SternAAlbifrons wrote: ↑Sat Jul 10, 2021 10:52 pm National parks, marine parks, world heritage sites, clean air and water acts, threatened species protection, heritage buildings and precincts not bulldozed, all kinds of poison and pollution laws... etc etc etc

Nearly all of these are given a "no chance" by the nay sayers when they are first proposed in the West.
The proponents are usually called fools, ratbags, anti-society, anti economy.
eg. I am often labelled an arsehole simply because i want to protect some shit or another.
If it was for my personality i could understand it - but ffs, for pushing for a marine park? That makes me both a fool and an arsehole in the eyes of a sizable % of the Au population.
(The park by the way is now a raging success on all levels)

Yet these measures (first paragraph) are all now institutions that 95% of our populations support as being absolutely crucial to our well being.
(ok, maybe only 94% of CEO readers. )

Fact is. Despite all - Cambodia is a much better place than it would have been without the conservation efforts of the the past 30 years.

The efforts of the new and future generations of Cambodians who will keep fighting instead of just throwing in the towel, will be disparaged. They will be abused. A few will get locked up or be murdered. People will roll their eyes and many will spit.
They will never be thanked, but some of their work will also go on to become treasured national institutions.
arseholes, clueless too

I didn't disagree about any of that. My point is that this program has been a failure. The fact that Virgin and others are pulling out is a clear sign. I work in the countryside and over the past ten years, the amount of deforestation has been staggering. I'm happy when I see younger people pushing for environmental protection and improvements in quality of life in the city (sadly, some of them get jailed). However, the fact of the matter is, the government has not deemed this a priority (many people involved have a lot of $$$ at stake) and as such, the efforts put into conservation are really low. Just last week as I was in an area and counted 20+ loggers taking out logs ~1.5 in diameter. No one stopping them, easy-peasy. As the price of lumber soars (because of scarcity), there is even more incentive to log... Meanwhile, there is little interest here in long-term thinking and getting timber plantations going because the ROI is too viewed as too far away (though setting these up 15 -20 years ago might very well have taken away pressure on natural old-growth forests). I'm all for innovation and new ideas (carbon purchasing was good in some ways), but when they're proven to be failures in certain countries or environments, then it's time to move on to something else.

Long read:
High deforestation trajectories in Cambodia slowly transformed through economic land concession restrictions and strategic execution of REDD+ protected areas

Maren Pauly, Will Crosse & Joshua Tosteson
Scientific Reports volume 12, Article number: 17102 (2022)
Abstract

Protected Areas (PAs) are continuously being established in tropical forests in an effort to preserve biodiversity and reduce deforestation. It was recently demonstrated that PAs are more effective at reducing forest loss than unprotected control sites across southeast Asia. The voluntary REDD+ scheme offers a new framework for the protection of high deforestation landscapes, jurisdictions, and countries backed by international carbon finance. Here we analyzed the economic drivers of deforestation in Cambodia and the effectiveness of 3 REDD+ projects vs. adjacent protected areas. We find that Economic Land Concessions were a predominant driver of deforestation in Cambodia and influenced the trajectory of illegal forest conversion in PAs. Furthermore, REDD+ projects offer significantly more protection against deforestation than adjacent PAs in two of the three analyzed cases, likely due to enhanced funding enabling implementation of targeted community activities and rigorous monitoring and enforcement.

Despite global agreements to reduce deforestation, forest loss is progressing across the tropics at an alarming rate1. This is particularly concerning in light of the imperative to halt deforestation completely within this decade in order to achieve the Paris Agreement goal of stabilizing global warming at 1.5°C2.

In an attempt to reduce deforestation, terrestrial protected areas are being established to conserve the final remaining large expanses of tropical forests, which are currently releasing significant amounts of carbon (1.1PgC/yr) as a result of land use change3. In theory, protecting vast areas of tropical forest would be a credible solution—safeguarding both carbon and biodiversity. However, protection on paper does not necessarily translate to protection on the ground—particularly in regions of limited resources, high background deforestation and low rule of law. Unsustainable land use change tends to be more profitable than leaving the forest standing4—making it difficult to effectively prevent forest loss through policy interventions alone. The question therefore remains—how effective are national protected areas in reality?
https://www.nature.com/articles/s41598-022-19660-0

I stopped when I got to purchasing carbon credits. Really? Li0ke the bullshit credit reporting agencies? You can buy an app and your credit rating goes higher in points? How credible is that. From global warming to climate change since so many "scientists" were called to task of proving their lies. Did you see the latest on the "pandemic" and "vaccine" in mainstream media today? More and more often will that happen too.

Quit burning things...it doesn't just "go up in the air and disappear" It's extremely toxic for a very long time

Make company trucks and other vehicles put catalytic converters on their vehicles...make gas unleaded. Have you seenbthe huge black clouds of smoke coming from some of the well known beer distributors trucks? Maybe its part of Agenda 21. Pathetic.

