MONITORING & IMPLEMENTATION REPORT VCS Version 3, CCB Standards Second Edition
i. project name
Reforestation Project in Yingjing County, Sichuan Province
ii. project location (country, sub-national jurisdiction(s))
Yingjing County, Sichuan Province, China.
iii. Project Proponent (organization and contact name with email address and phone number)
Paocaowan Forestry Limited Company (the primary project proponent)
Contact name: Zhu Hengda
Email: [email protected]
Phone number: +86 13568765436
Nibashan Forestry Limited Company
Contact name: Cheng Yong
Email: [email protected]
Phone number: +86 13778756661
iv. Auditor (organization and contact name with email address and phone number)
Bureau Veritas Certification
Contact name: Tian Pin
Email: [email protected]
Phone number: +86 18017501112
v. project start date, GHG accounting period and lifetime
The project start date is 01/04/2011, when the activities that lead to the generation of GHG emission removals were first implemented. The project crediting period is from 01/04/2011 to 31/03/2041 with a lifetime of 30 years.
vi. the project implementation period covered by the PIR
The project implementation period covered by the PIR is the first monitoring period from 01/04/2011 to 16/06/2016.
vii. history of CCB Status including issuance date(s) of earlier Validation/Verification Statements etc.
The date of Validation Statement is Jun 24, 2013.
The PIR covers the first monitoring period from 01/04/2011 to 16/06/2016. viii. the edition of the CCB Standards being used for this verification
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Reforestation Project in Yingjing County, Sichuan Province was validated under the CCB Standards Version 2. This Project verification will be completed under the CCB Standards Version 2. ix. a brief summary of the climate, community and biodiversity benefits generated by the project since the project start date and during the current implementation period covered by the PIR
During the monitoring period covered by this PIR, the Project has achieved the following important climate, community and biodiversity benefits:
1. 159.2 ha of mingle forest has been established by direct planting on degraded lands in Yingjing County, Sichuan Province, China. And the total net GHG removals achieved in the current monitoring period are 1,564 tCO2e.
2. The project activity creates part-time and full-time job for the local communities in the planting phase and implementation phase, which bring the local people more revenue than before. The income of forest ranger is 2 times more than the minimum wage in Yingjing county.
3. In the project activity, farmers are trained on seed and seedling selection, nursery management, site preparation, planting models and integrated pest management. Furthermore someone has learned other skills, for example they founded beekeeping association, to teach the local farmers the beekeeping techniques and help them to sell honey. Up to now, there are 339 members in the beekeeping association. And the association create their own honey’s brand. Through the training, local communities can develop alternative livelihood to change their live.
4. Because of the environmental improvement, more and more species live in the project zone. And some protected or endangered species are founded in the project zone. Such as Macaca thibetana, Tragopan temminckii, Capricornissumatraensis, Elaphodus cephalophus, Budorcas taxicolor, Giant panda, and Macaca mulatta.
5. Illegal poaching activities decrease because that the project lands are defined for forestry purpose by local government and because the project launches.
x. which optional Gold Level criteria are being used and a brief summary of the exceptional benefits generated by the project to meet the requirements of each relevant Gold Level, and
The project activity does not include this optional criterion in the project description.
XI. date of completion of this version of the PIR, and version number as appropriate.
This joint Monitoring Report and Project Implementation Report (PIR) was completed on August 11, 2016 with version 01.
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REFORESTATION PROJECT IN YINGJING COUNTY, SICHUAN PROVINCE
Document Prepared By Climate Bridge Ltd.
Project Title Reforestation Project in Yingjing County, Sichuan Province
Version 01
Report ID YJMR201608
Date of Issue 11-08-2016
Project ID 1332
Monitoring Period 01-04-2011 to 16-06-2016
Prepared By Wang Guan, Climate Bridge Ltd.
Contact Tel: +86 21 6246 2036 Email:[email protected] Address: Suite 19D, Sanhe Centre, 121 Yanping Road, Jing’An District, Shanghai, China 200042 Website: climatebridge.com
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Table of Contents
1 General ...... 6 1.1 Summary Description of the Project (G3) ...... 6 1.2 Project Location (G1 & G3) ...... 6 1.3 Project Proponent (G4) ...... 10 1.4 Other Entities Involved in the Project (G4) ...... 11 1.5 Project Start Date (G3) ...... 12 1.6 Project Crediting Period (G3) ...... 13 2 Implementation of Design ...... 13 2.1 Sectoral Scope and Project Type ...... 13 2.2 Description of the Project Activity (G3) ...... 13 2.3 Management of Risks to Project Benefits (G3)...... 15 2.4 Measures to Maintain High Conservation Values (G3) ...... 15 2.5 Project Financing (G3 & G4) ...... 16 2.6 Employment Opportunities and Worker Safety (G4) ...... 17 2.7 Stakeholders (G3) ...... 18 3 LEGAL Status ...... 19 3.1 Compliance with Laws, Statues, Property Rights and Other Regulatory Frameworks (G4 & G5) 19 3.2 Evidence of Right of Use (G5) ...... 19 3.3 Emissions Trading Programs and Other Binding Limits (CL1) ...... 19 3.4 Participation under Other GHG Programs (CL1) ...... 19 3.5 Other Forms of Environmental Credit (CL1) ...... 19 3.6 Projects Rejected by Other GHG Programs (CL1) ...... 19 3.7 Respect for Rights and No Involuntary Relocation (G5) ...... 20 3.8 Illegal Activities and Project Benefits (G5) ...... 20 4 Application of Methodology ...... 20 4.1 Title and Reference of Methodology ...... 20 4.2 Deviations from the Monitoring Plan ...... 20 4.3 Project Boundary (G1) ...... 20 4.4 Baseline Scenario (G2) ...... 22 4.5 Additionality (G2) ...... 22 5 Monitoring Data and Parameters ...... 22 5.1 Description of the Monitoring Plan (CL3, CM3 & B3) ...... 22 5.2 Data and Parameters Available at Validation (CL3) ...... 29 5.3 Data and Parameters Monitored (CL3, CM3 & B3) ...... 31 6 Quantification of GHG Emission Reductions and Removals (CLIMATE) ...... 34
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6.1 Baseline Emissions (G2) ...... 34 6.2 Project Emissions ...... 35 6.3 Leakage ...... 43 6.4 Summary of GHG Emission Reductions and Removals (CL1 & CL2) ...... 43 6.5 Climate Change Adaptation Benefits (GL1) ...... 44 7 Community ...... 44 7.1 Net Positive Community Impacts (CM1) ...... 44 7.2 Negative Offsite Stakeholder impacts (CM2)...... 47 7.3 Exceptional Community Benefits (GL2) ...... 47 8 Biodiversity ...... 47 8.1 Net Positive Biodiversity Impacts (B1) ...... 47 8.2 Negative Offsite Biodiversity Impacts (B2) ...... 48 8.3 Exceptional Biodiversity Benefits (GL3) ...... 48 9 Additional Information ...... 48
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1 GENERAL
1.1 Summary Description of the Project (G3)
The Reforestation Project in Yingjing County, Sichuan Province (hereafter “the project”) is located in Yingjing County, Sichuan Province, China, which is the conjunction zone of Qionglai and Daxiangling Mountain Range. The project is at the Yingjing River basin, which is a branch of the upper reaches of Qingyi River and establishes forest on the land previously logged to generate GHG emission reductions and contribute to local sustainable development. The project is jointed implemented by Paocaowan Forestry Farm and Nibashan Forestry Farm.
159.2ha of mingle forest is established by direct planting on degraded lands. 3 land areas covering one land in Sanhe Township and two lands in Nibashan Farm in Yingjing County are involved in the project.
The project area is one of the key areas of biodiversity conservation. The project activity aims to:
- Sequester greenhouse gas and mitigate climate change; - Enhance biodiversity conservation by increasing the connectivity of forests which is critical for panda population; - Improve soil and water conservation in Yingjing River basin; - Generate income and job opportunities for local communities.
All the project sites were illegally logged before 1990s. There is no natural renewal and reforestation before the project, and the sites were covered by big shrub and small shrub. The main objective species which are all native species according to the baseline survey1 are listed below. Besides, a small proportion of other local species is to be inter-planted.
- Cunninghamialanceolata（Lamb.）Hook. - Cryptomeria fortunei Hooibrenk ex Otto et Dietr. - Abies
1.2 Project Location (G1 & G3)
Three plots of the project activity are all located in Yingjing County, Sichuan Province, China. The project site is delineated in Figure 1-1. and Figure 1-2. The coordinates of sub-compartments have been determined with satellite images, as well as GPS. The details are listed in Table 1-1.
1 Report of baseline survey on biodiversity of Yingjing reforestation program written by Xihua Normal University, 2011
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Figure 1-1. Project site in Sichuan Province, China
Figure 1-2. Project Site in Yingjing County, Sichuan Province, China
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Table 1-1. Geographic Coordinates of the Project Area
Township/ Geographic Coordinates of the Central Point Villages Land ID Forestry Farm East Longtitude (° ) North Latitude (° )
Sanhe Shuanglin SH-SL-2011-01 102.436547 29.748842
Doudoudi NBS-DD-2011- 102.347761 29.746784 District 01 Nibashan Farm Doudoudi NBS-DD-2011- 102.429540 29.750482 District 02
Shuanglin Village in Sanhe Township and two areas in Doudoudi District in Nibashan Forest Farm have been identified as project zone, where the villagers have the land use rights. The project zone is delineated with the boundaries of the administrative boundaries of villages and forest farm, which is illustrated in Figure 1-3 and Figure 1-4. The two vegetation maps also show that all 3 project areas are not forest land or cropland, which implies that there is no leakage of the project activity. The exact location of project activities was determined through participatory process, and all activities were located within the project area and project zone.
