Carbon

NeutralPlanet.org

How do we guarantee each ton of carbon is sold only once?

The personalized carbon offset certificate has the markers to locate the reforestation you have adopted as a carbon offset.  The carbon has been measured in the trees planted since 1987 to guarantee local data is verifiable.  Each carbon offset will be registered and owners will be public or anonymous.  The certificate you receive is a signed electronic copy and will be kept on file.

CarbonNeutralPlanet offers gourmet carbon, a carbon offset which guarantees a social and environmental return on investments in the Sierra Gorda Biosphere Reserve and buffer region.  Baseline studies include:  Carbon Verification- In addition to yearly inspections made by the landowner, forestry technicians from Bosque Sustentable carry out detailed monitoring of the reforestation sites ensuring that carbon sequestration commitments are met.  This monitoring follows the steps outlined in Márquez, 2000 (http://www.winrock.org/fnrm/files/fundacionsolar.pdf), in accordance with the small-scale reforestation rules under the Kyoto Protocol.

·         Results can be tracked using Google Maps and the exclusive identification coordinates provided on your personalized Carbon Offset Sponsorship certificate.

·         The Technological Institute of  Monterrey and Bosque Sustentable have measured the amount of carbon stored in the various ecosystems of the Sierra Gorda; setting a benchmark in Mexico for generating local data on ecosystems found throughout the country.

·         Bosque Sustentable s finishing exhaustive inventories to determine how much carbon has been captured thus far in reforestations in the poorest county within the Sierra Gorda Biosphere Reserve, Pinal de Amoles. 

·         Scientists at the Autonomous University of Queretaro are using data collected in situ, in combination with information about land cover and soil type, to model improvements to hydrological processes throughout the Reserve resulting from reforestation, soil conservation and watershed restoration measures.

·         Grupo Ecológico Sierra Gorda has undertaken a Social Return on Investment (SROI) Analysis to assess the range of impacts of their programs on the communities in the Sierra Gorda, the first in-depth SROI of its kind, learning from the SVT Group and years of reporting to donors of national and international institutions and governments.

·         Carbon certification from the Climate, Community, and Biodiversity Alliance standards are expected in the second semester of 2009.

Learn more about how Sierra Gorda became the vanguard in bio-regional  sustainability thanks to local citizens and the grassroots organizations working for a common goal, to conserve the Sierra Gorda Biosphere Reserve.

Sierra Gorda has developed a suite of tools to measure and evaluate the efficiency and value of on-going activities in the programs carried out by a local consortium of non-profit enterprises in order to report clearly and transparently to investors and donors.