Community guidelines for accessing forestry voluntary carbon ... - FAO

Chapter 3: Getting started
particular standard organization, the standard body usually requires
that the methodology is presented in the prescribed template.
A methodology typically has the following attributes:
• Not site specific, but is developed to facilitate the estimation
of emissions/removals of certain activities in certain
circumstances;
• Developed with a particular situation in mind;
• Describes how estimates should be made of emissions/
removals with respect to
The baseline
The project case
Leakage
How the project activity should be monitored;
• Once it has been developed and approved, it can be used by
anyone thereafter;
• Can be amended, pending a new validation of the methodology
• Is registered, e.g. with the CDM or the VCS.
Methodologies may include references to ‘tools’ that can be used, which
give detailed explanations on how to execute particular activities (e.g.
assessing additionality, the significance of particular carbon pools, the
number of sample plots, soil and site conditions).
If no existing methodology is applicable to a proposed forestry VCM
project, a new methodology must be developed, otherwise a project
cannot be approved under the forestry VCM. To get a methodology
approved by a standard organization such as the VCS, it must be
validated according to the Methodology Approval Process (MAP) which
is available from the each standard organization. The validation can
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