Figure 1-3. Project Boundary in Sanhe Township and Nibashan Farm
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Figure 1-4. Project Boundary in Nibashan Farm
1.2.1 Physical parameters
The project is located in Yingjing County of Sichuan Province, which is on the west edge of Sichuan Basin, Yingjing River region of the upper reach of Qingyi River. Yingjing County is in the transition zone of Sichuan Basin and Tibetan-Plateau, with topography of high in southwest and low in north east. The elevation ranges from 700 m to 3,666 m. The project area is located at the critical zone between Qionglai and Daxiangling Mountain range where the two ecosystems connects. The environmental condition of the carbon sequestration forestation project is summarized as follows.
1.2.2 Climate
The climate of the project area belongs to mountainous sub-tropical monsoon climate. The climate has the following features: 1) Low temperature. The annual average temperature is about 15˚C, which is relatively low because the area is on the shady zone which is in the north slope of Daxiangling Mountain and west slope of Wawu Mountain; 2) High precipitation. Longcang Township has the highest annual precipitation of 2,603.1mm; 3) High climate vertical variation.
1.2.3 Soil
Located in the north east slope of Daxiangling Mountain, it shows an apparent vertical spectrum of soils in Yingjing County. From the top, they are yellow earth (1,800~2,100m), dark brown earth (2,100~2,600m), podzol (2,600~3,100m), subalpine meadow soil (3,100~3,666m). On steep slope (>35°), the outcrop area of the limestone gradually convert into yellow limestone soil due to
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topsoil loss and/or too small rock angle. The purple rock areas below 1,400m are dominated by the acid purple soil. Above 1,400m soils are changed from purple to yellow. However the boundary for purple sand stone and purple complex rocks is 200~300m lower.
1.2.4 Hydrology
There are 302 rivers running through Yingjing County. The total length is 1,119.6km. Yingjing River is a branch of Dadu River which is joined by Ying River and Jing River. The two reaches run through the north east part of the county and form an angle of 90 degrees. Second level branches include Toudaoshui, Qiaoxi River, Xiaohezi, Xiangling River, etc.
The Ying River Basin has a large area and abundant precipitation, thus the annual runoff can reach 104 m3/s which ranks the second in the branches of Qingyi River system. Annual average runoff over multiples year is 3.267 billion m3, 21.6‰ of the total runoff of Qingyi River System running out of Ya’an District. 1.3 Project Proponent (G4)
The project is developed by Nibashan Forestry Co. Ltd. and Paocaowan Forestry Co. Ltd.(the project entity) in cooperation with Conservation International (CI) China , Yingjing Forestry Bureau and Climate Bridge Ltd.. The primary responsibilities and skill sets are elaborated in Table 1-2 and Table 1-3.
Table 1-2 Information and roles/responsibilities for the project proponents
Organization name Paocaowan Forestry Limited Company
Contact person Zhou Bin
Title General Manager
Address No.24, East 3rd section, Yingxing Road, Ya’an, Sichuan, China
Telephone +86 0835 7621936
Email /
Responsibilities 1. Baseline survey 2. PRA process 3. Forest protection 4. Data monitoring 5. Project management 6. Carbon sales
Organization name Nibashan Forestry Limited Company
Contact person Liu Fugui
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Title General Manager
Address No.153, West section, Jinghe Road, Yandao Town,Ya’an, Sichuan, China
Telephone +86 0835 7826658
Email /
Responsibilities 1. Baseline survey 2. PRA process 3. Forest protection 4. Data monitoring 5. Project management 6. Carbon sales
1.4 Other Entities Involved in the Project (G4)
Table 1-3 Information for the Associates
Organization name Climate Bridge Ltd.
Role in the project Consulting
Contact person Wang Guan
Title Project Manager
Address Suite 19D, Sanhe Centre, 121 Yanping Rd, Shanghai, China
Telephone +86(21) 6246 2036
Email [email protected]
Responsibilities 1. Carbon sales 2. VCS/CCB support services
Organization name Conservation International
Role in the project Consulting
Contact person Beibei Du
Title Project Assistant
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Address 3-1303, Idealism Center, No.38 Tianyi Street, Hi-Tech District, Chengdu Sichuan, China 610041
Telephone +86(28) 6155-7250
Email [email protected]
Responsibilities 1. Project design 2. Training on CCB standard 3. Technical support
The project activity is implemented within the CCB project which is a joint project by Conservation International (CI) China and Yingjing Forestry Bureau. Under the authorization of the project participants, the county carbon sequestration office have been established and was responsible for the administrating and coordinating the project participants, facilitating and supervising the implementation of the project activities, organizing technical training and consultation, and organizing and coordinating the measuring and monitoring of the actual GHG removals by sinks and any leakage generated by the project activities. Any activity data and monitoring and measuring data is reported to and archived in the county carbon sequestration office as well is imported to the new developed GIS based information management system installed in Provincial carbon sequestration office.
Yingjing Forestry Bureau provided instruction of reforestation and forest management, and conducted the specific supervision of the implementation of the project activity, and collect specific activity data at routine basis.
Carbon Sequestration office of Yingjing Forestry Bureau conducted the actual GHG removal by sinks and leakage generated by the project activity measurement.
Conservation International (CI) China conservation and climate change group provided technical consultation and training in the measuring and monitoring of the actual GHG removal by sinks and leakage generated by the project activity, and is responsible for helping the Carbon Sequestration Office of Yingjing Forestry Bureau draft PDD and the monitoring report. Building upon a strong foundation of science, partnership and field demonstration, Conservation International (CI) China empowers societies to responsibly and sustainably care for nature for the well-being of humanity. In 2007, the first gold CCB project, Small-scale Reforestation for Landscape Restoration, was developed by Conservation International (CI) China.
An expert team is established for addressing any technical issues arisen, conducting checking and verification of measured and monitored data. 1.5 Project Start Date (G3)
The project start date is 01/04/2011, when the activities that lead to the generation of GHG emission removals were first implemented.
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1.6 Project Crediting Period (G3)
The project crediting period is from 01/04/2011 to 31/03/2041 with a lifetime of 30 years.
This monitoring report covers the first monitoring period from 01/04/2011 to 16/06/2016.
From 2016 to 2041 periodic verifications to be held in accordance with the minimums required by the CCB and VCS standards.
2 IMPLEMENTATION OF DESIGN
The project was registered with CCB standards on Jun 24, 2013. And on October 2014, the project achieved validation as per VCS standards. The first monitoring period covered by this report (i.e. 1 April 2011 - 16 June 2016). During this monitoring period, 159.2ha of mingle forest has been established by direct planting on degraded lands. And the objectives of the project activity are being achieved step by step. Nibashan Forestry Co. Ltd. and Paocaowan Forestry Co. Ltd. are responsible for the project implementation in guidance from Yingjing Forestry Bureau and Conservation International (CI) China. From April 2011 to April 2013, trees were planted on the project land. The local people is employed by PPs to clean the site, dig the holes, plant trees, water trees and so on. And the following implementation creates some full-time roles, including cleaning, forest ranger and patrol, which bring local people more revenue than before. At the same time, in order to protect the project from illegal logging, PPs help the local communities to develop beekeeping and underwood planting to improve their income. Furthermore, the project activity increase the connectivity of forests which is critical for panda population and improve soil and water conservation in Yingjing River basin. The total net GHG removals achieved in the current monitoring period are 1,564 tCO2e.
2.1 Sectoral Scope and Project Type
The activity implemented by the project is the establishment of forests on land that previously been under grassland for more than 20 years, and therefore corresponds to VCS scope 14 “Agriculture, Forestry and Other Land Use” as an Afforestation, Reforestation and Revegetation (ARR).
2.2 Description of the Project Activity (G3)
The project activity implements at the Yingjing River Basin, which is a branch of the upper reaches of Qingyi River, Sichuan Province, China. The project involves one land in Sanhe Township and two lands in Nibashan Farm. The project area is also one of the key areas of biodiversity conservation. Aiming to contribute to the local sustainable development, 159.2 ha of mingle forest is established by direct planting on degraded lands in Yingjing County, Sichuan Province, China. Table 2-1 lists the villages involved, and Table 2-2 gives an overview of the plantation patterns.
Table 2-1. List of Villages Involved
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Township/ Local name Villages Land ID Area(ha) Land use Forestry Farm
SH-SL-2011- Sanhe Shuanglin Daqiaotou 5.7 Shrub land 01
Doudoudi NBS-DD- Jiubasuo 137.5 Barren land District 2011-01 Nibashan Farm Doudoudi NBS-DD- Cutover land Daqiaotou 16.0 District 2011-02 and burned land
Table 2-2. Plantation Patterns
Plantation pattern Main species Land2 Type Mingle type
Cunninghamialance YJ-01 olata（Lamb.） 2,3 Shelter forest Pure forest Hook.
