Rainforest Alliance

The FSM-REDD PROJECT will reduce GHG emissions by stopping deforestation of degraded to mature forests at the frontier that has been expanding historically and will continue to expand in the future, as a result of improved access to forests, while regional development continues. The deforestation pressure in the State of Mato Grosso is mostly the result of illegal land-grabbing by invasion of private lands, using to such objective logging, slash-and-burning and cattle-ranching. These pressures can be extremely threatening, given the lack of governmental infrastructure and law enforcement to preserve privately owned lands in the region.

The privately owned 71,714 hectare Florestal Santa Maria REDD Project is located in Colniza, Mato Grosso.  The Florestal Santa Maria forest estate is a rural property solely dedicated to sustainable management of natural forests.  The FSM farm is one of the few sites in the region that still preserves all native forest. The ongoing activities of forest stewardship through logging management at FSM farm requires the supplementation of this activity with income arising from the payment for environmental services (by valuating the services for keeping the forest standing) which, at this point, is only available through mechanisms derived from the UNFCCC and Voluntary Carbon Markets, within the emerging concepts of REDD.

The FSM-REDD Project aims at assuring the continuation of ongoing activities for forest protection, by engaging with local communities in activities related to forest stewardship on the FSM farm, ensuring the long-term protection of the area and opposition to invasion by land grabbers, improving local security through project monitoring and public sharing of information, and creating incentives to recover degraded areas surrounding the property.