How It Works
When you invest in REDD+ projects, you are helping to fight both tropical deforestation and climate change.
You are helping to save some of the world’s most spectacular forest landscapes.
And you are partnering with forest communities to safeguard the wildlife and ecosystems they steward.
Find out how below.
Tropical deforestation has many causes.
Land conversion for crops, like soy beans, palm oil, coffee, cocoa, rubber, rice, and others
Pasture for cattle grazing
Mining
Resource use, like firewood collection and charcoal or timber production
Tropical forest countries are mostly developing, with few economic opportunities. Unfortunately, that means the only way for people to earn money or to feed themselves is by clearing their forests to produce something that they can sell or eat. That could be farming for food, industrial development, or anything in between. But the underlying incentive is the need to earn an income.
Standing forests have to provide value to these countries and communities. Otherwise, they will always be at risk.
Fortunately, through our partnership with Wildlife Works, you can fund projects that create real solutions. These projects use the REDD+ model, specifically designed to prevent deforestation and keep carbon safely stored in forests.
So what’s REDD+?
Whether individual actions, industrial development, or anything in between, the underlying incentive is the need to earn an income.
Explaining REDD+
REDD stands for Reducing Emissions from Deforestation and Degradation. It’s a UN-approved model specially created to fight climate change by saving forests. The ‘+’ represents all the other things we get from forests. Like biodiversity, livelihoods, wildlife habitat, and much more.
If we don’t stop climate change, we know it’s going to have devastating effects on the world. Extreme weather and natural disasters, like hurricanes, droughts, fires, or flooding, will probably become much worse. These damage homes and cities, and displace people. They also destroy crops and agriculture, leading to food shortages and maybe even famines. All of these hurt people, and they cost society a lot of money. And that’s why we can say that it’s also worth a lot of money to stop climate change.
You may be wondering how this is related to forests. Trees, roots, and soils store carbon dioxide, and lots of it. So keeping them standing avoids releasing carbon into the atmosphere.
We can count how much carbon they store, which means we know how much they’re contributing to stopping climate change. And because that’s worth money, standing forests are worth money too.
But how do we make that real? Through carbon credits, based on the amount of carbon in the forests. That’s the essence of REDD+.
When keeping forests standing is worth real money, suddenly there’s an alternative to cutting them down. And then the carbon stays in the ground.
That’s what our partner, Wildlife Works, does. Each carbon credit is worth a fixed amount of carbon not emitted because a forest is keeping it safely stored. Buying one helps fund real alternatives to deforestation and to climate change.
These projects are the link between you and the forests. They measure the carbon in the forests, stop deforestation, and set up the system for receiving REDD+ payments. To qualify, they have to prove the forests aren’t being cut down.
Campaigns vs. REDD+
REDD+ makes payments when – and only when – project operators prove that they have stopped deforestation. This means that with REDD+ carbon credits, you’re paying for performance.
Compare this to campaigns, which may or may not be successful. Of course, campaigns have their place, and some can be very successful. But a campaign is like funding a Kickstarter, versus going into a store to buy a proven and ready product.
We can say this because REDD+ projects use the Verified Carbon Standard (VCS) developed by Verra. It’s one of two leading standards and has extremely rigorous requirements. First, a neutral third party has to verify that the forests were under threat in the first place. This is to make sure that the project is actually preventing carbon emissions.
Then, every year or two, it has to show that it is successfully stopping deforestation. In other words, it has to prove its forests are still intact and that its activities are directly preventing deforestation. A neutral third party has to verify this too.
Then, and only then, does the project get its carbon credits. And that’s when they are brought to the public and people like you.
Each carbon credit has a unique serial number.
When you make a purchase, the carbon credit is retired permanently. Nobody else can buy it; your contribution is yours and yours alone.
More than just carbon
Forests are incredible places because they store far more than just carbon. They store carbon, provide homes for wildlife, sustain ecosystems, and are central to thriving communities. Through our partnership with Wildlife Works, we connect you to projects that protect all of these values.
That’s why why every Wildlife Works projects also have Gold level Climate, Community, and Biodiversity (CCB) certification.
Verra also manages the CCB standard. It is only awarded to projects that can prove that they create exceptional benefits for communities, ecosystems, and wildlife.
Not only that, it requires plans for creating alternatives to deforestation. These include creating jobs and reducing poverty. They also include building or improving critical services like schools, health clinics, and clean water, among others. So, when you invest in a Wildlife Works project, you are:
preventing carbon from entering the earth’s atmosphere
partnering with forest communities to keep forests thriving
protecting endangered species and biodiversity
saving delicate ecosystems
protecting vital local ecosystem services, like rainfall generation, landslide prevention, and soil erosion control
creating sustainable livelihoods for communities
building opportunities that improve economic security and quality of life
We’ve gone from global climate change to forests to local communities. Let’s put it all together.
With REDD+, fighting climate change is just the tip of the iceberg. It partners with communities. It safeguards vital habitats, many of them home to endangered species. And it helps to create fresh air and rainfall for all living things on the planet.
That’s why we’d say these are the best climate projects out there – and the best way for you to take action.
We think that’s no small thing.