LOWER MISSISSIPPI VALLEY GROUPED AFFORESTATION PROJECT Prepared for The Nature Conservancy by TerraCarbon LLC The Nature Conservancy1 TerraCarbon LLC2 4245 North Fairfax Drive, Suite 100 5901 N. Sheridan Rd. Arlington, VA 22203-1606 Peoria, Illinois 61614 U.S.A. U.S.A. Project Title Lower Mississippi Valley Grouped Afforestation Project Version Version 3.0 Date of Issue 29-August-2012 Prepared By James Eaton2, David Shoch2, Nicole Virgilio1, Ronnie Ulmer1, Richard Martin1, and Hamilton Hardman1 Contact The Nature Conservancy, 4245 North Fairfax Drive, Suite 100, Arlington, VA 22203-1606, U.S.A. PROJECT DESCRIPTION: VCS Version 3 Table of Contents 1.0 Project Details ......................................................................................................................................... 3 1.1 Summary Description of the Project ................................................................................................... 3 1.2 Sectoral Scope and Project Type ....................................................................................................... 4 1.3 Project Proponent ............................................................................................................................... 5 1.4 Other Entities Involved in the Project ................................................................................................. 6 1.5 Project Start Date ............................................................................................................................... 6 1.6 Project Crediting Period ...................................................................................................................... 6 1.7 Project Scale and Estimated GHG Emission Reductions or Removals ............................................. 6 1.8 Description of the Project Activity ....................................................................................................... 8 1.9 Project Location ................................................................................................................................ 12 1.10 Conditions Prior to Project Initiation ............................................................................................... 14 1.11 Compliance with Laws, Statutes and Other Regulatory Frameworks ............................................ 19 1.12 Ownership and Other Programs ..................................................................................................... 20 1.13 Additional Information Relevant to the Project ............................................................................... 21 2.0 Application of Methodology ................................................................................................................... 27 2.1 Title and Reference of Methodology ................................................................................................. 27 2.2 Applicability of Methodology ............................................................................................................. 27 2.3 Project Boundary .............................................................................................................................. 31 2.4 Baseline Scenario ............................................................................................................................. 33 2.5 Additionality....................................................................................................................................... 36 2.6 Methodology Deviations ................................................................................................................... 39 3.0 Quantification of GHG Emission Reductions and Removals ................................................................ 41 3.1 Baseline Emissions ........................................................................................................................... 41 3.2 Project Emissions ............................................................................................................................. 41 3.3 Leakage ............................................................................................................................................ 46 3.4 Summary of GHG Emission Reductions and Removals .................................................................. 52 4.0 Monitoring ............................................................................................................................................. 54 4.1 Data and Parameters Available at Validation ................................................................................... 54 4.2 Data and Parameters Monitored ...................................................................................................... 56 4.3 Description of the Monitoring Plan .................................................................................................... 57 5.0 Environmental Impact ........................................................................................................................... 64 6.0 Stakeholder Comments......................................................................................................................... 67 Appendices ................................................................................................................................................. 68 Appendix A. Non-Permanence Risk Report ................................................................................................ 68 A1.0 Internal Risks ...................................................................................................................................... 68 A2.0 External Risks ..................................................................................................................................... 70 A3.0 Natural Risks ...................................................................................................................................... 72 A4.0 Overall Non-Permanence Risk Rating and Buffer Determination ...................................................... 75 A4.1 Overall Risk Rating ......................................................................................................................... 75 A4.2 Calculation of Total VCUs .............................................................................................................. 75 v3.0 2 PROJECT DESCRIPTION: VCS Version 3 1.0 PROJECT DETAILS 1.1 Summary Description of the Project The Lower Mississippi Valley Grouped Afforestation Project (LMV GAP) occurs within the states of Louisiana, Arkansas, and Mississippi as bounded by the Lower Mississippi Valley. This grouped project aims to convert degraded land, including cropland, pasture and abandoned agricultural land, to bottomland forest. As part of the project, all project lands will be enrolled in a USDA conservation program (e.g., the USDA Conservation Reserve Program, CRP, or Wetland Reserve Program, WRP), planted with native bottomland tree species, and encumbered with a permanent conservation servitude (aka “conservation easement”) held by The Nature Conservancy (TNC). The servitude will ensure that lands enrolled in the program will remain forested, once forests have been established. For example, TNC encourages private land owners to enroll in either the CRP forest practice or WRP that were not otherwise planning on enrolling, or to convert an existing CRP grassland practice contract to a CRP forest practice contract, by paying for restoration costs, as well as purchasing permanent conservation servitudes on enrolled lands in exchange for the assignment of carbon benefits. In return, land owners receive income additional to that provided by CRP/WRP alone. The project is targeted to landowners who would not have enrolled in a USDA conservation program (forest practice option), without the additional funding provided by TNC. The initial project enrolled in LMV GAP consists of 89.4 hectares (ha) comprised of multiple fields (see Table 1.1 and Figure 1.1). Additional project areas will be added to this grouped project over time as The Nature Conservancy (TNC) acquires additional conservation servitudes. Table 1.1. Project area information. LMV GAP Tract Name County and Baseline Scenario Planting Type/Site project State Preparation instance LMVGAP01 Catlands Tract Franklin Parish, Predominantly Hand planting/Ripping Louisiana pasture (71.3 ha) with some areas of cropland (18.1 ha) Following purchase of the servitude, the eligible project area of the first project instance was delineated (see Figure 1.5). Site preparation was completed in November and December 2011 and site-appropriate bottomland tree seedlings were planted in January 2012. Because the project area was under pasture/cultivation immediately prior to acquisition by TNC, site preparation prior to reforestation was limited to ripping or using a chisel plow to break the compacted subsurface soil layer. Site preparation did not result in the removal of any woody vegetation. For all project instances, TNC will confirm that the contractor followed planting protocol within 2 weeks of completion of the planting job and will require remediation if deficiencies are detected. Initial seedling survival will be determined by monitoring the planting areas the first summer following planting. Survival and growth of seedlings will again be monitored by TNC in years 3 and 5. If seedling density recorded v3.0 3 PROJECT DESCRIPTION: VCS Version 3 during the initial