Assign someone to enforce waterway dumping rules and rotate those workers and test their honesty often.

Wake up people! Now go get your boosters and return to see if you have enough carbon credits left from your daily breathing so as to be allowed to have a cup of coffee or have a muffin by those who enslave you while they want to and will diddle your children.

Facts of Life = Do something REAL about the problems of the world, when they are there, or sit down and shut up.

Mister Nice Guy wrote:Facts of Life = Do something REAL about the problems of the world, when they are there, or sit down and shut up.

Umm… those people are in Prey Sar right now or currently have warrants for their arrest.

Anyone willing to join them?

An investigation is proceding into the Southern Cardamom REDD+ project, concerning alleged human rights abuses.

Verra Opens Investigation into Wildlife Alliance’s REDD+ Project
CamboJA News
21 June 2023 8:06 PM
Andrew Califf
Seoung Nimol

An international organization managing global forest conservation projects has opened an investigation into the Southern Cardamom REDD+ project run by the NGO Wildlife Alliance and the Environment Ministry.

In a letter dated June 19, Verra told Wildlife Alliance and Environment Ministry that it had received “stakeholder comments” on May 30 about the Southern Cardamom REDD+ Project and “deems these comments to warrant further investigation.”

The NGO Human Rights Watch told CamboJA it has been investigating “allegations of human rights abuses in the context of the Southern Cardamom REDD+ Project” since April 2022.

“We have shared our preliminary findings with the implementers of the project, the firms that audited the project, and, most recently, with Verra,” Human Rights Watch told CamboJA on Wednesday. “We hope Verra’s actions lead to comprehensive remediation of the harms we have documented.”

“Verra will conduct the review and while the review is ongoing, any further credit or label issuance is suspended,” Verra’s chief program management officer Farhan Ahmed stated in the letter.

Wildlife Alliance oversees a 450,000 hectare REDD+ zone encompassing the Southern Cardamom National Park and Tatai Wildlife Sanctuary.

REDD+ stands for “reducing emissions from deforestation and forest degradation in developing countries” according to the United Nations. Private companies can invest in the REDD+ project’s forest conservation efforts to offset their carbon emissions.

Wildlife Alliance did not respond to phone calls or emails from CamboJA on Wednesday.

Ministry of Environment Undersecretary of State Chuop Paris, who Verra addressed directly in its letter, told CamboJA he had not yet read the document.

“I didn’t open it, I didn’t have time to read it yet,” said Paris, who is the primary contact between the Environment Ministry and REDD+ project coordinators.

Everland, the company which markets and sells credits from the Southern Cardamom REDD+ project, said it planned to issue a statement. Everland’s president Josh Tosteson declined to comment when reached by phone on Wednesday.

Verra’s letter cites concerns surrounding compliance with its guidelines, including the Climate, Community, and Biodiversity (CCB) Program Rules. Failure to comply with these guidelines could lead Verra to suspend the REDD+ project.

The CCB standards mandate “developing projects that deliver credible and significant climate, community and biodiversity benefits in an integrated and sustainable manner.”

Koh Kong province native Ven Vorn, a representative of the Chorng indigenous community living inside the REDD+ project, said that “this REDD+ project does not allow people to use non-timber forest products.”

Vorn said the REDD+ project had supported local communities with infrastructure such as roads and wells, and that people appreciated the investment.

But Vorn expressed concern that the REDD+ project had decreased access to fruits, vegetables and other products they had traditionally relied on for subsistence and livelihood needs. Around 4,000 people live in more than 20 villages inside the REDD+ zone, according to Verra’s website.

“If the REDD+ project creates a community forest to enable the community to use non-timber forest products, that is a good thing,” Vorn declared. “But this REDD+ project does not allow people to use non-timber forest products.”

Vorn also stated the Chorng community has been banned from farming in certain areas as government officials engage in a long-delayed land zoning process.

“For all issues related to zoning, conservation, and the use of non-timber forest products in the REDD+ project, Wildlife Alliance, as well as environmental officials, do not have a detailed meeting to provide information to the people and do not set clear zoning for the people,” Vorn said. “That’s causing problems with the people.”

Another Chorng environmental activist living inside the REDD+ project, Ream Saosea, said she believed the REDD+ project had helped decrease illegal logging.

“I would regret it if the project is withdrawn,” she said. “When it [the forest] is too open, it will deplete natural resources.”

Everland claims the REDD+ project has offset more than 27 million tons of carbon emissions.

Southern Cardamom National Park and Tatai Wildlife Sanctuary are also home to endangered species such as the Giant Ibis, the Sun Bear and Pileated gibbon.

Yet Seaosea said authorities lacked mutual understanding of the rights of indigenous peoples in the area.

Wildlife Alliance employs a “fortress conservation” style approach which has controversially involved burning homes, farming equipment and paramilitary-style operations with government rangers and military police to clamp down on alleged land encroachment and deforestation.

