The DRC hosts 100 million+ hectares of rainforest and communities that live in and protect the forest, a bold large-scale plan is needed to stop deforestation, now and for future generations
admin by admin March 12, 2021
CAMBRIDGE, MA, March 10, 2021 /24-7PressRelease/ — The Democratic Republic of Congo (DRC) hosts 100+ million hectares of primary rainforest within the Congo Basin, Africa. Will the DRC suffer from high rates of deforestation similar to that of the Amazon? Will the endangered okapi, endemic to the DRC forests, survive in the future? Three organizations, GIERI asbl, BDC sarl of the DRC and Planet Alpha Corp. of Cambridge, MA, USA, are embarking on a bold, long-term plan to conserve the forest and the Indigenous Peoples who protect and depend on them.
Patrick Kakka, executive director of GIERI, remarked, “We people from Shabunda, as Bantu, stand for ubuntu or ‘humanity.’ Our ubuntu pushes us to share with humanity what nature gave us — the Shabunda forest: Help us to save and protect it.”
Efforts to stop deforestation based on the trading of forest carbon credits have been mostly ineffective. Typically, offsets are purchased to equalize the buyer’s emissions, but this approach is not easily quantified and lacks verification. Promises of net-zero scenarios, popular with corporations, also lack verification. Planet Alpha Corp employs direct in-country measurement of CO2 flux to quantify and validate stored carbon. Typical estimation protocols are not used to create carbon credits.
Further, Mrs. Gaëlle Mbalula, BDC, commented, “Since 2017, the BDC has been involved with the province of Mai Ndombe by endowing the BDC with 900,000 hectares. One of the goals is the financing of large forest conservation and restoration projects — this greater effort could have a positive and lasting impact on the region — we look forward to developing and implementing the efforts of Planet Alpha Corp.”
The 30-year agreements call for a two-phase process. Phase I stabilizes canopy loss, and Phase II implements long-term forest restoration, producing directly measured and verifiable products that must cover the 30 years, creating legacy forests for humanity and the planet.
Bruno D.V. Marino, CEO of Planet Alpha Corp, remarked, “It is time for transparent carbon accounting; one-off, throwaway credits that cannot be verified are worse than doing nothing. [They are] denying landowners and stakeholders the long-term planetary benefits and revenue needed to manage climate change. African rainforests are the sleeping giant of carbon emissions unless real action is taken to preserve them, primarily by supporting forest communities.”
Direct measurement changes everything, equalizing voluntary and compliance product pricing and ensuring equity for forest communities and indigenous peoples. Solar energy, improvements in health care, education and agricultural production are among the intended benefits for the region.
Phase I of the Shabunda Project is underway offering individuals, corporations and air travelers unique forest conservation products that will save and nurture the Shabunda Forest and communities into the future.
About Planet Alpha Corp., Cambridge, MA, USA www.planetalphaforest.earth. Planet Alpha Corp. is an American early-stage company bringing direct measurement of greenhouse gases to the GHG trading markets compared to estimation-based protocols.
About GIERI Asbl, Bukavu, DRC, Africa www.gieri.org. Groupe d’Intervention pour l’Encadrement et la Rehabilitation Integrale is a DRC NGO focused on supporting forest communities that live in and protect the forest.
BDC Sarl, Kinshasha, DRC, Africa, Banque de Développement du Congo, is a limited liability company operating in the DRC assisting NGOs in project development.
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