Cryptomeria YJ-02 Fortunei Hooibrenk 1,2 Shelter forest Pure forest ex Otto et Dietr
YJ-03 Abies 3 Shelter forest Pure forest
As the survival rate of trees in all the plantation patterns is too low during the tending period, project proponents changed the species based on the advice from forestry experts. In the Stratum YJ-01, Cunninghamialanceolata （Lamb.）Hook. replaces Picea asperata Mast and Pinus armandii franch, Betula spp. In the Stratum YJ-03, Abies replaces Pinus armandii franch and Picea asperata Mast. In the Stratum YJ-02, only Cryptomeria Fortunei Hooibrenk ex Otto et Dietr is planted, instead of Betula spp and Cryptomeria Fortunei Hooibrenk ex Otto et Dietr. The updated species adapt to the surrounding environment better, and the survival rate is increased.
The forestation activities contribute to climate change mitigation through sequestration of
atmospheric CO2 during biomass growth.
The local communities benefit from following respects: 1. Farmers are trained on seed and seedling selection, nursery management, site preparation, planting models and integrated pest management. So through the training, local communities can master the last planting technique;
2 Refer to the different site types in the project: 1: the lower part of the midmountain; 2: the middle part of the midmountain; 3: the upper part of the midmountain. The land types are defined by the project design document prepared by by Sichuan Forest Exploration Plan Institution, May 2011
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2. The project improve environment and landscape restoration around local communities; 3. The project creates some part-time and full-time jobs for the local communities, which bring them regular income.
In addition, the project zone is located in the panda’s habitat of Qionglai Mountains. The project result in a restoration of an ecological corridor for panda habitats.
2.3 Management of Risks to Project Benefits (G3)
- Fire and pest risk: This has been alleviated through technical and awareness training to local farmers/communities, strengthening patrolling and monitoring, as well as building the firebreak belt. Furthermore, a mixed species arrangement is adopted to reduce fire and pest risks. And no fire and insect outbreaks happened in the monitoring period.
- Site preparation: The site preparation disturbed the vegetation and soil in the planting sites. The main technical measures to be employed in mitigating the impacts are to plant the trees with low density (2,500 trees per hectare), limited hole site preparation (40*40*30 cm), retaining the existing vegetation as much as possible. As a result, the surface area disturbed by site preparation is estimated to account for 1.2% of the total land surface. The hole was dug along the landform contour in triangle form to reduce the soil loss. Therefore the site and soil preparation have minor negative impacts on original soil and vegetation.
- Fertilization: In the project activity, no artificial fertilizers (not only N fertilizers) are applied. Farmyard manure was applied within the small planting hole rather than overall dispersing, so that the potential risk of the fertilization application is reduced to minimum.
- Pesticide: Improper pesticide application is harmful to natural environment, including polluting soil, water and air conditions, as well as the habitat of the wildlife. However under the activity, the environmental friendly measures are adapted such as mixed species arrangement, seed and seedling quarantine. Especially the biological measures to control pests and diseases are adopted. Therefore, the pesticide application was limited.
Furthermore there is no harvesting within the monitoring period. According to Chinese Forest Law and Regulations, any harvesting shall get harvest license, which avoid any illegal logging or deforestation, as a result to maintain and enhance the climate and biodiversity benefits beyond the project lifetime. And continuous maintenance and periodic tending will continue even after the project crediting period.
2.4 Measures to Maintain High Conservation Values (G3)
1. Globally, regionally or nationally significant concentrations of biodiversity values;
a. Protected areas
b. Threatened species
c. Endemic species
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d. Areas that support significant concentrations of a species during any time in their lifecycle (e.g. migrations, feeding grounds, breeding areas).
The project site is located in panda habitats of Qionglai Mountains. Based on the research of Zhang (2002)3, giant panda distributed in Qionglai Mountains prefer the vegetation of mixed broadleaf-conifer forest and coniferous forest. In the project, lowest threat to biodiversity is assured through least soil disturbed site preparation. Also mingle plantation mode is applied. All seedlings are cultured at local and all species to be planted are native. Also synthetic fertilizer and chemical pesticide are limited. Therefore, it poses no threat.
2. Globally, regionally or nationally significant large landscape-level areas where viable populations of most if not all naturally occurring species exist in natural patterns of distribution and abundance;
N/A
3. Threatened or rare ecosystems;
N/A
4. Areas that provide critical ecosystem services (e.g., hydrological services, erosion control, fire control);
N/A
5. Areas that are fundamental for meeting the basic needs of local communities (e.g., for essential food, fuel, fodder, medicines or building materials without readily available alternatives); and
N/A
6. Areas that are critical for the traditional cultural identity of communities (e.g., areas of cultural, ecological, economic or religious significance identified in collaboration with the communities).
N/A
2.5 Project Financing (G3 & G4)
As stated before, the project encountered financial barrier under common mechanisms such as bank loan. Therefore, under the consideration of potential carbon revenue as well as the community and biodiversity benefits, project participants agreed to rise the funding personally. The cost for the CCB development and carbon trading are covered by philanthropic funding from Conservation International (CI) China Program. Through the income from VCU sales covered current monitoring period, the financial statement of the project activity will be further secured and strengthened.
3 Zejun Zhang, et al. Acta Theriologica Sinica, 2002.
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2.6 Employment Opportunities and Worker Safety (G4)
Currently most of the project employees are local and given the positions where they already possess the necessary training and skills for the job.
As the local people are familiar with the local geography, climate and culture, they are the best employees for the project. However, in order to maintain and improve the forestation, multi-level trainings are provided to local communities and technicians from local department.
Community and employee education and capacity building related to climate change, monitoring, forest management is ongoing and continue in the form of meetings, workshops and open discussions. From April, 2011, there were a series of meetings, workshops and open discussions on CCB held in the project zone. Furthermore, effective technical consultancy is carried out in case of problems occurred during project implementation. Experts in the field of forestry, carbon sequestration, biodiversity, climate change are invited for problem shooting and on site guidance.
When some staff quitted the project, induction training was provided to new staff. Also the workman got the techniques from the old ones and the administrative staff got trained from the management department.
Farmers from the local communities are directly involved in the project implementation activities, including planting, tending, management, etc. Any job vacancies are published on public board of local villages and announced through village broadcast. Any qualified people from the communities have equal opportunities in the employment positions, and female have equal rights to access the employment if they meet the requirements. Some limited positions, like long-term forest patrolling, are given to the applicants on shifted basis.
All workers take the related training courses before the specific works. Also safety manual is distributed to every worker. A safety assurance staff takes charge of safety supervision.
1) The safety assurance staff should participate in full process of the project implementation so that the potential risks can be detected in time and accidents avoided.
2) In the field, working in a vertical line at the same time is not allowed. Instead, all workers shall work on a same land contour.
3) All field works must avoid extreme weather such as in or after heavy rains or storm, extremely high temperature.
4) Workers shall work in team of more than 3 people and each team will be equipped with a set of portable rescue package to heal the minor injuries.
5) Clean water and food shall be provided to every worker.
6) Before silvicultural management, the workers should be trained by the experts especially on the techniques of pruning, thinning and harvesting to avoid any dangers. In the process, a supervisor will be employed to monitor each project site during and after every management. Safety equipment, like helmet and special labor suit, should be offered to every workers.
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2.7 Stakeholders (G3)
Shuanglin Village and Nibashan Forestry Farm in Yingjing County are affected by the project activities. All local villagers of Shuanglin Village and Nibashan Forest Farm are identified as stakeholders of this project. The project has adopted a multi-phase approach to stakeholder engagement which includes communication of important project information and is designed to ensure that stakeholders are able to impact project design, air grievances, and give or withhold free prior and informed consent to participation in project activities. The stakeholder engagement process is designed to continue throughout the project lifetime in order to inform all stages of project development and monitoring. From January 2009 to October 2010, initial consultations, which included introduction of the project staff and the project proponent to communities, raising local awareness about CCB, and proposing this reforestation project to stakeholders, were completed. On May 31st, 2009, the project participants, Paocaowan Forestry Co. Ltd. and Nibashan Forestry Co. Ltd, signed the agreement of the initial meeting. From April to May, 2011, participatory rural appraisal methods were adopted in interviewing and consulting with farmer households in the project areas to understand the local farmers/communities’ preferences, wishes and concerns by the experts from the Association of Sichuan Agricultural Economy in Sanhe. Through this, livelihoods and land uses were identified and baseline socio-economic information was collected. In September, 2011, community workshops regarding CCB were held in project office. The stakeholders were invited to discuss the importance of biodiversity and know the importance of reforestation. Besides, telephone numbers of the key person in charge of the project are open to all stakeholders in order to feedback immediately. And the feedbacks must be written documents within 30 days. A summary of this Monitoring Report in local language has been prepared and copied for distribution in all of the local villages. Public notice boards and community broadcasts were always used to publicize project information. Besides, PPs held a series of meetings on when, where and how to submit the comments to CCBA in local language. Stakeholders were asked to attend the meeting. As the local communities are contracted for plantation as well as tendering and guarding of the project site over the project crediting period, in case of any conflicts and grievances, they can either appeal through village representatives or directly to the local forestry bureau, which is the most effective ways to solve the problems. The staff from Yingjing forestry bureau and forestry station as well as the project entity will in charge of recording and collecting conflicts and grievances of local communities. At the same time, Forest patrollers employed by project entity in each project site will also report to the forest stations or bureau. Once getting the reports, project entity and local forest agency shall contact and discuss with relevant community. On many occasions, these issues, complications or grievances can be dealt within 30 days. So, if there is any conflict or grievance that cannot be solved by negotiation, judicial process should be adopted. During the monitoring period, no conflicts or grievances occurred.
