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

Chapter 2: VCM project types and standards
2.3 When should you consider developing a
forestry VCM project?
Once a forest manager has identified the activities that should be
implemented in the area concerned, the next decision is whether to
make these activities the basis of a forest carbon project. There are
many circumstances under which it does not make sense to do so. For
instance, if a forest area is very small, or scattered over an enormous
area, the costs will hardly ever outweigh any financial or reputational
benefit that can be gained from entering the VCM.
The VCM can only be used to generate income if it can be proven to local
stakeholders that all these costs are outweighed by the benefits that a
forestry VCM project may bring. Not everybody is in a position to benefit
from a forestry VCM project. It is important to emphasize that financial
rewards will only be realized if forestry VCM projects are designed
carefully, and well-suited to the local situation.
Providing general estimates of costs for verification and certification
under the VCM or providing estimates of carbon revenues of forestry
VCM projects is not realistic because these costs and benefits are very
different for every individual project. Therefore, general information is
provided later in this chapter to assist potential project developers in
conducting a self-assessment. This information includes:
• Pros and cons of the Forestry VCM;
• What you can realistically expect from the VCM; and
• Social and environmental benefits of responsible forest and
carbon stewardship.
It is clear that forest carbon markets need forest people, but do forest
people need forest carbon markets? The answer is not straightforward.
Box 2 outlines the results of a research program that ran for five years in
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