can payments for carbon sequestration save logging concessions from agro-business pressures in...
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THINKING beyond the canopy
Can payments for carbon sequestration save logging
concessions from agro-business pressures in Cameroon?
Guillaume Lescuyer, Arthur Collin, Jonas Ngouhouo,
Christine Langevin, Samuel Assembe, Richard Eba’a
THINKING beyond the canopy
Historical background
Paradigm of Sustainable Forest Management has been
fostered in Congo basin for 20 years
Based on the model of logging concession:
• Vast area (average 80.000ha in Cameroon) in the Permanent Forest
domain
• Granted to private companies
• Used according to a Forest Management Plan (FMP)
• Aim at maintaining forest cover and resources (timber)
• Environmental and social measures
Location of logging concessions proposed in 1995 by an
indicative Zoning Plan
15% of country surface, 111 logging concessions in
Cameroon, 72% with validated FMP (Mertens et al., 2013)
THINKING beyond the canopy
New trends in forest areas
Rise of mining and agro-industries that overlap SFM permits
• About 80% of logging concessions are covered with exploration or
exploitation mining licenses
• Development of agricultural activities, notably of large-scale
plantations of oilpalm and rubber
• Two pilars of the macro-economic long-term orientations of Central
African governments towards the « emergence »
A broader recognition of PES, especially for carbon
sequestration
• US$550 million of REDD+ financing flows into the Congo Basin
since 2006 (Maniatis et al., 2013)
• National REDD+ strategies not yet applied
• Voluntary carbon markets for smaller scale projects, for instance to
reduce carbon footprint of logging concessions
THINKING beyond the canopy
Research question
What is the performance of PES-carbon that would be implemented to
Cameroonian logging concessions in order to increase their financial
profitability and to better resist to competing agro–business
investments?
Current state of agro-industrial (oilpalm and rubber) plantations in
Cameroon and their likely extension over forest areas of the permanent
forest domain
Financial profitability of logging concession, oilpalm and rubber
plantations
Additional benefits to logging revenues from 4 REDD+ scenarios:
• an increase in the Minimum Harvesting Diameters to ensure a 100%
regeneration in the second rotation;
• slowing down the extension of slash-and-burn areas in the concession;
• reducing the spatial footprint of logging roads;
• conservation concession.
THINKING beyond the canopy
Methods For the state of agro-industrial plantations and the estimated
rate of profit: (1) a general review of forest and agricultural policies
and a targeted literature search for the selected companies regarding
their turnover, financial margins, operating costs, taxes, and cultivated
areas; (2) anonymous individual interviews were conducted with
stakeholders to complete or refine figures:
• Rubber: surveys with 10 farmers located in and around one of the main sites
of production;
• Oil palm: information from the leader company for the years 2008 to 2012,
and literature
• Cocoa: literature survey
• Logging: financial data were derived from statements from a sample of 11-14
logging companies to the Ministry of Finance for the years 2007 to 2011
For the REDD+ schemes
• Langevin et al. (2013) for Cameroon
• Hirsh et al. (2013) for DRC
• Collaboration with the logging companies
THINKING beyond the canopy
Current surface and possible extension of oilpalm and rubber
plantations
Oilpalm, six large companies, 59
000ha, 144 000 t/yr
Rubber, three big companies, 105
000ha, 32 000 t/yr, but around 60 000
t/yr in 2 years
An attempt to secure a total area
of about 1 million hectares in the forest
zone of Southern Cameroon (Levang
& Hoyle, 2012)
Many « informal » explorative surveys
to assess agricultural potential of other
forest areas
THINKING beyond the canopy
Financial analysis of REDD+ schemes in a logging concession
(sources: Langevin et al., 2013; Hirsh et al., 2013)
DRC Cameroon
Decrease of the extent of the shifting cultivation
areas
Decrease of the road footprint
Conversion of logging areas
into conservation
Increase of minimum harvesting diameters
Avoided carbonemissions
7,5 tCO2e/ha 3,7 tCO2e/ha 6,8 tCO2e/ha 6,1 tCO2e/ha
Sale on voluntarymarkets
33 €/ha 16.3 €/ha 30 €/ha 26,8€/ha
Costs of REDD scheme 28 €/ha 8 €/ha 29 €/ha 49 €/ha
Financial benefit 5 €/ha 8,3 €/ha 1 €/ha -22 €/ha
THINKING beyond the canopy
Annual net benefits of land-use options in Cameroon (over 15 years)
-1,300,000
-800,000
-300,000
200,000
700,000
1,200,000
1,700,000
2,200,000
F.CFA/ha/yr
Years
Hévéa - Plantationindustrielle
Hévéa - Plantationartisanale
Palmier - Plantationindustrielle
Palmier - Plantationartisanale
Cacao - Exploitationartisanale
Exploitation forestière
THINKING beyond the canopy
Financial profitability of alternative land-uses in forest areas (/exploited ha)
Type d'exploitationValeur Actualisée Nette
(FCFA/ha)
Hévéa - Plantation industrielle 4 245 085
Hévéa - Plantation artisanale 1 983 583
Palmier - Plantation industrielle 1 579 924
Palmier - Plantation artisanale 3 007 000
Cacao - Exploitation artisanale 225 000
Exploitation forestière 742 489
THINKING beyond the canopy
Which FMU may be eligible for REDD schemes ? A theoretical answer
Coût d’opportunité
de la conservation
Proportion de non-déforestation
ou de déforestation évitée
“trop coûteux”
“non additionnel?” 100%
“Bon marché”
“pas abordable”La limite dépendra
des moyens financiers
mobilisables
FRONT AGRICOLE
INDUSTRIEL
Forêts éloignées
Forêts dégradées
0
> 0
< 0
Source: Karsenty, 2008
THINKING beyond the canopy
Which FMU may be eligible for REDD schemes ? A practical answer
Source: Marien et al., 2012
THINKING beyond the canopy
Conclusion
Where ecological and trade conditions are prone to oilpam
and rubber plantations, SFM is not the optimal financial
land-use, even when REDD+ benefits are included
Methodological stake to develop or implement Verified
Carbon Standards based on (1) Avoided Planned
Deforestation or on (2) Avoided Unplanned Deforestation
New forest management models that recognize and take
advantage of concession degradation and deforestation
Innovative approaches to compensate the likely decrease in
timber production in the logging concessions:
• Silvicultural practices in/around logging concessions ?
• Better management of timber stock in the rural domain ?
• Large-scale plantations of fast-growing species?