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3 LEGAL STATUS
3.1 Compliance with Laws, Statues, Property Rights and Other Regulatory Frameworks (G4 & G5)
The most recently updated “China Labor Law”4, which promulgated on 29/6/2007, is fully fulfilled to protect the worker’s rights. It is indicated in the plantation contract that all the relevant laws and regulations should be met. At the time of the employment, a task contract is signed with a representative employee (the head of an employee group) following the Chinese Law for Employment Contract, in which relevant laws and regulations are mentioned as the basis of the contract, so that if there is conflict between the employers and workers, the worker has rights to complain and seek for the local county worker association for arbitration to protect their interests. The representative employee has also an oral agreement with each worker in the group. Oral agreement is a business-as-usual for the temporary employment
China has successively issued and revised a series of laws and administrative regulations related to forestry, including the Forest Law , the Regulations for Implementing the Forest Law , the Regulations for Grain for Green , the Regulations for the Protection of Wild Animals , the Regulations for the Protection of Wild Plants , the Regulation for Nature Reserve , the Regulation for Forest Fire Control , and the Regulation for Forest Diseases and Pests Control , Facilitation for Land Tenure Reform of Collective-owned Forestry Land , etc. The recent land tenure reform policy allows collectively owned lands to be contracted to individual farmer household. And Paocaowan Forestry Co. Ltd got the approval from Yingjing Forest Bureau on October 8th, 2010, Nibashan Forestry Co. Ltd got the approval from Yingjing Forest Bureau on October 11th, 2010.
3.2 Evidence of Right of Use (G5)
Based on the contract between the land owners and PPs, the right of access to the sequestered carbon belongs fully to PPs.
3.3 Emissions Trading Programs and Other Binding Limits (CL1)
The project is not involved in an emission trading program or any other mechanism that includes GHG allowance trading.
3.4 Participation under Other GHG Programs (CL1)
The project has not been registered, or is seeking registration under any other GHG programs.
3.5 Other Forms of Environmental Credit (CL1)
The project has not sought or received another form of GHG-related environmental credit.
3.6 Projects Rejected by Other GHG Programs (CL1)
The project has not been rejected by any other GHG programs.
4 http://www.gov.cn/ziliao/flfg/2007-06/29/content_669394.htm
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3.7 Respect for Rights and No Involuntary Relocation (G5)
Under the contractual arrangement in the project activity, local communities, individuals and relevant entities that own the land use right offer the lands for planting on 100 percent voluntary basis. After the end of the crediting period, the plantation to be established will be completely owned by farmers/communities. The contractual arrangement is established on voluntary basis and fixed by contracts. Therefore, the implementation of the project does not encroach uninvited on private and community property. And no involuntary relocations are carried out in the implementation of the project within the project area or the project zone.
3.8 Illegal Activities and Project Benefits (G5)
Before 1990s, the illegal logging were not arrested or punished due to the disordered management of the government. However, it is stricter to do the deforestation nowadays. Any illegal logging activities will be fined or sentenced to punishment. Currently all project lands are defined for forestry purpose by local government. Deforestation must be carried on under the approval of Yingjing Forestry Bureau, and the forests are nursed by project staff regularly as a result of the implementation of the project, so there is not illegal deforestation. The project benefits are gained from legal activities. Therefore, the project’s climate, community and biodiversity impacts are not be affected by the illegal activities.
4 APPLICATION OF METHODOLOGY
4.1 Title and Reference of Methodology
Consolidated afforestation and reforestation baseline and monitoring methodology AR- ACM0003/Version 2.0.0 “Afforestation and reforestation of lands except wetlands” is applied.
http://cdm.unfccc.int/methodologies/DB/C9QS5G3CS8FW04MYYXDFOQDPXWM4OE
The following methodological tools, to which the selected methodology refers to, are used:
- Combined tool to identify the baseline scenario and demonstrate additionality in A/R CDM project activities (Version 01) - Estimation of carbon stocks and change in carbon stocks of trees and shrubs in A/R CDM project activities (Version 04.1)
4.2 Deviations from the Monitoring Plan
The project has not deviated from any part of the methodology or monitoring plan during the monitoring period covered by this monitoring report.
4.3 Project Boundary (G1)
The boundaries are the administrative boundaries of villages and forest farm, which is illustrated in Figure 1-3 and Figure 1-4 before. The vegetation shows that all three project plots were not forestry land or cropland in 2009.
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The carbon pools included or excluded from the project boundary are shown in the table below.
Table 4-1 The Carbon Pools Selected for Accounting of Carbon Stock Changes
Carbon pools Whether selected Justification/Explanation
Above ground Yes Major carbon subject to the project activity
Below ground Yes Major carbon subject to the project activity
Based on IPCC guidelines, it is assumed that carbon stocks in the naturally occurring dead Dead wood No wood pool are equivalent in both the project and baseline scenario. Therefore, this pool is conservatively excluded.
Litter No Insignificant and exclusion is conservative
Soil organic carbon No Insignificant and exclusion is conservative
There are no slash and burn site preparation, overall ploughing and flood irrigation as well as no machinery tools to be used within the project boundary. Therefore, sources of burning of woody biomass in AR-ACM0003 (Version 2.0.0) are not selected as emission sources for accounting.
According to the applied methodology AR-ACM0003 (Version 2.0.0), GHG emissions resulting from removal of herbaceous vegetation, combustion of fossil fuel, fertilizer application, use of wood, decomposition of litter and fine roots of N-fixing trees, construction of access roads within the project boundary, and transportation attributable to the project activity shall be considered insignificant and therefore accounted as zero.
Table 4-2 Emission sources and GHGs selected for accounting
Source Gas Included? Justification/Explanation
CO2 No CO2 emissions due to burning of biomass are accounted as a change in carbon stock
CH4 No There are no slash and burn site preparation,
overall ploughing and flood irrigation as well as Burning of no machinery tools to be used within the woody project boundary biomass
Baseline N2O No There are no slash and burn site preparation, overall ploughing and flood irrigation as well as no machinery tools to be used within the project boundary.
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4.4 Baseline Scenario (G2)
According to the identification in the validation period, the baseline scenario is: continuation of pre-project use (i.e. lands remain barren). See registered VCS PD (Version 03, dated 27-08-2014) for details.
4.5 Additionality (G2)
Additionality has been fully demonstrated in the registered VCS PD (Version 03, dated 27-08- 2014) with “Combined tool to identify the baseline scenario and demonstrate additionality in A/R CDM project activities” (Version 01).
The project is additional.
5 MONITORING DATA AND PARAMETERS
5.1 Description of the Monitoring Plan (CL3, CM3 & B3)
The county carbon sequestration office have been established and is responsible for the administrating and coordinating the project participants, facilitating and supervising the implementation of the project activitie, organizing technical training and consultation, and organizing and coordinating the measuring and monitoring of the actual GHG removals by sinks and any leakage generated by the project activitie. Any activity data and monitoring and measuring data are reported to and archived in the county carbon sequestration office as well imported to the new developed GIS based information management system installed in provincial carbon sequestration office.
Yingjing Forestry Bureau provides instruction of reforestation and forest management, and conduct the specific supervision of the implementation of the project activity, and collects specific activity data at routine basis.
The forests to be established are non-commercial forests, thus relevant technical regulation should be strictly followed in the implementing and monitoring of the forest establishment and management: 1. Non-commercial Forest Construction-Technical regulation: GB/T 18337.3-2001; 2. Non-commercial forest construction-Verification regulation: GB/T 18337.4-2001 Relevant standard operating procedures (SOPs) for plot design and implementation of forest establishment and forest management, quality control/quality assurance (QA/QC) procedures for checking and inventory operations, including field data collection and data management, are specified in these technical regulation. And an expert team has been established for addressing any technical issues arisen, conducting checking and verification of measured and monitored data.
In county carbon sequestration office is there a public side, which can be accessible by anyone. On the public side, the monitoring data is published and updated regularly.
5.1.1 Climate impact monitoring:
Describe the carbon pools and non-CO2 GHGs selected for monitoring
As there are no slash and burn site preparation, overall plough and flood irrigation as well as no machinery tools to be used within the project boundary, hence no significant GHG emissions by sources as results of the project activity.
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Table 5-1 Selection of carbon pools Carbon pool Selected Justification Above ground Yes Major carbon subject to the project activity Below ground Yes Major carbon subject to the project activity Dead wood No Conservatively omitted by the applied methodology Litter No Conservatively omitted by the applied methodology Soil organic carbon No Conservatively omitted by the applied methodology
Ex post stratification
The ex-ante project stratification presented in baseline survey is used as a basis for monitoring. However, since there is usually diversion of planned forest establishment and management practice as well as unexpected disturbance, this ex ante stratification shall be sub-divided or grouped based on the following factors:
- Unexpected disturbances occurring during the crediting period (e.g. due to fire, pests or disease outbreaks), affecting differently different parts of an originally homogeneous stratum or stand;
- Forest establishment and management (clearing, planting, thinning, harvesting, coppicing, re- replanting) may be implemented at different intensities, dates and spatial locations than originally planned in the PDD;
- Two different strata may be similar enough to allow their merging into one stratum.
Over the current monitoring period, none of the above factors has occurred, hence the ex-ante stratification shall not be subdivided or grouped.
Sampling size and plot allocation
Permanent sampling has been established. The sampling size is based on the ex post stratification and the formulae provided in the UNFCCC tool “Calculation of the number of sample plots for measurements within A/R CDM project activities”, which is used to calculate the number of plots for each stratum ( see Table 5-2 ). The coordinates of sample plots are be determined by the “random tool” of the software ArcGIS. The size of the plot is set, as 400m2 (20×20m). The standard deviation of each stratum (si) is conservatively set as 40% of the carbon stock in living biomass at the end of the crediting period. The Acceptable margin of error was set as the default value equal to 10% of the mean biomass stock within the project boundary. To ensure statistical independence for each stratum, a minimum of 3 plots is set for each stratum, and the average area represented by a single sampling plot shall not be more than 50 hectare.
