Maximising opportunities for sustainable development with A

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Maximising opportunities for sustainable
development with AR CDM projects in Uruguay

• Walter Oyhantçabal
• Ministry of Agriculture
• Uruguay
• Bonn, June 5, 2003
• woyha_at_mgap,gub.uy

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Or Trying to make very high quality projects
(VHQP)Or How to play a win-win game.

• A High Quality CDM Project is one in which
• Host country wins and
• Annex I countries win
• respecting the environmental integrity of the KP

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We know what is climate change...

• 30 more rain compared to 40 years ago !!!!

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Martino et al., sin publicar
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Land use in Uruguay (2002, Ha)

• Native forests 810.812 (4,6)
• Area with planted forests 714.081 (4,0)
• Effective area planted 514.038
• Crops 673.000 (3,7)
• Pastures 14.000.000 Ha. (87,7)
• Country with Reduced Forest Cover (CRFC) less
  than 10 (Teheran Process)

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Natural characteristics of Uruguay and potential
for forests

• Area 17,8 million ha.
• Subtropical/temperate climate pp 1300 mm
• Mean tº 20-16º C
• NPP of planted forest ecosystems medium to high
  (16 to 30 m3/Ha/yr with Eucaliptus)
• 3,3 M Ha classified and identified in cartography
  as forest use priority.
• Degraded Lands 360.000 Ha.

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National forest policy

• Objectivs
• Conservation of natural forests through
  management plans
• Enhance planted forest base in zones of low
  productivity for other agricultural uses.
• Instruments
• Tax exemptions
• Subsidies to plantation costs (50)
• Credit
• RD
• Extension

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(No Transcript)
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Japanese co-operation a key of Uruguayan forest
development

• 1980 JICA-LATU RD equipment
• 1985 JICA-MGAP agreement, Master Plan for
  plantations and use of wood.
• 1990 JICA-MGAP, Forest 5 year Plan
• (in that early time the plan already estimated
  that 100.000 Ha. would remove CO2 equivalent to
  25 of the national emissions of this GHG)
• 1991 JICA-INIA, Tree breeding program.

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Main achivements
1990 2000 Native forest w/management
plans (ha) 14.000 107.000 Total effective
area planted (ha) 45.000 514.000 Annual rate
of plantation (ha) 3.000 52.000 Exports
(millions of US) 13 86 Number
of firms 178 1083 Investment
(millions of US ) lt150
gt900 Employment (N of persons)
1.000 14.000 G forest P/G Agric. P
4 14
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Evolution of the area annually afforested (in Ha.)
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Perspectives for 00

• Annual new areas decrease sharply after 97
• Tendency to stop growth
• Foreign investment in the sector diminishes
• Challenge of industrialization
• Progressive elimination of subsidies to 2007
• Need for new and additional incentives
• CERs?

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Proposals for a portfolio of high quality/clearly
AR and bioenergy additional projects

• Plantations in degraded/severely eroded lands.
• Plantations in grasslands of low productivity
  with no current forest practices.
• Associative afforestation in livestock areas to
  intensify and diversify income and labour
  (reaching scale)
• Combined heat and power generation from sawmills
  wastes and rice husks.

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Strengths of Uruguay to produce high quality CERs

• National Board for Climate Change Projects
• Guidelines and Procedures for CDM project
  submission and National approval available.
• List of criteria and indicators to estimate
  contribution to sustainable development.
• Good Forest Management Practices being elaborated
  for planting, management and harvesting.
• All forest projects with management plans and
  registered in the Ministry of Agriculture.
• Climate and soils make possible to remove in the
  order of 300 ton CO2/Ha in 20 years.

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(Strengths of Uruguay to produce high quality
CERs)

• Uruguay is part of the Montreal Process and
  covers now 20 of the 67 indicators.
• Important process of certification under FSC.
• Long tradition in fire insurances and low primes
  (0,2 of the value of the plantation)
• Lack of conflict for the land.
• Deforestation of natural forests forbidden by the
  law and effectively controlled.
• Most firms show concern for protecting the
  environment and biodiversity in particular.
• Information available to calculate carbon stocks
  and CO2 fluxes in the baseline with reasonable
  accuracy.

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Some weakness also

• Lack of capital to start projects
• Lack of forest culture between cattle farmers.
• Insufficient availability of biomass coefficients
  and growth models. Must be completed to avoid use
  of default values.
• More studies are needed on aspects of nutrients
  and water dynamic in soils under plantations..

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Focus on the key issues to design high quality
AR CDM projects

• Going to national circumstances in Uruguay.....

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1. Non permanence

• Non accounting tools
• Good Practices for Forest Sustainable Management,
  to minimise risk of C losses by fires, pests and
  other disasters, following IPCC GPG.
• Use of insurance
• Diversification of sites to minimise losses.
• Legal guarantees and respect of contracts. No
  risk of illegal human deforestation.
• Monitoring of losses.
• Accounting modalities option to use tCERs

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2. Additionality

• Projects must demonstrate that they are not the
  baseline.
• Identification of barriers.
• The forest area of the country tends to
  stabilise.
• Projects provide new technology and capacities to
  farmers.

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3. Leakage

• Uruguay is a country of Low Forest Cover.
• There is very little chance of negative leakage
  by activity shifting. Moreover, afforestation may
  induce intensification of meat production in the
  non afforested area of the farms, through
  improved pastures, increasing C stocks in soils.
• (not credited in 1º CP)

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4. Socio-economic impacts

• Contribution to sustainable development could be
  seen in
• Diversification and increase of sources of
  income, in farms dedicated only to livestock
  production, may help retain farmers in the
  country.
• Direct and indirect employment generation over
  the baseline (extensive livestock production).
• Replicability
• Technological spill-over
• Capacity building
• Increase of participation in associative forms.
• Promotes innovation process
• Social acceptance
• Care of landscape and ecoturism

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5. Environmental impacts

• Project design shall follow national criteria and
  indicators.
• EIA and mitigation measures implemented.
• Monitoring of relevant indicators following check
  list.
• Afforestation is made on soils of low native
  grassland productivity, or degraded lands.
  Minimum tillage is adopted to minimise erosion
  and emissions of CO2.
• Some evidences show that in Uruguay well managed
  forests might favour wildlife, creating new
  refugees.

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• Measures to preserve biodiversity, including
• Use of more than one species in monoespecific
  patches.
• Leaving not less than 30 of the area with native
  vegetation
• Preserve refugees of native animal species.
• Monitor biodiversity evolution.
• Use of native species to the possible extent.
• Respect completely native forests areas.
• Use IPM and minimise use of contaminant
  pesticides.

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To finalize

• We can agree that the challenge is to identify
  and implement AR CDM projects of high quality in
  terms of socio-economic and environmental
  co-benefits.
• But we need to learn by doing. Uruguay, among
  other countries, accept the challenge. And we
  want to start now.

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Thank you very much !!!!

• Comments are welcomed to woyha_at_mgap.gub.uy