PROJECT DESCRIPTION DOCUMENT CLIMATE, COMMUNITY & BIODIVERSITY STANDARDS The Nature Conservancy of Canada DARKWOODS FOREST CARBON PROJECT v. 1.6 Darkwoods Forest Carbon Project July 11, 2013 Version 1.6 3GreenTree Ecosystem Services Ltd. For The Nature Conservancy of Canada Copyright ©2013 3GreenTree Ecosystem Services Ltd./Nature Conservancy of Canada Table of Contents G1. GENERAL SECTION ......................................................................................................................................... 5 G1a. Original Conditions in the Project Area ......................................................................................................... 5 G1b. Community Information .............................................................................................................................. 15 G1c. Biodiversity Information .............................................................................................................................. 26 G2. BASELINE PROJECTIONS ............................................................................................................................. 28 G2.1. Baseline Scenario Selection ...................................................................................................................... 29 G2.2. Additionality ............................................................................................................................................... 29 G2.3. Baseline Carbon Stock Changes ............................................................................................................... 29 G2.4. Baseline Scenario Net Impacts on Communities ...................................................................................... 30 G2.5. Baseline Scenario Impacts on Biodiversity ................................................................................................ 35 G3. PROJECT DESIGN AND GOALS .................................................................................................................... 37 G3.1. Project Objectives ...................................................................................................................................... 37 G3.2. Project Activities ........................................................................................................................................ 37 G3.3. Project Location ......................................................................................................................................... 39 G3.4. Project Lifetime and GHG Accounting Period ........................................................................................... 39 G3.5. Project Risks .............................................................................................................................................. 39 G3.6. Maintenance of High Conservation Values ............................................................................................... 40 G3.7. Post-Project Climate, Community, and Biodiversity Benefits .................................................................... 40 G3.8. Community Consultation ........................................................................................................................... 41 G3.9 Communication of the CCBA Comment Period .......................................................................................... 41 G3.10 Complaint Hearing and Conflict Resolution .............................................................................................. 41 G3.11 Project Funding ........................................................................................................................................ 41 G4. MANAGEMENT CAPACITY AND BEST PRACTICES .................................................................................... 42 G4.1. Roles and Responsibilities ........................................................................................................................ 42 G4.2. Management Team Expertise ................................................................................................................... 42 G4.3. Orientation and Training ............................................................................................................................ 43 G4.4. Equal Employment Opportunities .............................................................................................................. 43 G4.5. Workers Rights .......................................................................................................................................... 44 G4.6. Worker Safety ............................................................................................................................................ 44 G4.7. Financial Health ......................................................................................................................................... 44 G5. LEGAL STATUS AND PROPERTY RIGHTS ................................................................................................... 44 G5.1. Relevant Laws and Regulations ................................................................................................................ 44 G5.2. Local Authority Approval ............................................................................................................................ 46 G5.3. Other Ownership Encroachment ............................................................................................................... 46 G5.4. Relocation of Affected Peoples ................................................................................................................. 46 G5.5. Illegal Activities .......................................................................................................................................... 46 G5.6. Carbon Title Rights .................................................................................................................................... 46 CLIMATE SECTION ................................................................................................................................................ 47 CL1. Net Positive Climate Impacts ...................................................................................................................... 47 CL2. Offsite Climate Impacts (‘Leakage’) ............................................................................................................ 49 CL3. Climate Impact Monitoring .......................................................................................................................... 50 COMMUNITY SECTION ......................................................................................................................................... 50 CM1. Net Positive Community Impacts ............................................................................................................... 50 CM2. Offsite Stakeholder Impacts ....................................................................................................................... 57 CM3. Community Impact Monitoring ................................................................................................................... 57 BIODIVERSITY SECTION ...................................................................................................................................... 59 B1. Net Positive Biodiversity Impacts .................................................................................................................. 59 2 B2. Offsite Biodiversity Impacts ........................................................................................................................... 61 B3. Biodiversity Impact Monitoring ...................................................................................................................... 62 GOLD LEVEL SECTION ......................................................................................................................................... 64 GL3. Exceptional Biodiversity Benefits ................................................................................................................ 64 Literature Cited ........................................................................................................................................................ 65 List of Tables: Table 1 - Darkwoods Property Legal Descriptions and Parcel Identifiers ................................................. 7 Table 2 - Darkwoods Forest Cover Description by Leading Species, Productivity Class, Age Group, and Operability ....................................................................................................................................... 14 Table 3 - Southern Interior Forest District Economic Diversity and Forest Vulnerability Indices (BC Stats, 2009a) ................................................................................................................................... 18 Table 4 - Select BC Community Income Dependencies by Economic Sector ........................................ 22 Table 5 - Key Harvesting Employment Variables Within the Project Zone (Lefebvre, 2008; SIBAC, 2009) ............................................................................................................................................... 23 Table 6 - Definitions of Threats Associated with Biodiversity on Darkwoods ......................................... 27 Table 7 - Select Economic Parameters