Hello and a warm welcome to OM Quarterly's 9th issue. Cambodia's Oddar Meanchey Community Forestry REDD+ demonstration project (OM CF REDD+) has made
Hello and a warm welcome to OM Quarterly's 9th issue. Cambodia's Oddar Meanchey Community Forestry REDD+ demonstration project (OM CF REDD+) has made important progress over the last quarter. The project is close to completing project verification, an important last step towards the sale of carbon credits. There has also been some concrete interest from buyers in the project, which offer the potential to bring in much needed resources to support the communities in their forest protection and livelihood activities. Here are some of the highlights over the last quarter.
The OM CF REDD+ Project makes important progress towards completing verification
Having achieved validation under the VCS and CCB standards, the OM CF REDD+ Project is now well underway to achieving verification. The verification is being conducted by SCS, with financial support provided by JICA and UNDP. In February, Pact coordinated the verification field visit, during which the verifier assessed how the project is meeting the requirements of the VCS and CCB standards. The audit team indicated in their initial findings that the project will likely receive a positive verification. The project team have been busy responding to the verifiers requests for further information or corrective action. The responses are being submitted over the next month, after which SCS can write the verification reports, confirming the amount of verified credits the project has earned. The audit team were very impressed with the degree of accuracy and professionalism the biomass inventories were conducted with, an important reward for the hard work the team has invested in carbon monitoring assessments.The project team have learned a lot from the verification process and value the opportunity it has provided to strengthen certain aspects of project implementation.
Pact supports field activities to strengthen local governance
Over the last quarter, Pact has been providing financial and coaching support to provincial stakeholders to assist them with their forest management and enforcement activities. This has included support for local community forestry groups to conduct regular patrols and reduce illegal activities inside the CF areas. Over 85 patrols have been conducted over the last quarter, which shows the significant time and effort local communities are investing to protect their forests. Continued support has also been provided to the Community Forestry Network (CFN) to enable this provincial body to strengthen collective action and support for forest enforcement activities. This support to the CFN has allowed it to play a key role in mediating conflicts by coordinating with local authorities and advocating for the rights of the communities. Through a sub-grant under UNDP funding, Pact continues supporting local NGO, CDA to assist local communities implement forest management activities. Lastly, training and stipend support to the 26 community monitors has strengthened the participatory monitoring system in place. Despite these activities, more work remains to be done to assist local communities address the extensive challenges they face in protecting their forests.
Pact continue to facilitate legal advice for the Forestry Administration (FA)
With the support of UNDP, His Excellency Sok Siphanna is providing valuable legal counsel to the FA on the key legal agreements that are necessary for the project to move forward and sell credits. This has involved, for example, advice on: registration with the VCS and the Markit registry, conditions of the Emissions Reduction Purchase Agreement (ERPA), and the carbon revenue distribution mechanism. Given that the OM CF REDD+ Project involves many complicated decisions that are new for the FA, the legal counsel provided by H.E. Sok Siphanna is highly valuable to the project's progress. This legal assistance is especially important in relation to negotiations that are occurring between buyers and the FA. As certain agreements are time sensitive and are subject to expiration after short periods of time, a prompt review and good understanding of these documents is critical.
OM CF REDD+ Project gains more interest from carbon buyers
Marketing updates from private carbon development firm TGC indicate that a number of buyers continue to show important interest in the OM CF REDD+ Project. These buyers have indicated that they are especially interested in the social and environmental benefits the project is creating, as supporting these co-benefits would add value to their existing corporate social responsibility strategies. Several buyers have engaged in concrete negotiations with the project, including discussions of price and amount.
Pact shares lessons learned in national and international workshops
Pact has recently had the opportunity to present and share its experience as an implementing partner in the OM CF REDD+ Project. As the OM CF REDD+ Project is one of the most advanced REDD+ projects in the world, it is important that the lessons learned and capacities developed are utilised for the benefit of both national and international REDD+ policy development efforts. In February, Pact staff presented at the Evaluation for Development Conclave in Nepal. The presentation was focused on the lessons that have been learned in community based MRV, and was part of a panel on evaluation in climate change mitigation held by the SEA Change COP. Pact staff also presented at a recent workshop held by NGO Forum in Cambodia on social and environmental safeguards in REDD+. The workshop was aimed at enhancing understanding of safeguards and developing national safeguards guidelines. Lastly, Long Ratanakoma, the project focal point at the FA, presented on safeguards in the OM CF REDD+ Project at the recent Regional UN REDD Information Exchange workshop in Bangkok.
Pact hosts an NGO coordination meeting in Phnom Penh
In January, Pact hosted an NGO Coordination meeting in Phnom Penh, with representatives from a variety of NGOs working in Oddar Meanchey Province. The meeting was held with the aim to improve the communication and coordination among international and national NGOs implementing natural resource management (NRM) and related projects in Oddar Meanchey. Pact believes this coordination is important as it will help to avoid duplication and can maximise the impacts of limited funding. During the meeting, participants outlined the activities that have and will be implemented in the target areas, along with the challenges faced in project implementation. Participants found the meeting to be useful, and have agreed to share reports and Work Plans on a regular basis and conduct coordination meetings on a quarterly basis. Pact hopes additional NGOs will attend the next meeting.
