Impact Report Economic, social and environmental impacts through investment in carbon projects

Project: Sodo Community Managed Reforestation, Ethiopia

Content: » Impact Calculation» Contribution to Sustainable Development Goals

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Reforestation and restoration of degraded forest land by the local communitiesof the Sodo project in Ethiopia results in the sequestration of CO2. However, thisis not the only benefit from investing into forestry projects. There are additional

Impact Calculation

$ 124

Employment$ 17

Ecosystem services$107

The offset of 1 t CO2 creates additional social and environmental values worth $ 124

Ecosystem services (value/t CO2)

$ 47

Additional impacts

8 species on the red list are pro-tected within the project area

With each offset of 1 t CO2, six trees are planted

With each offset of 100 t CO2, 1 person has the chance to participatein any kind of training, e.g. livestockmanagement or agroforestry

impacts on the environment, social life and economy. Some of these impactscan be calculated for each tonne of CO2:

$ 15

$ 9

Provisioning services e.g. food and medicinal resources

Regulating services e.g regulation of waterflows an erosion prevention

Habitat services e.g. gene pool protection

Cultural services e.g. recreation and tourism

$ 34

S u s t a i n a b l e D e v e l o p m e n t G o a l s ( S D G )The Sustainable Development Goals are political objectives of the United Nations (UN), which are supposedto help in securing a sustainable development on economic, social and environmental level in every countryin the world. More information at:www.un.org/sustainabledevelopment/sustainable-development-goals/

The Sustainable Development GoalsBecause it is not yet possible to calculate all impacts of the Sodo project or illustratethem with specific numbers, the Sustainable Development Goals (SDG) of the UnitedNations will help to present the diverse impacts of the project . In fact, the projectmakes a significant contribution to 11 of the 17 goals.

The project contributes to these 11 SDG goals:

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How does the project contribute to the individual Sustainable Development Goals? What is the aim of the project? How is it improving the livelihood of the community and the environment around them?

Making an Impact

In 2014 the project was evaluated with the help of a household survey, face-to-face interviews, group discussions and project documents.What were relevant findings? What did project participants say about the different impacts?

Carbon revenue helps to improve the livelihoods of the communities. For example funds are used for further income opportunities like development of eco-tourism. Through training workshops for agriculture, forest management and bee keeping, local cooperativeshave the opportunity to generate income by selling apple seedlings, fruit, honey and other non-timber forest products such as grass,firewood and bamboo.

Even at this early stage of the project, over half (56.9 %) of the project members reported that poverty alreadydecreased.

Planting and protecting trees results in better soil fertility and less flooding, improving agricultural productivity in order tohelp to combat hunger. The community also benefits from training in farming practices and from technology transfer whichincreases the quantity and variety of crops.

Over 80 % reported decreased soil erosion and increased soil fertility. “We produce food, vegetables, around ourhousehold – very big change since the project started… we produce different food so we can feed our childrenbetter food. Now we eat three times, we used to eat twice.”(cooperative member)

Due to an increase in forest cover, groundwater availability improves and therefore leads to an increase in number of springs.Thus, more water can be used for cooking meals and maintaining personal hygiene. The increase in crop varieties and thecarbon revenue from carbon credits – which is going to be used for the construction of a health center – ensure healthy livesand promote the well-being for all generations.

“We used to wash children only once every week – we needed to search for water. Now we wash them andtheir clothes three or four times.” (cooperative member)

Access to quality education should be possible for each and every one of us. The project increases this possibility through revenue from carbon credits which will help to build a preschool and a primary school. Furthermore, the community istrained in forestry and farming practices, whereby gender equality is ensured.

Since the beginning of the project, 280 people have been participating indifferent training opportunities.

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As gender equality is a fundamental human right, training opportunities and participation in decision- making at all levels are thesame for men and women in the project. Special focus is placed on empowerment of women in rural regions in order to advancethem to become active and equal participants of the project and in the community.

Involvement of women must be addressed with energy and caution in the future, because participation wasunfortunately lower than expected.

The diverse high-quality forest cover in the area has the ability to improve groundwater availability, which among other thingsresults in the replenishment of springs and therefore contributes to clean and accessible water for everyone. In addition, withthe help of carbon revenue, a water pipe is going to be constructed.

Planting and protection of trees resulted in the replenishment of 12 old springs and the development of1 new spring.

Through the project, several jobs are created, allowing the workers to develop new skills, increase their personal identity andparticipate in social life. Furthermore, it may lead to a reduced need for younger people to migrate to the cities. Training andexchange of technology between project staff and community contributes to higher levels of economic productivity andeconomic growth.

Since the beginning of the project, more than 2000 full time, seasonal and temporary jobshave been created.

To empower rural communities, improvements in infrastructure are essential. For this reason, the cooperatives decided touse carbon revenue for purposes such as the construction of a health centre and an extension of the road system to make theway to school easier.

“[…] the cooperative’s plan: public toilets in every gott [ = sub-village]; constructwater pipe since we have water shortage here; also road to the forest. The decisionsare already made […]” (cooperative member)

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Enhanced representation and a voice in decision-making is ensured for the cooperatives. They have the authority to decide over project choices and distribution of carbon revenue and hold regular meetings to include everyone’s opinion. In addition, the projectis part of a unique partnership between the local community, World Vision Australia/Ethiopia, the Government of Ethiopia and The World Bank.

“Group discussion and interview participants felt strongly motivated to protect the forest […]. They emphasizedthat this was their land, their forest, their project, and that they would not want to see the destruction of the forestagain.” source: Anna Szava, author of the evaluation report

Climate change is now affecting every country, and especially developing countries like Ethiopia. By planting trees, the project helps to mitigate and adapt to climate change. In addition, the community is educated in environmental awareness and climate change. During the project's lifetime, at least 189.000 tCO2e will be sequestered.

“Carbon sequestration is already more than expected. This year the baseline expectation was 19,000 tons, the actual [sequestration] was 22,000 tons (2014). It exceeded the expectations.”(World Vision Ethiopia project staff )

The trees which are planted and protected in the area not only give home to different species of animals, plants and insectsby protecting biodiversity. The forest also regulates the local water flow, reduces soil erosion and floods and provides foodand other non-timber forest products for the community.

At the current stage (2015) the protected area is more than 500 ha, about 1 Mio. trees have been plantedand 76.1 % people reported an increase of wildlife in the protected area.

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Fotos © World Vision Ethiopia / World Vision Australia / ForestFinanceEvaluation Report by Anna Szava