The article has been updated with further details from ACUDE Foundation. 

Two Argentine developers have partnered with a Switzerland-headquartered foundation to launch separate biodiversity credit projects in two South American forests over 11,000 hectares, with plans to market them at the upcoming COP16 summit, Carbon Pulse has learned.

NGO Bosques Nativos Argentinos and consultancy firm ACUDE Foundation teamed up with Environmental Markets Fairness Foundation (EMFF) to develop the initiatives.

The projects in Argentina’s Atlantic Forest and the Gran Chaco will focus on monitoring and restoration activities including agroforestry and cattle reduction.

“Some of the initiatives that will be carried out to generate biodiversity credits include the identification and conservation of endangered species, the restoration of degraded habitats, the implementation of sustainable forest management practices, and the creation of biological corridors to encourage connectivity between different natural areas,” Juan Emilio Bragado, forest engineer and executive director at ACUDE Foundation, told Carbon Pulse.

“We’ll engage scientists to evaluate and monitor biodiversity over long periods, 30 or 40 years, using different technologies,” Nahuel Schenone, biologist and team leader at Bosques Nativos Argentinos, also told Carbon Pulse.

“We are planning to leverage environmental DNA, bioacoustics, and satellite imagery to measure biodiversity and show uplift to investors.”

By analysing genomics, researchers may also be able to discover new species, he said.

The group is in the process of finding lands to buy or hire from local authorities and private owners, eyeing a minimum of 10,000 ha in the Gran Chaco and 1,000 ha in the Atlantic Forest.

“Fields available in the Atlantic Forest are smaller, but the biome has more biodiversity,” Schenone said.

The province of Misiones, where part of the Atlantic Forest is located, is home to 52% of Argentina’s biodiversity, making it one of the most critical areas to protect together with Gran Chaco, the second-largest forest in South America after the Amazon.

LOOKING FOR A STANDARD

The methodology has not been chosen yet, Patricio Lombardi, executive director of EMFF and former climate minister of Misiones province, told Carbon Pulse he is in touch with international standards such as Verra and Colombia-based Cercarbono.

“We want to do it right, and we want to do it with solid standards”, said Lombardi, who is also a member of Cercarbono’s board of directors.

In March, the Colombian standard released the final version of its biodiversity protocol, the first finalised biodiversity crediting framework to be released by one of the major standard-setters. Other organisations such as Plan Vivo and Gold Standard are developing their own.

Moreover, Lombardi said the group is studying the units and the methodology of US-based Savimbo and the model adopted by Colombian developer Terrasos, which in May issued 10,000 biodiversity credits linked to a local project in habitat bank El Globo.

Once the standard is identified, the project developers will define units and related prices.

Lombardi said he expects the units to be marketed at the COP16 UN biodiversity summit, which is due to be held in Cali, Colombia from Oct. 21 to Nov. 1.

EYEING EUROPE

The group is focusing on attracting European companies, as it is already getting inquiries from the UK, Switzerland, Spain, and Germany.

“Europe is where the demand is, mainly because of the uptake of the Taskforce of Nature-Related Disclosures among companies and the EU Corporate Sustainability Reporting Directive regulation,” he said.

“It is crucial for projects to meet a real demand before they are launched. I am confident that once our projects are ready, there will be purchasers.”

In April, Marios Michaelides from the Biodiversity Credits Incubator told Carbon Pulse that European companies appear to be more interested in funding projects around them, making it difficult for the market in developing countries to pick up.

However, Lombardi argued that this occurs due to a lack of reliable projects in the Global South.

“We need real projects that are scalable with solid monitoring, reporting, and verification (MRV) programmes and methodologies. Once we have it, we can be competitive.”

In the last few months, several initiatives have emerged in Latin America to generate and issue biodiversity credits by year-end.

In June, Argentine conservation organisation Fundacion Tu Arbol (FTA) partnered with French-headquartered environmental company Nat5 to generate biodiversity and water credits within an area of 1.2 million ha in the Andes.

Nat5 started piloting its methodology for nature conservation and restoration projects at three sites in the Mexican states of Durango, Oaxaca, and Chihuahua, with the first results expected by the end of October.

In addition, France-headquartered nature-based project developer Fronterra began piloting biodiversity credits in a large area in the Peruvian Amazon, as it expects the first transactions to happen by December.

By Giada Ferraglioni – giada@carbon-pulse.com

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