Rainforest Alliance

This project involves activities that group together 13 private landowners to reforest 346 hectares of degraded grasslands in the Río Pachijal and Río Mira watersheds in Pichincha and Imbabura provinces of Ecuador, respectively. Among this project’s major goals is obtaining both VCS and CCBA validation to be able to demonstrate carbon, community and biodiversity claims objectively.The project intends to generate GHG benefits of 6,972.79 tCO2e per year over the crediting period. With project success both of the Project Proponents aim to become carbon neutral or carbon negative in their activities which will generate a win-win-win scenario with climate change mitigation at the forefront, then positive community impacts, followed by habitat restoration and creation.

The project foresees net positive community impacts and especially regarding the creation of jobs in the project zone. The High Conservation Values in the project zone identified by the different communities during the various consultation meetings will all be protected in differing degrees by project activity.1 The HCVs can be summarized as 2 different Important Bird Areas, high numbers of threatened and endangered bird species, two vulnerable and 4 near threatened mammal species, and the critical environmental services of specific water catchments and erosion protection in a watershed listed as in danger of desertification.