Conserving biodiversity while offsetting carbon emissions.
Buenaventura
This reserve is managed by Fundación Jocotoco; it is located in an area of low-altitude cloud forest in south-western Ecuador. The avifauna is one of the richest in the country, with 41 bird species of conservation concern. Buenaventura is the only protected area with a population of the endangered El Oro Parakeet Aratinga orcesii. There are also large numbers of endemic and endangered plant species present.
Family nursery established for the carbon sequestration project.
Endangered El Oro parakeet. Flagship species of Buenaventura. © M.Dietrich
Very little of this habitat remains intact and 20 years ago Buenaventura itself was reduced to isolated forest patches among pasture. The reserve has been created by buying parcels of land and restoring their forest cover, with a target size of 4,000 ha – sufficient to support a viable parakeet population. So far some 1,200 ha has been secured. The World Land Trust restoration ecology programme is contributing to the effort both through the Scottish and Southern Energy tree-planting and the Carbon Balanced work.
Secondary forest on former
pasture, Buenaventura
There are two carbon sequestration sites at Buenaventura:
- The first Carbon Balanced project was established here in 2005. It involved the purchase of a 10 ha extension to the reserve, taking it down-slope and so incorporating slightly dryer habitat with its distinctive avifauna. The grazing land was then planted up with a range of native species. The project is ‘Kyoto compliant’, sequestering an estimated 1,420 tonnes of CO2 over 20 years for individual consumers. Ongoing work involves monitoring at 5-7 year intervals to check actual carbon stocking against the initial estimates.
- The ‘Rodas Purchase’. This is a strategic 45 ha parcel and a parakeet ‘hotspot’ used for nesting and feeding. Some 75% of the area is open pasture that is now being helped to revert to natural forest. This will give an estimated 1,943 tonnes CO2 sequestered over 20 years. A further 2,680 tonnes CO2 will be absorbed by natural regeneration on land cleared after 1989, while protecting the residual forest prevents the release of yet another 2,600 tonnes CO2. These are good voluntary offsets but ‘Kyoto non-compliant’.
Reserve Map
