Every One

Speak up for the planet, for the chimpanzees and Japan Dolphins, for Mother Earth and microorganisms, and awaken the dormant hearts of humankind. This is the challenge.

The songs sung by Pati Ruiz Corzo and Dr.Jane Goodall are triggers and calls for action. At a side event of the COP16 (Avoided Deforestation Partners Advancing Redd+) , Dr. Jane Goodall called the greeting of the Chimpanzee, a voice from the forest, thrilling everyone.

As Dr. Jane Goodall once said: Every individual matters; Every individual has a role to play; Every individual makes a difference.

(Grupo Ecológico Sierra Gorda is a new member of Roots & Shoots, a youth action program of the Jane Goodall Institute).

Rural Response for COP 16 – Sierra Gorda´s Carbon Offset Track Record

On the eve of the COP16 in Cancun, it´s time to talk about the alternatives.

I will be attending with Pati Ruiz Corzo www.sierragordamexico.wordpress.com to speak up about the viable alternatives to fight climate change from the trenches of conservation and the inclusion of vulnerable communities in high biodiversity areas like the Sierra Gorda Biosphere Reserve.  To make the point, we are taking a fact sheet and white paper that puts forward the innovative and tangible model that has been hard-won by the Sierra Gorda community members that have engaged in forest-based carbon projects with the Grupo Ecológico Sierra Gorda and its partner, Bosque Sustentable A.C.  Read it here: Basket of Ecosystem Services from the Sierra Gorda Biosphere Reserve

For the last 10 years we have made every effort to fit the characteristics of the Sierra Gorda model into the Kyoto Protocol only to be hugely disappointed by the global dialogue that has made the bogus statement that fighting climate change will help fight poverty; it is just not true.  Cap & Trade so far has not touched ground (speaking to forestry that benefits rural landowners) and never will at this rate in the United Nations protocols. Then, thanks to a Forest Trends sponsored trip to Australia we saw the light – voluntary markets and national legislation.  Out with Kyoto, hello world.  The on-line platform to learn about Sierra Gorda´s carbon offsets where nature and communities have value: www.carbonneutralplanet.org

Breaking the voluntary carbon offsets ceiling. The United Nations Foundation took the risk and offset the emissions of their offices and travel with Sierra Gorda by signing a contract that was a collaborative effort with the pro-bono  support of Baker & McKenzie to make the first carbon offset transaction at US$10.00 per tCO2e.  At the time the World Bank´s BioCarbon Fund was considering Sierra Gorda´s project but at US$4.oo per ton – need I point out the same institution claimed be building a model to fight poverty and climate change, makes you say hmmmmmmmm.

And the battles continued, especially trying to certify Sierra Gorda´s carbon offsets in the certified voluntary market with the collaboration of The Katoomba Group, and yet Sierra Gorda continues to sell on a very voluntary basis.  One day we expect the CCB and the VCS certification to include the Sierra Gorda, but who knows.   So, since 2006 events like the Schwab Foundation for Social Entrepreneurship Summit, the Triple Bottom Line Investment Forum, and foundations like AccioNatura (Spain) and World Land Trust (UK) and other non-regulated entities continue to donate for Carbon Offset units from the Sierra Gorda Biosphere Reserve.  You can too.

Sierra Gorda´s Track Record inVoluntary Carbon Offsets, 2006 to 2010
• 13 Transcations in 7 countries
• 11 Donations
• 28,387 tCO2e
• US $399,235

Illustration of ecosystem services in the Sierra Gorda