Table 5-2 The Number of sampling plots Stratum ID Tree species Area (ha) Number of sampling plots Cunninghamialance YJ-01 olata（Lamb.） 16 3 Hook.
Cryptomeria YJ-02 Fortunei Hooibrenk 5.7 3 ex Otto et Dietr
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YJ-03 Abies 137.5 34
Monitoring frequency
The monitoring of the project implementation takes place every year after the project registration in order to ensure the continuity of the benefits.
Measuring carbon stock changes over time
The growth of individual trees on plots is measured at each monitoring event. Pre-existing trees are not be measured and accounted for as a conservative manner. Non-tree vegetation such as herbaceous plants, grasses, and shrubs arel not be measured and accounted as per methodology applied. The carbon stock changes in living biomass of trees on each plot are then estimated through Biomass Expansion Factors (BEF) method.
Step-wise procedures (BEF method) of the approved baseline and monitoring methodology AR- ACM0003/Version02.0 are followed to monitor the verifiable carbon stock changes in the above- ground.
The volume of the commercial component of trees is calculated based on locally derived equations as follows:
Tree Species The Volume of the Commercial Component of Trees
Cryptomeria fortune Hooibrenk ex Otto et V=0.000057173591×D^1.8813305×H^0.99568845 Dietr
Cunninghamialanceolata（Lamb.）Hook. V=0.000058777042×D^1.9699831×H^0.89646157
Abies V=0.000063219426×D^ 1.9006108×H^ 0.96265927
V: Commercial volume of tree, m3·tree-1
D: Diameter at breast height, cm
H: Tree height, m
The commercial volume is the summed for all trees within a plot and expresses as volume per unit area (m3·ha-1).
5.1.2 Community Impact Monitoring
For this project, the methodology is applied with the indicators, such as per capita income (yuan), area of lands owned within the project (ha), participation of project activities (person-day), income from project (yuan), participating in training (person-time) and others. Survey questionnaires about these indicators will be distributed to relevant personnel of the local communities and recollected. Major investigated issues as follows:
1. Do you know the project activity?
2. How large area of lands do you own within the project?
3. How much is your annual income?
4. Compared with “without the project” scenario, is your income improved?
5. If you participate in the project’s establishment, how long? How much did you earn?
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6. If you participate in the project’s operation, how long? How much did you earn?
7. If you participate in training, about what (planting trees, beekeeping or underwood planting)? How long?
Community impact monitoring is undertaken during each verification period.
5.1.3 Biodiversity impact monitoring
It is planned that biodiversity monitoring is carried out based on a five-year cycle to cover plants, amphibians, small and large mammals, birds and insects.
Various biodiversity indicators for different biotic communities is used for analysis as follow.
Table 5-3 Monitoring plan on plants Data Data unit Surveyed (s) Recording Number of Comment variable calculated (c) frequency sample plots estimated (e) at which the or default (d) data will be monitored 1 sample sample plot Arbor: 5 years plot in each size: project land 20m×20m 100% of each species dimensionless s sample plots number of 100% of each number s each species sample plots 100% of each total canopy % s sample plots canopy of 100% of each % s each species sample plots high of each 100% of each m s tree sample plots DBH of each 100% of each cm s tree sample plots
3 sample sample plot Frutex: 5 years plots in each size: 5m×5m arbor plot species dimensionless s number of number s each species total canopy % s canopy of % s each species
1 sample sample plot Herbage 5 years plot in each size: 1m×1m frutex plot species dimensionless s total canopy % s
Table 5-4 Monitoring plan of amphibians, small and large mammals, and birds Data Data unit Surveyed (s) Recording Number of Comment
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variable calculated (c) frequency sample plots estimated (e) at which the or default (d) data will be monitored Amphibians: At the same 1 sample ( Drift location with 5 years plot in each Fences and the plants project land Pitfall Traps) monitoring species dimensionless s number of number s each species
Small 1 sample mammals: 5 years plot in each 1/4 hectare (rodent hole project land stat.) hole munber number s number of small number c mammals
1 fixed observe with observation Bird 5 years telescope at plot in each fixed plot project land species dimensionless s number of number s
each species
1 fixed search trace Large monitoring and mammals: 5 years sample line individual of (rodent hole in each large stat.) project land mammals trace type dimensionless s trace number number s mammal dimensionless e specie location coordinate s
And we set the potential planting monitoring sites and also include the Amphibians, small mammals monitoring sites, please see as below:
Table 5-6 Coordinates of monitoring sites Samples NO. Village Samll Name Coordinates East Longtitude North Latitude (° ) (° ) YJBM-01 Nibanshangongqu Dahegou 120.3282 2.2313 YJBM-02 Nibanshangongqu Nibashan 120.2559 2.2166 YJBM-03 Doudoudigongqu Jiubasuo 120.0030 2.3415 YJBM-04 Doudoudigongqu Daqiaogou 120.0704 2.3434 YJBM-05 Shuangling Dapingtou 120.1004 2.3567 YJBM-06 Shuangling Baiyan 120.1085 2.3719
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YJBM-07 Shuangling Daqiaotou 120.0760 2.3420 YJBM-08 Doudoudigongqu Jiubasuo 120.0052 2.3407
Consider the large mammals and birds, we set 80 monitoring sites and lines for two “diagonal” monitoring and infrared camera trap, the monitoring sites please see as below:
Table 5-7 Coordinates of monitoring sites Sample No. Coordinates East Longtitude North Latitude (° ) (° ) 1 120.3409 2.1122 2 120.3491 2.1121
3 120.3572 2.1120
4 120.3654 2.1118
5 120.3410 2.1205
6 120.3492 2.1203
7 120.3574 2.1202
8 120.3656 2.1201
9 120.3575 2.1284
10 120.3657 2.1283
11 120.2843 2.1544
12 120.2925 2.1543
13 120.3006 2.1541
14 120.2844 2.1626
15 120.2926 2.1625
16 120.3008 2.1623
17 120.3090 2.1622
18 120.2927 2.1707
19 120.3009 2.1706
20 120.3091 2.1704
21 120.2689 2.2123
22 120.2771 2.2122
23 120.2852 2.2121
24 120.2934 2.2119
25 120.3016 2.2118
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26 120.2690 2.2206
27 120.2772 2.2204
28 120.2854 2.2203
29 120.2936 2.2201
30 120.3018 2.2200
31 120.2534 2.2621
32 120.2453 2.2705
33 120.2535 2.2703
34 120.2617 2.2702
35 120.2536 2.2785
36 120.2618 2.2784
37 120.2538 2.2868
38 120.2620 2.2866
39 120.2048 2.2959
40 120.2130 2.2958
41 120.2539 2.2950
42 120.2621 2.2949
43 120.2049 2.3042
44 120.2131 2.3040
45 120.2213 2.3039
46 120.2295 2.3037
47 120.2051 2.3124
48 120.2133 2.3123
49 120.2215 2.3121
50 120.2297 2.3120
51 120.1807 2.3211
52 120.1316 2.3302
53 120.1398 2.3301
54 120.1480 2.3299
55 120.1562 2.3298
56 120.1644 2.3296
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57 120.1726 2.3295
58 120.1808 2.3293
59 120.1890 2.3292
60 120.1972 2.3290
61 120.2054 2.3289
62 120.2136 2.3287
63 120.1400 2.3383
64 120.1482 2.3382
65 120.1564 2.3380
66 120.1646 2.3379
67 120.1891 2.3374
68 120.1973 2.3373
69 120.2055 2.3371
70 120.2137 2.3370
71 120.1577 2.4123
72 120.1659 2.4121
73 120.1741 2.4119
74 120.1823 2.4118
75 120.1905 2.4116
76 120.1579 2.4205
77 120.1661 2.4203
78 120.1743 2.4202
79 120.1825 2.4200
80 120.1907 2.4199
Monitoring activities take place to correspond with each project verification period. 5.2 Data and Parameters Available at Validation (CL3)
Data / Parameter Ai Data unit: ha Description: Area of stratum i Source of data: Monitoring of strata and stand boundaries is done using a Geographical Information System (GIS) which allows for integrating data from different sources (including GPS coordinates and Remote Sensing data) Value applied: YJ-01: 16.0
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YJ-02: 5.7 YJ-03:137.5 Justification of choice of N/A data or description of measurement methods and procedures applied: Purpose of Data Calculation of baseline emissions and project emissions Comments N/A
Data / Parameter BEFj Data unit Dimensionless Description Biomass expansion factor for conversion of stem biomass to above-ground biomass for tree species or group of species j Source of data IPCC default values (i.e. Table 3A.1.10 of IPCC GPG-LULUCF 2003) Value applied: 1.634 /1.544 /1.316, depending on the species Justification of choice of N/A data or description of measurement methods and procedures applied Purpose of Data Calculation of baseline emissions and project emissions Comments N/A
Data / Parameter CFj Data unit t C t-1 d.m. Description Carbon fraction of tree biomass for species or group of species j Source of data The IPCC default value of 0.5 t C t-1 d.m. Value applied: 0.5 Justification of choice of N/A data or description of measurement methods and procedures applied Purpose of Data Calculation of baseline emissions and project emissions Comments N/A
Data / Parameter Dj
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Data unit t d.m.m-3 Description Basic wood density for species or group of species j Source of data LULUCF GHG Inventory (2013) Value applied: 0.307/0.294/0.366, depending on the species Justification of choice of N/A data or description of measurement methods and procedures applied Purpose of Data Calculation of baseline emissions and project emissions Comments N/A
Data / Parameter Rj Data unit Dimensionless Description Root-shoot ratio for species or group of species j Source of data LULUCF GHG Inventory (2013) Value applied: 0.246/0.270/0.174, depending on the species Justification of choice of N/A data or description of measurement methods and procedures applied Purpose of Data Calculation of baseline emissions and project emissions Comments N/A