The Environment Ministry has reportedly arrested indigenous peoples in other communities for living and farming inside protected areas, even though the farmers say they have traditionally lived on that land.

“Sometimes they [authorities] do the right thing but hit the wrong target,” Seosea said. “They [arrest] the communities that use non-timber forest products, not the timber loggers, they never arrest them.”

Verra told Wildlife Alliance and the Ministry of Environment that written responses must be provided following the findings of its report.
https://cambojanews.com/verra-opens-inv ... d-project/

So the wise powers that be cut down the forest and arrest locals, but the NGO is the one being investigated for human rights abuses?

Is this one of the useless NGOs that Iron Man wants to ban?

I’m confused. Just want to get my facts straight.

Long read:

Illegally harvested logs confiscated by authorities at Keo Seima Wildlife Sanctuary in Cambodia. Part of the sanctuary overlaps with a REDD+ project that was part of the study by Thales West and his colleagues. Image by John Cannon/Mongabay.

REDD+ projects falling far short of claimed carbon cuts, study finds
by John Cannon on 25 August 2023

New research reveals that forest carbon credits are not offsetting the vast majority of emissions that providers claim.
A team of scientists looked at 26 REDD+ deforestation-prevention project sites on three continents, leading to questions about how the developers calculate the impact of their projects.
The researchers found that about 94% of the credits from these projects don’t represent real reductions in carbon emissions.
Verra, the world’s largest carbon credit certifier, said the methods the team used to arrive at that conclusion were flawed, but also added it was in the process of overhauling its own REDD+ standards.

A study has found that the vast majority of the carbon credits from a set of forest conservation projects on three continents aren’t “offsetting” the emissions of the companies and individuals who purchase them.

The researchers found that about 94% of the credits from the projects they looked at don’t represent real reductions in carbon emissions.

“They’re not reducing as much deforestation as they claim to be,” study lead author Thales West, an assistant professor of environmental geography at Vrije Universiteit Amsterdam in the Netherlands, told Mongabay. Some projects don’t appear to be diminishing forest loss at all, he added.

The study was published Aug. 24 in the journal Science. An earlier version was a basis for reporting by The Guardian and several other news outlets beginning in January 2023 concluding that many carbon offsets were “worthless.”

Offsets that don’t represent reductions in deforestation and emissions threaten the flow of funding for forest conservation, Julia P.G. Jones and Simon Lewis, two scientists based in the U.K. who were not involved in the study, wrote in a related commentary for Science, also published Aug. 24. Once-interested companies may shy away from investing in carbon credits if they think they might be called out for trying to “greenwash” their image, Jones and Lewis added.

West and his colleagues analyzed the performance of 26 REDD+ project sites in Southeast Asia, Africa and South America, focusing on 18 that had enough publicly available information on the deforestation baselines used for their calculations.
Read on: https://news.mongabay.com/2023/08/redd- ... udy-finds/

Over 2,000 families getting what they ask for from REDD+
Publication date 14 September 2023 | 13:08 ICT
Through the Southern Cardamoms REDD+ project, Wildlife Alliance and the Ministry of Environment have helped more than 2,000 Koh Kong Indigenous people and local community families with sustainable livelihoods, access to clean water, roads and toilets, and even college education.

All these benefits were developed in response to the requests and inputs of villagers living in rural Koh Kong province.

“REDD+” stands for Reducing Emissions from Deforestation and Forest Degradation, and the Southern Cardamom REDD+ Project has been led by the Ministry of Environment and implemented by Wildlife Alliance since 2015.

The project generates revenue from carbon credit sales, a large portion of which is used to finance benefits for local communities as well as environmental conservation.

Where villagers previously had to walk more than five kilometres to reach a dirty pond for water, 94 solar-powered water wells now provide convenient access to clean water for over 1,800 families.

Five different roads of five kilometres and longer have been built to improve access to markets for isolated villages. Sanitation has also been improved, with 74 toilets installed across the province.

A school has been built for primary students, and 16 students from poor or orphaned families have received full scholarships to attend university in Phnom Penh.

Almost 500 families now have sustainable livelihoods through community-based eco-tourism, so they don’t have to depend on the forest for income.

Before projects like these are implemented, Wildlife Alliance conducts a comprehensive series of community consultation meetings and surveys to understand the needs of the villagers, receive suggestions and solicit requests for infrastructure and livelihoods projects.

After a plan is developed in coordination with Indigenous people and members of local communities and local authorities, the consent of families is submitted through the village chief before a project begins.

Grievance Boxes are also installed in designated neutral and easily accessible areas such as a commune hall or village chief’s house, into which Indigenous people and members of local communities can drop their concerns, complaints and suggestions following the project Feedback and Grievance Redress procedure in place.
https://m.phnompenhpost.com/national/ov ... y-ask-redd