Benefits from Environmental Services
Our partner communities rely on the services their environment provides them, e.g. water, building materials, food and medicine. Additional to these local services, their environment also provides global services, one of them being the sequestration and storage of carbon in trees which helps to address climate change.
Everywhere in the world people feel the consequences of climate change, also in PNG. The startling changes in climate already have impacted the daily village life. Plant and harvest times depend on the rhythm of the rainy seasons, and the village elders read their approach and finish from the behaviour of the surrounding nature.
The previously very regularly occurring rainy seasons have become unpredictable. Start, finish, duration and intensity are changing, confusing nature, and with it the village elders. For now, this just means missing out on one or two harvests of a few crops each year. However, with the increase of climate change, within the foreseeable future this may lead to food scarcity and hunger spells. Unknown phenomena for a country such as PNG, so very rich in fertile agricultural land.
Income from sustainable livelihood options, like small-scale coconut and cacao plantations, or small-scale sawmilling, is small and needs hard work in comparison with the easy “free” money and big cash royality incomes and development benefits promised by large scale logging or oil palm companies. Managing the tropical rainforest as climate forests and for biodiversity conservation, being valued as global environmental services, means the prospect of realising an additional, long term, regular income from sustainable natural resource management.
This extra income supports the sustainable land use of the village communities and provides them with additional income to help realise their village development plans, and as such assists them in standing strong against competing destructive industrial land uses.
For this reason FORCERT has started the PNG Communities BEST (Benefits from Environmental Services Trust) Program, which we want to slowly grow to become a long-term independently managed fund to support community conservation efforts in PNG through generating additional income from environmental services. For now, this income generation is through the sales of Verified Carbon Units (VCU’s) under the Verified Carbon Standard (VCS) and Climate, Community and Biodiversity Standard (CCBS).
Partner communities joining the PNG Communities BEST Program
TAVOLO COMMUNITY
So far only the Tavolo Community has joined this new program, but we expect to join one more partner community this year 2023. FORCERT and the Tavolo Community Conservation Association (TCCA) have progressed to meet all requirements under the Verified Carbon Standard (VCS) and Climate, Community and Biodiversity Standard (CCBS) for their PNG Communities BEST REDD – Tavolo Project. Below you can find the links to the key project documents and to the Verra website where the project is officially registered.
Project Documents
VCS Project Summary in English
VCS Project Summary in Tok-pisin
PNG Communities BEST agreement signing at Tavolo 
The auditors receiving traditional shell money from chief William Apeaua as a token of appreciation for their visit to Tavolo 
Community members performing the cassowary dance, acting out a drama on taking care of the environment 
Tavolo Sustainable Land Use Plan and community conservation laws sign board at Tavolo Primary School 
Traditional Dancers called “Dukduk” during the PNG Communities BEST agreement signing ceremony 
From left: RINA auditors, Vinay Singh and local expert Bazakie Baput at Miopalau Island in Tavolo 
Food presentation during the PNG Communities BEST signing 
Traditional dancers during the PNG Communities BEST agreement signing ceremony at Tavolo 
Auditors from RINA with FORCERT’s PNG Communities BEST Team Leader Daniel Savenat and Technical Advisor Peter Dam during their field check in Tavolo’s sustainable land use plan area
Meet Our Partners and Supporters in this Cause
More about us
Greenchoice is an energy supplier in The Netherlands, supplying around 600.000 customers with electricity from renewable sources. We are also supplying natural gas to our customers, which has a large carbon footprint. While we work on reducing the use of natural gas, since 2004, we off-set this carbon footprint through supporting forest projects in many countries around the world. We do this because we want to take responsibility for the effect on the climate the natural gas has, and at the same time mitigate the biodiversity crisis we are in.
We have financially supported the work of FORCERT with the Tavolo Community, because we believe the good work and model used by FORCERT will be able to set an important example for other forest protection projects in Papua New Guinea and the wider region. It will not only be able to save a valuable ecosystem and guarantee improved livelihoods for the people of Tavolo, but serving as an example can contribute to the protection of other ecosystems and help other communities. And with that, have impact on global climate change and biodiversity loss.
PRIMAKLIMA is a German Non-Governmental organization that holds the DZI Seal of Approval which confirms the goal-oriented, economical and effective use of funds an informative and verified financial statement, as well as transparency with regard to the general public. Currently, the organization has about 200 members and 20 employees.
For more than 30 years, we have been actively committed to the climate by planting trees and protecting forests worldwide. PRIMAKLIMA aims to provide access to climate protection that is as simple and effective as possible. We use donations from private households and selected corporates to support afforestation, reforestation and forest protection projects, using the created carbon credits to off-set the donators’ carbon emissions.
Vision
PRIMAKLIMA has the vision of a world in which everyone takes responsibility for the climate. Through the offer of PRIMAKLIMA – in particular the preservation and growth of forests – it is possible in a simple way to live up to this responsibility.
Mission
PRIMAKLIMA creates measurably new natural carbon sinks as well as increases and preserves carbon stores in ecosystems, especially in forests and peatlands. The selection of projects and partners is based on transparent criteria, and sustainable project implementation contributes to ecological, social and economic development in the project region. Ongoing external monitoring and the participation of the local population ensure the long-term success of the projects.
Our international projects mainly benefit those population groups that have hardly contributed to climate change, but may be particularly exposed to the effects of climate change.
How PRIMAKLIMA works
Certified according to internationally recognized standards, our projects meet the highest quality standards. In this way, we can assure you that our reforestation supports sustainable development – for our environment and the local people.
The ecological and social added value is the focus of all our projects. In particular, the projects in the Global South make a significant contribution to improving local living conditions. Secure incomes, e.g., for the care of forests, create new foundations. Smallholder structures are promoted, local cooperatives can emerge. The selection of projects and project partners is based on strict criteria and the forestry knowledge in the board and management of PRIMAKLIMA. Both abroad and domestically, we also work together with external, independent research experts who complement our internal organizational know-how. Regular project visits by PRIMAKLIMA ensure the success and consistency of the projects in addition to on-site monitoring.
Since 1990 Face the Future is committed to restoring and protecting forests worldwide to mitigate climate change. We see forests as an important part of the solution to address climate change. At the same time forests are also essential for providing other ecosystem services, securing livelihoods and protecting biodiversity.
Throughout our history we have realised the establishment of at least 50,000 hectares of new forest and have worked with partners to protect natural forests in 4 continents. We are specialized in the development of forest carbon projects, using mostly voluntary carbon standards.
Next to the development of forest projects we also provide consultancy services with regards to development, management, implementation and certification of forest carbon projects, as well as support in sourcing of funding of such projects.