5.3 Data and Parameters Monitored (CL3, CM3 & B3)
Data / Parameter D Data unit cm Description Diameter at breast height of tree Source of data Field measurements in sample plots Description of Usually the diameter at breast height of the tree, but it could be measurement methods any other diameter or dimensional measurement (e.g. basal and procedures to be diameter, root-collar diameter, basal area, etc.) applicable for the applied model or data source used. Standard operating procedures (SOPs) prescribed under national forest inventory are applied. Frequency of Before every verification event monitoring/recording
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Value applied: See Calculation of net GHG removals Monitoring equipment N/A QA/QC procedures to be Quality control/quality assurance (QA/QC) procedures prescribed applied under National Forest Inventory are applied. In absence of these, QA/QC procedures from published handbooks are applied. Purpose of data Calculation of project removals
Calculation method N/A Comments N/A
Data / Parameter H Data unit m Description Height of trees Source of data Field measurements in sample plots Description of Standard operating procedures (SOPs) prescribed under national measurement methods forest inventory are applied. and procedures to be applied Frequency of Before every verification event monitoring/recording Value applied: See Calculation of net GHG removals Monitoring equipment N/A QA/QC procedures to be Quality control/quality assurance (QA/QC) procedures prescribed applied under National Forest Inventory are applied. Purpose of data Calculation of project removals
Calculation method N/A Comments N/A
Data / Parameter T Data unit Year Description Time period elapsed between two successive estimations of
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carbon stock Source of data Record time Description of N/A measurement methods and procedures to be applied Frequency of N/A monitoring/recording Value applied: 5 Monitoring equipment N/A QA/QC procedures to be N/A applied Purpose of data Calculation of project removals
Calculation method N/A Comments N/A
Data / Parameter A Data unit Ha Description Area of sample plot Source of data Field measurements Description of Standard operating procedures (SOPs) prescribed under national measurement methods forest inventory are applied. and procedures to be applied Frequency of Every five years since the year of the initial verification monitoring/recording Value applied: 0.04 Monitoring equipment N/A QA/QC procedures to be Quality control/quality assurance (QA/QC) procedures prescribed applied under National Forest Inventory are applied. Purpose of data Calculation of project removals
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Calculation method N/A Comments N/A
6 QUANTIFICATION OF GHG EMISSION REDUCTIONS AND REMOVALS (CLIMATE)
6.1 Baseline Emissions (G2)
Baseline net GHG removals by sinks
As described above, the baseline scenario is the continuation of existing land use i.e. lands remain barren. Based on the applied methodology AR-ACM0003 (Version 2.0.0), the baseline net GHG removals by sinks is estimated as follows:
CCCCCBSL,_,_,_,_, t TREE BSL t SHRUB BSL t DW BSL t LI BSL t
Where:
= Baseline net GHG removals by sinks in year t; t CO2-e CBSL, t
C = Change in carbon stock in baseline tree biomass within the TREE_, BSL t project boundary in year t, as estimated in the tool “Estimation of carbon stocks and change in carbon stocks of trees and shrubs in A/R CDM project activities”; t CO2-e C = Change in carbon stock in baseline shrub biomass within the SHRUB_, BSL t project boundary, in year t, as estimated in the tool “Estimation of carbon stocks and change in carbon stocks of trees and shrubs in A/R CDM project activities”; t CO2-e C = Change in carbon stock in baseline dead wood biomass within DW_, BSL t the project boundary, in year t, as estimated in the tool “Estimation of carbon stocks and change in carbon stocks in dead wood and litter in A/R CDM project activities”; t CO2-e = CLI_, BSL t Change in carbon stock in baseline litter biomass within the project boundary, in year t, as estimated in the tool “Estimation of carbon stocks and change in carbon stocks in dead wood and litter in A/R CDM project activities”; t CO2-e
With baseline scenario, dead wood biomass and litter biomass would not be changed by local farmers. Thus, the change in carbon stock in baseline dead wood biomass and litter biomass within the project boundary can be negligible.
We conservatively assume that all pre-project tree and non-tree vegetation are die out. The total
carbon loss is 648.3 tonne C, which is equivalent to 2,377.1tCO2-e and only take place in the beginning of the project.
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CBSL, t =Carbon Storage small shrub + Carbon Storage large shrub
=(628.5+19.8)ton C ×44/12
= 2,377tCO2-e
Table 6-1. Carbon Loss of Pre-project Tree and Non-tree Vegetation5
Strata Area (Mu) Area (Ha) Number of Area of Carbon Carbon storage sample sites sample site storage (ton C) per area (t C/ha) (m2) Small 2,303 153.5 7 4 628.5 4.09 shrub Large 85 5.7 17 25 19.8 3.5 shrub
Therefore, the baseline net GHG removal by sinks is 2,377tCO2-e.
6.2 Project Emissions
According to the applied methodology AR-ACM0003 (Version 2.0.0), GHG emissions resulting from removal of herbaceous vegetation, combustion of fossil fuel, fertilizer application, use of wood, decomposition of litter and fine roots of N-fixing trees, construction of access roads within the project boundary, and transportation attributable to the project activity shall be considered insignificant and therefore accounted as zero.
The actual net GHG removals by sinks shall be calculated as the sum of the changes in carbon
stocks in the project minus the increase in non-CO2 GHG emissions within the project boundary, which is shown as follows:
CACTUAL,,, t C p t GHG E t
Where:
= Actual net GHG removals by sinks, in year t; t CO2-e CACTUAL, t
= Change in the carbon stocks in project, occurring in the selected Cpt, carbon pools, in year t; t CO2-e
5 Report of Baseline Survey on Carbon Stocks of Yingjing reforestation program written by Sichuan Forest Exploration Plan Institution, 2011
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= Increase in non-CO2 GHG emissions within the project boundary GHGEt, as a result of the implementation of the A/R CDM project activity,
in year t, as estimated in the tool “Estimation of non-CO2 GHG emissions resulting from burning of biomass attributable to an
A/R CDM project activity”; t CO2-e
According to the tool, the use of fire for site preparation and/or to clear the land of harvest residue
prior to replanting is specifically excluded from the project management and therefore non-CO2 GHG emissions are estimated as zero.
Change in the carbon stocks in project, occurring in the selected carbon pools in year t shall be calculated as follows:
Cp,_,_,_,_,, t C TREE PROJ t C SHRUB PROJ t C DW PROJ t C LI PROJ t SOC AL t
Where:
= Change in the carbon stocks in project, occurring in the Cpt, selected carbon pools, in year t; t CO2-e
= Change in carbon stock in tree biomass in project in year t, as CTREE_, PROJ t estimated in the tool “Estimation of carbon stocks and change in carbon stocks of trees and shrubs in A/R CDM project
activities”; t CO2-e
= Change in carbon stock in shrub biomass in project in year t, CSHRUB_, PROJ t as estimated in the tool “Estimation of carbon stocks and change in carbon stocks of trees and shrubs in A/R CDM
project activities”; t CO2-e
= Change in carbon stock in dead wood in project in year t, as CDW_, PROJ t estimated in the tool “Estimation of carbon stocks and change in carbon stocks in dead wood and litter in A/R CDM project
activities”; t CO2-e
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= Change in carbon stock in litter in project in year t, as CLI_, PROJ t estimated in the tool “Estimation of carbon stocks and change in carbon stocks in dead wood and litter in A/R CDM project
activities”; t CO2-e
= Change in carbon stock in SOC in project, in year t, in areas of SOCAL, t land meeting the applicability conditions of the tool “Tool for estimation of change in soil organic carbon stocks due to the implementation of A/R CDM project activities”, as estimated in
the same tool; t CO2-e
6.2.1 Estimating change in carbon stock in trees between two points of time
The only change within each project stratum are planted trees. In other words, change in carbon stock above the ground is the only change to be considered in the project.
According to the tool “Estimation of carbon stocks and change in carbon stocks of trees and shrubs in A/R CDM project activity” (Version 04.0), change in carbon stock in trees between two points of time is estimated by using one of the following methods or a combination thereof:
a) Difference of two independent stock estimations;
b) Direct estimation of change by re-measurement of sample plots;
c) Estimation by proportionate crown cover;
d) Demonstration of “no-decrease”.
Under the option a), the change in carbon stock in trees and the associated uncertainty are estimated as follows:
CCC TREE TREE,, t21 TREE t
()()u C22 u C 1TREE , t12 2 TREE , t uC CTREE
Where:
= Change in the carbon stocks in trees during the period CTREE between two points of time t1 and t2; t CO2e
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C = Carbon stock in trees as estimated at time t1; t CO2e TREE, t1
C = Carbon stock in trees as estimated at time t2; t CO2e TREE, t2
= uC Uncertainty in CTREE
u , u = Uncertainties in C and C respectively 1 2 TREE, t1 TREE, t2
Because it is the first verification over this monitoring period, Ctree,t1 =0.
