal logging activities in the project area to support the project implementation.

Co-benefits certification