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4 CCLR 351 (2010)
IBI Bateke Carbon Sink Plantation: An African Forestry Pilot Case

handle is hein.journals/cclr2010 and id is 359 raw text is: IBI Bateke Carbon Sink Plantation: An African Forestry Pilot Case | 351 IBI Bateke Carbon Sink Plantation: An African Forestry Pilot Case Olivier Mushiete and Amy Merrill* A forestry project in West Africa with a strong social and development component is per- haps the best example of what the Clean Development Mechanism was supposed to be about. Achieving it is not easy: many elements need to be brought together to produce a project that performs socially, developmentally and environmentally. This article describes the elements of the IBI Bateke project, a savannah based agro-forestry project in The Democratic Republic of Congo (the Project). It considers the workings of the Project, at an operational and financial level. It sets out the expected benefits from a social and environmental perspective. It also considers the challenges of contracting for sale of carbon credits. 1. Introduction The Democratic Republic of Congo (DRC) is emerg- ing from a period of mismanagement, political instability, and conflict. DRC's Human Develop- ment Index has declined by more than io per cent in the last ten years. It now ranks 167 out of 177 rated countries, with the great majority of the popu- lation without access to even the most basic human services. About 70 per cent of inhabitants live below the poverty line, and in some parts of the north and east of the country the poverty levels are above 8o per cent. With a new, democratically elected Government in place, DRC has now a new opportunity to reduce poverty and promote broad-based, sustainable, and pro-poor growth, provided that the authorities strengthen the institutional framework and im- prove governance. The Government has been im- plementing a programme of economic reforms, including new investments, and new labour, min- ing and forestry codes. Better management of pub- lic finances has helped break hyper-inflation and stabilise the exchange rate. As a result, economic * Olivier Mushiete, with Thierry Mushiete, are the founders of the IBI Bateke Carbon Sink Plantation Project and the owners of NOVACEL. Information on the project can be found by going to <www.ibi- village.cd/>. Amy Merrill is a Managing Associate at Linklaters LLP and worked with NOVACEL on the carbon contracts relating to the Project. Amy can be contacted at amy.merrill@linklaters.com. growth returned in 2003, after a decade of decline, and is estimated to have been about 6 per cent. With 86 million hectares, DRC harbours half of all African rainforests. Forests of all types make a critical contribution to the livelihoods of about 40 million people who are among the world's poorest, by providing food, medicine, domestic energy, building materials, and cash income. Deforestation has remained relatively low (0.27 per cent per year) in recent years but may escalate rapidly as political stability and improved transport starts to open the door to markets, investments and migration. Defor- estation occurs primarily in more heavily popu- lated areas in the dry forest and mountain forest zone, and is driven primarily by population pres- sure and expansion of slash and burn subsistence agriculture. Therefore, alternatives and solutions to deforestation must be sought outside the bound- aries of the forest sector, by helping the country's large rural population to increase its productivity and find alternative sources of income. 11. Project Description 1. Forestry Aspects of the Project The IBI Project promotes the reforestation of 4,220 hectares on the Bateke Plateau, contributes to sup- plies of fuelwood to Kinshasa, while also creating a CCLR 4|2010

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