The REDD+ AUD project focuses on avoiding pressure from land grabbing and livestock farming and reinforces the importance of strengthening local communities
Located in the municipality of Altamira, in the southern region of Pará, the Triunfo do Xingu REDD+ Group Project (TdX) is one of Systemica's efforts to protect and restore one of the areas of the Amazon with the highest rate of accumulated deforestation in the country. TdX is located in the Triunfo do Xingu Environmental Protection Area, which, although classified as a protected area, has suffered since the 1990s with intense pressure from deforestation due to mining, land grabbing and livestock farming, which demonstrates the importance of the project's existence for keep the forest standing.
“The project began in August 2022, following a meeting with the population of Vila Caboclo, a rural community surrounding the project area. Using Systemica's deforestation projection models, we identified enormous deforestation pressure in the northern part of the APA, and then we began discussions with landowners in the region in Pará to develop a REDD+ AUD project (avoidance of unplanned deforestation)”, he explains. Thiago Viscondi, project coordinator.
The pressure from livestock farming is strong and makes up a large part of the region's economic revenue, and the project's intention is to prevent local producers from entering the cycle of deforestation caused by the activity. “The idea is that producers do not lose their land to invaders, land grabbers, and do not need to sell part of the land that would end up being deforested. According to our bibliographical, field and satellite image studies, we understand that what is lost from the forest becomes livestock farming, there is very little conversion of the soil to other activities, such as agriculture”, he adds.
Transparency and integrity of technical development and socio-environmental activities are essential for the future of the project
The project covers an area of 10,636.02 ha, and is currently undergoing the process of validating the VCS standard and developing the CCB standard, with verification expected for the beginning of 2024. In addition to bringing infrastructure and social and governance benefits to the Vila Caboclo, a community included in TdX, the project aims to preserve the forest, maintain the biome in the long term and enable investments in the local community.
To ensure the integrity of the project, Systemica invested in robust development under the VCS AUD VM0015 methodology, carefully defining the reference region, and being conservative with projections of deforestation to be avoided from the project and its activities.
“A deforestation prediction model basically has two parts: past and future. The past is the part of historical data that is used to predict a future, based on mathematical models. To do this, it is necessary to define a reference region and a historical period. A bad practice that is often adopted is the inflation of AUD projects, in which opportunistic proponents choose the spatial border of the region in a fictitious way, taking the maximum deforestation rate possible to inflate the numbers later. This is not a practice adopted by Systemica: the area chosen for the project was not inflated, it is unfortunately in fact very deforested. The fact that we are working with such a threatened area shows that the project is indeed important. We are not just generating credit, we are generating impact”, analyzes Thiago.
Social counterparts focus on infrastructure and strengthening local governance
One of the requirements of the CCB Gold standard for the community, a certification that the project seeks to achieve, is that the community has at least 50% of its population at a level below the national poverty line. Vila Caboclo is marked by this socioeconomic vulnerability, which reinforces the need for the project and enables it to have a greater level of real impact.
“Now we are in the study phase to understand what the urgencies and priorities are to improve the lives of the local population. One of the difficulties in our diagnosis was the rainy season, which further isolates the territory and makes it difficult for the population to access the city of São Félix do Xingu, the closest to the project region”, explains Thiago.
In terms of infrastructure, the project has already highlighted that one of the main shortcomings is the lack of legal electricity and stable telephone signal. “Initially, we thought about bringing more stable electricity, with solar panels and satellite internet. Speaking of other needs, we will have activities to donate school and health center equipment, as well as a school garden activity, tackling the issue of food insecurity and the lack of access to a variety of foods”, adds the specialist.
When there are no economic alternatives, deforestation becomes one of the population’s few sources of income. To change this scenario, the project studies economic alternatives and strengthening the community as a whole.
“We are considering running training courses for the village, trying to map out what will bear fruit there, such as handicrafts, hair cutting and flour production. Generating income is generating independence. Another point is the right of access to culture. The community demonstrated a great desire to have some leisure, some place where people can gather to have fun. Poverty takes away access to leisure and culture, and today people only have a football pitch and a bar”, he explains.
Biodiversity panel focuses on preserving species with potential for extinction
In the first half of 2023, the project began biodiversity activities, with the fauna and flora inventory. Next, Systemica's technical team carried out an internal audit ensuring the quality of the studies and is awaiting the audit of the inventories by an independent third party.
“We are still waiting for the results, but the forecast is what is expected in general from the Amazon territory: threatened species and enormous biodiversity needing protection and surveillance of the territory's surroundings. Today, only approximately 65% of the northern part of the APA is covered by forest, 15% less than predicted by law”, concludes Thiago.