Hence C = C TREE TREE, t2
6.2.2 Estimating carbon stock in trees at a point of time
As per “Estimation of carbon stocks and change in carbon stocks of trees and shrubs in A/R CDM project activity”, carbon stock of the project in trees at a point of time is estimated by using “Estimation by measurement of sample plots” method. Mean carbon stock in trees within the tree biomass estimation strata and the associated uncertainty are estimated as follows:
44 C CF B TREE12 TREE TREE
BTREE A b TREE
M
bTREE w i b TREE, i i1
M 2 2 si twVAL i i1 ni uc bTREE
Where:
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CTREE = Carbon stock in trees in the tree biomass estimation strata;
t CO2e
-1 CFTREE = Carbon fraction of tree biomass; t C (t d.m.) .
BTREE = Tree biomass in the tree biomass estimation strata; t d.m.
A = Sum of areas of the tree biomass estimation strata; ha
bTREE = Mean tree biomass per hectare in the tree biomass estimation strata; t d.m. ha-1
wi = Ratio of the area of stratum i to the sum of areas of tree
biomass estimation strata (i.e.Ai / A); dimensionless
-1 bTREE,i = Mean tree biomass per hectare in stratum i; t d.m. ha
uc = Uncertainty in CTREE
tVAL = Two-sided Student’s t-value for a confidence level of 90 per cent and degrees of freedom equal to n – M, where n is total number of sample plots within the tree biomass estimation strata and M is the total number of tree biomass estimation strata
2 si = Variance of tree biomass per hectare across all sample plots in stratum i; (t d.m. ha-1)2
ni = Number of sample plots in stratum i.
Mean tree biomass per hectare in a stratum and the associated variance are estimated as follows:
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ni bTREE,, p i p1 bTREE, i ni
nnii 22 ni b TREE,,,, p i() b TREE p i 2 pp11 si nnii( 1)
Where:
-1 bTREE,i = Mean tree biomass per hectare in stratum i; t d.m. ha
bTREE, p,i = Tree biomass per hectare in plot p of stratum i; t d.m. h
2 si = Variance of mean tree biomass per hectare in stratum i; (t d.m. ha-1)2
ni = Number of sample plots in stratum i.
The tool “Estimation of carbon stocks and change in carbon stocks of trees and shrubs in A/R CDM project activity” (Version 04.0) is used to estimate the change in carbon stock above the ground. A summary of the main factors used for estimations and each source of data are presented below.
BTREE, t = VTREE,t * Dj * BEFj * (1+Rj)
Where:
BTREE, t = biomass of trees within the project boundary at time t
3 VTREE, t = merchantable volume of trees, at time t; m
3 Dj = average wood density of species j; tonne dry materials/m
BEFj = biomass expansion factor for species j
Rj = root-shoot ratio of species j
The volume of the commercial component of trees is calculated based on locally derived equations as follows:
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Tree Species The Volume of the Commercial Component of Trees
Cryptomeria fortune Hooibrenk ex Otto et V=0.000057173591×D^1.8813305×H^0.99568845 Dietr
Cunninghamialanceolata（Lamb.）Hook. V=0.000058777042×D^1.9699831×H^0.89646157
Abies V=0.000063219426×D^ 1.9006108×H^ 0.96265927
V: Commercial volume of tree, m3·tree-1
D: Diameter at breast height, cm
H: Tree height, m
The difference within each project stratum is tree species. Since tree species are planted in a way of block mixture, stand within each block can be treated as pure plantation. So we define the stand model within each project stratum based on tree species.
Wood density (D), biomass expansion factor (BEF) and root-shoot ration for the species involved in the project are listed in the below.
Table 6-2 Wood density, BEF and Root-shoot ratio for species used in the project activity
Tree species Wood density BEF Root-shoot ratio (tonnes d.m.m-3)
Cryptomeria fortunei Hooibrenk ex Otto et 0.294 1.544 0.270 Dietr.
Cunninghamialanceolata 1.634 0.246 0.307 （Lamb.）Hook.
1.316 0.174 Abies 0.366
Note: Data in parentheses represent number of samples and standard error respectively. Taking all the above information and monitoring data into the formula, we reach the table below.
Table 6-3 Tree biomass per hectare in sample plots
btree,p,i Sample ID btree,p,i Sample ID btree,p,i Sample ID btree,p,i Sample ID YJ-01-01 117.33 YJ-03-05 0.20 YJ-03-15 1.39 YJ-03-25 2.36
YJ-01-02 113.20 YJ-03-06 2.53 YJ-03-16 3.19 YJ-03-26 2.46
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YJ-01-03 114.65 YJ-03-07 2.08 YJ-03-17 2.26 YJ-03-27 2.26
YJ-02-01 1.23 YJ-03-08 2.44 YJ-03-18 2.10 YJ-03-28 2.53
YJ-02-02 0.96 YJ-03-09 2.38 YJ-03-19 2.43 YJ-03-29 2.65
YJ-02-03 1.22 YJ-03-10 3.88 YJ-03-20 2.51 YJ-03-30 1.29
YJ-03-01 0.76 YJ-03-11 1.73 YJ-03-21 2.78 YJ-03-31 2.02
YJ-03-02 0.41 YJ-03-12 1.58 YJ-03-22 1.18 YJ-03-32 2.74
YJ-03-03 2.27 YJ-03-13 2.05 YJ-03-23 2.71 YJ-03-33 1.86
YJ-03-04 4.78 YJ-03-14 3.27 YJ-03-24 1.97 YJ-03-34 1.72
Because of the climate of the upper part of the midmountain, the majority of trees in the Stratum YJ-03 grow slowly and can’t be the above a minimum dimension. According to the “A/R Methodological tool”, all trees in a sample plot above a minimum dimension are measured and the biomass of each tree is estimated. If the tree in the sample plot is not above a minimum
dimension, VTREE, t of the tree is equal to 0. So that the btree,p,j of the sample YJ-03-06 is 0.
Table 6-4 Tree biomass per hectare in stratum
-1 Stratum ID Tree species Area (ha) bTREE,I (t d.m. ha ) Wi Si Cunninghamiala YJ-01 nceolata 16 115.0605 10.05% 4.3821 （Lamb.） Hook. Cryptomeria YJ-02 fortunei 5.7 1.1346 3.58% 0.0231 Hooibrenk ex Otto et Dietr. YJ-03 Abies 137.5 2.1987 86.37% 0.7929
Table 6-5 Statistical parameters from monitoring
Item Unit Value BTREE (Tree biomass of t d.m. 2,150 the project)
CTREE (Carbon stock in t CO2e 3,941 trees of the project)
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uc
(Uncertainty in % 3.49 CTREE)
Cpt, (Change in the t CO2e 3,941 carbon stocks in project)
For more details, see “Calculation of net GHG removals ”.
6.3 Leakage
According to the applied methodology AR-ACM0003 (Version 2.0.0), leakage emission is estimated as follows:
LKt LK AGRIC, t
Where:
= GHG emissions due to leakage, in year t; tCO2-e LKt
LK = Leakage due to the displacement of agricultural activities in AGRIC, t year t, as estimated in the tool “Estimation of the increase in GHG emissions attributable to displacement of pre-project agricultural activities in A/R CDM project activity”; tCO2-e
Figure 1-3 and Figure 1-4 in section 1.2 illustrate that all three project areas are not forest land or cropland before the project activity. Thus there is no leakage of the project activity.
Therefore, leakage is zero for the project.
6.4 Summary of GHG Emission Reductions and Removals (CL1 & CL2)
The net anthropogenic GHG removals by the project shall be calculated as follows:
CAR,,, t C ACTUAL t C BSL t LK t
Where:
= Net anthropogenic GHG removals by sinks, in year t; t CO2-e CAR, t
= Actual net GHG removals by sinks, in year t; t CO2-e CACTUAL, t
= Baseline net GHG removals by sinks, in year t; t CO2-e CBSL, t
= GHG emissions due to leakage, in year t; t CO2-e
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From the previous calculation, the net anthropogenic GHG removals by the project are summarized below.
CAR, t = 3,941– 2,377 – 0 = 1,564 t CO2-e
The buffer allocation was calculated using the VCS AFOLU Non-Permanence Risk Tool. The total net VCUs generated during the Monitoring period covered by this report from 01/04/2011 to
16/06/2016 are calculated to be: 1,564 t CO2-e.
The Risk Buffer allocation is: 360 t CO2-e.
Table 6-6 The Net VCUs generated by the Project
Year Net VCU Buffer allocation (tCO2e)
Allocation(tCO2e) 01/04/2011~16/06/2016 1204 360
6.5 Climate Change Adaptation Benefits (GL1)
The project activity does not include this optional criterion in the project description.
7 COMMUNITY
7.1 Net Positive Community Impacts (CM1)
Agriculture (animal husbandry and fruits cultivation) is the main income of the local communities in the project zone. However, production is subjected to the natural disasters, like droughts, heavy rain and floods. Food productivity is unsteady and the mean per capita annual income is very low, lower than the average level of the relevant project county.
In order to survey the key indicators of community impact monitoring, questionnaires have been distributed according to the principle of both representativeness and randomness in Nov. 2015. Through the results of questionnaires, the opinions of local communities about the project activity can be reflected in a fair. 50 questionnaires were sent out and 49 questionnaires have been returned; the recovery rate is 98%. The investigation has taken full account of the public advice of education levels, and occupations. The structure of the survey respondents is listed in Table 7-1 below.
