SAFIYA CHARLES
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| US Ambassador to Cambodia William A. Heidt (left) talks with Minister of Environment Say Samal at the ministry in Phnom Penh. KT/ Mai Vireak |
The government and the Wildlife Conservation Society (WCS) signed a project agreement yesterday granting the conservation group power to oversee the use of funds generated by Disney’s $2.6 million carbon credit purchase from Keo Seima Wildlife Sanctuary last month.
The move is an attempt to ensure greater transparency, management and disbursement of funds for projects and patrols within the wildlife sanctuary and benefit local communities living within its boundaries.
“Although the carbon that was sold and the funds that were generated belong to the government of Cambodia…the government has agreed that WCS will co-manage the funds,” said Ross Sinclair, WCS country director.
The scheme will follow a performance-based system of checks and balances, ensuring that money allocated for specific projects or initiatives are used solely for their intended purposes.
“For example, [the agreement] is based around a work plan and that plan will say what is going to happen in a particular area over the next 12 months. That [plan] is developed by the government with technical advice from us and then I, myself, and the director general will sign that work plan off and then the funds will be released,” Mr. Sinclair explained.
In this particular sale the funds will be funneled directly through WCS, giving the group heavy oversight, although in the future, carbon credit transactions like this could change.
The purchase is part of the UN-backed REDD+ initiative or Reduce Emission from Deforestation and Forest Degradation plus Conservation – a program which allows developed nations to purchase credits from developing countries to avoid deforestation.
In this case, Disney’s purchase of 360,000 tons worth of carbon emissions – the country’s largest sale to date – is projected to offset 14 million metric tons of CO2 over 10 years. The sale benefits Disney, which is aiming to reduce its net global emissions and work toward conservation.
An attendee of the conference said $7 per ton of carbon emissions was favorable to Cambodia.
Minister of Environment Say Samal, who acted as an official witness at the signing ceremony, called the agreement “a new turning point for environmental conservation” in Cambodia.
“In the past there was a different thought. I request that we join our hands together in the conservation of our natural resources. From today we don’t have anything to hide,” he said.
Mr. Samal spoke of looking towards the future and ensuring that local communities were not left behind but instead made an integral part of the process. He said the sale would help to improve their livelihoods and lead to alternate forms of income, such as ecotourism, before adding that the ministry also had many areas it needed to address.
The minister expressed the importance of clear mapping and demarcation to ensure the protection of individual, public and private sector land rights, revealing plans to create a long-term land use map in partnership with the Ministry of Land Management, Urban Planning and Construction.
“We [will] clearly define which are the sanctuary areas, land for concessions, government and people, so this will help to end the land disputes,” he said.
According to Ministry of Environment spokesperson Sao Sopheap, 90 percent of the funds generated from the sale will go towards activities on the ground that will fight deforestation, like enhanced forest patrolling, and encourage sustainable practices.
US Ambassador William Heidt, who also acted as an official witness at the ceremony, applauded the country’s efforts as an exciting step in the right direction.
“To have an agreement that will protect that forest and be registered internationally, linked to genuine carbon reduction, that’s a terrific job – something that Cambodia should be proud of. It’s not easy to do, they take a long time to develop, and it takes a lot of work from all sides.”
The Keo Seima Wildlife Sanctuary was Cambodia’s first reserve, created with the specific aim of conserving carbon supplies, and based on WCS estimates has nearly one million metric tons of carbon credits available. Disney’s deal will span two years, beginning in 2017 and terminating in 2019, with hopes of generating future transactions.
While Mr. Sinclair praised the sale as a great success and incentive for forest and wildlife conservation, he noted the importance of checks and balances in ensuring that the local community was aware and involved.
“The certification of the carbon credits in Keo Seima is under two schemes, one of them is called the Climate Community Biodiversity Alliance.
That whole certification is about other co-benefits for the community and the environment, not just the carbon and there’s an incredibly rigorous set of standards that are set and we’re audited against,” he said.
The standards require a process called free, prior and informed consent. In the early stages of the REDD+ project, WCS officers visited communities within Keo Seima to inform and explain the work they were doing, then communities had the choice to agree or disagree. Once community members were on board, independent auditors returned to ensure that those members did indeed understand and agree. A failed audit would have meant a failed sale for the government.
“We’re very confident. We have to deliver the things that we promised on this. We have to reduce deforestation and we have to deliver community benefit, and if we don’t, we have to report to the buyer,” Mr. Sinclair said.
“The world is watching, all the checks and balances are in place, and we’re very confident these funds will go where they’re intended.”
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