Table 7- 1 Structure of stakeholders surveyed
Distribution Amount Percentage Item
Amount of Male 34 69% stakeholders surveyed Female 15 31%
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<25 8 16%
Age 25-55 23 47%
>55 18 37%
Worker 17 35%
Peasant 23 50% Occupation Management personnel 6 12%
Unspecified 3 6%
Comments from these questionnaires are summarized in Table 7-2 below: Table 7-2 Summary of stakeholders’ comments
No. Questions Attitude or Opinion Amount Percentage
Do you know the project? Know about 49 60%
1 Heard of 0 40%
Nothing 0 0
Do you have lands within the Yes 3 6% 2 project? No 46 94
How much is your annual <10000 RMB 0 0 income? 3 10000-30000 RMB 27 55%
>30000 RMB 22 45%
Yes 49 100% Compared with “without the 4 project” scenario, is your income No 0 0 improved? About the same 0 0
how long did 5 If you <1 Year 19 50% you participate
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participate in in the project? ≥1 Year 21 50% the project’s establishment, <10000 RMB 5 13% How much did you earn? ≥10000 RMB 35 88%
If you how long do <1 Year 31 76% participate in you participate the project’s in the project? ≥1 Year 10 24% 6 operation, How much do <10000 RMB 2 5% you earn every year? ≥10000 RMB 39 95%
Which training did you participate planting trees 49 100% in? 7 beekeeping 20 41%
underwood planting 30 61%
<4 0 0%
How many times have you 8 participated in the trainings? 4-10 34 69%
>10 12 24%
Yes 49 100% 9 Do you support this project? No 0 0
Based on the survey results, all the local communities support to the project activity and the local community benefit from the project activity.
Employment and income generation: From April 2011 to April 2013, trees were planted on the project land. The local people is employed by PPs to clean the site, dig the holes, plant trees, water trees and so on. There are about 82% of interviewees employed in the planting phase. All the tree species are native and bought from local community. And the following implementation creates about some full-time roles, including cleaning, forest ranger and patrol, which bring local people more revenue than before, what is showed by the survey results. The income of forest ranger is about 24960 RMB/year, which is 2 times more than the minimum wage in Yingjing county.
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Technical training and demonstration: Interview with local communities indicated that local farmers/communities are usually short of access to quality seed sources and lack skills for producing high quality seedlings and for successful tree planting, as well as for preventing planted trees from being subject to fire, pest and disease attack. This is one of the important barriers of local communities in planting trees on their lands. In the project activity, farmers are trained on seed and seedling selection, nursery management, site preparation, planting models and integrated pest management. And results of the questionnaires show that 100% interviewees are trained on planting trees, furthermore some interviewees have learned other skills. So through the training, local communities can master the last planting technique. Without this project, local people should have trouble developing alternative livelihood, resulting in a worse economy.
Improved beauty of the landscape: This is a welcome attribute in an degraded landscape.
Besides , in order to protect the project from illegal logging, PPs help the local communities to develop beekeeping and underwood planting to improve their income. And they founded beekeeping association, to teach the local farmers the latest beekeeping techniques and help them to sell honey. Up to now, there are 339 members in the beekeeping association. And the association create their own honey’s brand, furthermore has been selected as outstanding cooperative organization by government. In 2015, the operating income was 2.26 million Yuan.
As no High Conservation Values are identified in the Project Description, there are not negative affection by the project.
7.2 Negative Offsite Stakeholder impacts (CM2)
No potential negative offsite stakeholder impacts have been identified. In contract the project brought benefits to the offsite communities, like providing additional employment opportunity, improving local environment, as well as mitigating the impacts of climate change on the project zone.
7.3 Exceptional Community Benefits (GL2)
The project activity does not include this optional criterion in the project description.
8 BIODIVERSITY
8.1 Net Positive Biodiversity Impacts (B1)
As described in project description, the land would further degrade and have negative impacts on the local ecosystem under the baseline scenario. Therefore biodiversity with the baseline would remain low or continue to reduce. But the results of monitoring recordings in the monitoring period show that the kind and number of species in the degrade land is increasing. And because of the environmental improvement, more and more species live in the project zone. So the net biodiversity benefit for the project is positive. The restoration of native ecosystem through the project provides significant positive biodiversity benefits by:
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- In the project zone, an international summer camp has been hosted. Through the camp, the knowledge and importance of biodiversity were disseminated, that makes the biodiversity- protection awareness of participants be improved. And the government as well as local communities pay more attention to biodiversity protection. - Restoring forest vegetation on degraded lands creates a corridor, hence enhance the connectivity between forests, and provides much needed expansion of important wildlife habitat areas. It facilitates gene flow through allowing once-isolated wildlife groups to interact and enhance the viability of their populations. Based on the monitoring recordings, some protected or endangered species are founded in the project, such as panda. - Illegal poaching activities decrease because that the project lands are defined for forestry purpose by local government and because the project launches, there are workers working in the field and forest patrollers carrying the monitoring frequently. These activities prevents the illegal poachers from going into this area. - Generating increased income to local communities from the project activity, which reduce the tendency of local communities to degrade biodiversity through practices such as illegal poaching and NTFP collection (such as Chinese medicine collection) in the nature reserves, hence alleviate conflicts between conservation and economic activities of local communities. Therefore, the ‘with project’ scenario produce the net positive biodiversity benefits compared to “without project” scenario.
Through the biodiversity impact monitoring, we find that the habitat in the project area has been improved. The canopy of the plants is up to 90%. Different kinds of birds living in the trees, such as Garrulax lunulatus, Anas penelope, Urocissa erythrorhyncha, Picus canus, Buteo buteo, Copsychus saularis, Emberiza pusilla, Fringilla montifringilla, Alcippe ruficapilla and so on. These species is least concerned (LC) in the IUCN Red List. And there are also some rare nmammals living here. Such as Macaca thibetana, Tragopan temminckii, Capricornissumatraensis, Elaphodus cephalophus, Budorcas taxicolor, Giant panda, and Macaca mulatta. Macaca thibetana and Tragopan temminckii is NT in the IUCN Red List. Capricornissumatraensis is Vulnerable specie in CITES, IUCN Red List, China Species Red List and China Red Data Book of Endangered Animals. Elaphodus cephalophus is VU specie. The rarest Giant panda is EN specie.
8.2 Negative Offsite Biodiversity Impacts (B2)
As the environmental-friendly techniques were adopted in the project activity, e.g., avoidance of slash and burn and overall tillage, choice of native tree species and their mixed spatial arrangement, etc., and the project activity increases the area of the habitat, as well as improve the habitats’ quality, only positive biodiversity impacts can be identified. Therefore, there are no potential negative offsite impacts on biodiversity.
8.3 Exceptional Biodiversity Benefits (GL3)
The project activity does not include this optional criterion in the project description.
9 ADDITIONAL INFORMATION
Sampling framework
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To determine the sample size and allocation among strata, this methodology uses the UNFCCC tool “Calculation of the number of sample plots for measurements within A/R CDM project activities” 9.1 Estimation of total number of sample plots (n ) Number of sample plots required for estimation of biomass stocks within the project boundary is calculated iteratively. In the first iteration, the number of sample plots for the project area is calculated as:
22 N tVAL () w i s i i n 2 2 2 N E tVAL w i s i i
Where: n = Number of sample plots required for estimation of biomass stocks within the project boundary; dimensionless N = Total number of possible sample plots within the project boundary (i.e. the sampling space or the population); dimensionless
tVAL = Two-sided Student’s t-value, at infinite degrees of freedom, for the required confidence level; dimensionless
wi = Relative weight of the area of stratum i (i.e. the area of the stratum i divided by the project area); dimensionless
si = Estimated standard deviation of biomass stock in stratum i; t d.m. (or t d.m. ha-1) E = Acceptable margin of error (i.e. one-half the confidence interval) in estimation of biomass stock within the project boundary; t d.m. (or t d.m. ha-1), i.e. in the units used for si i = 1, 2, 3…biomass stock estimation strata within the project boundary
The size of plots is set at 400 m2, and the size of the project is 159.2 ha, so N = 159.2*10000/400 = 3,980. The Acceptable margin of error was set as the default value equal to 10% of the mean biomass stock within the project boundary, which means at a 90-percent confidence level. Then for the
90% confidence level, tVAL (Two-sided Student’s t-value, at infinite degrees of freedom) is equal to 1.282. As the standard deviation of each stratum (si) is conservatively set as 40% of the carbon stock in
living biomass at the end of the crediting period, si= standard deviation * mean carbon stock at the end of the crediting period. According to the values of mean carbon stock and stratum size in
the project description, wi and si as follows:
Stratum ID Area (ha) Wi Si (t d.m./ha)
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YJ-01 16 0.10 15.74
YJ-02 5.7 0.04 74.30
YJ-03 137.5 0.86 64.53
E = mean carbon stock * The Acceptable margin of error = 12.88 t d.m./ha. Based on calculation of above values, n =36. 9.2 Allocation of number of sample plots among strata Number of sample plots allocated to a stratum is calculated as:
wsii ni n wsii i
To ensure statistical independence for each stratum, a minimum of 3 plots is set for each stratum, and the average area represented by a single sampling plot shall not be more than 50 hectare.. So the number of plots for each stratum as follows:
Table9-1 The Number of sampling plots Stratum ID Area (ha) Number of sampling plots YJ-01 16 3 YJ-02 5.7 3 YJ-03 137.5 34
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