Join me today, where I speak to Tony Simons, Senior Fellow of UNCCD G20 Initiative and CIFOR/ICRAF. His wealth of experience shines through in this conversation, where he describes the Managalas project, in Papua New Guinea, a country with more than 90% forest cover where 97% of the land is community held. The project truly connects how conservation meets community needs. Though carbon is a piece of the puzzle, Tony explains how valuing such a project on carbon alone is a false representation of the value these forests deliver. We discuss the financing mechanism and multi-stakeholder involvement behind this project and much more.
And so the big problem for forest conservation is that forests and forest protection has been equated to carbon and it's so wrong. I mean, we would not allow it or stand for it in any other sector or domain.
We want the benefits from forestry at a local level for the communities at a national level in terms of sovereignty and responsibility and at a global level. And we've just hidden those benefits from humanity. And if we really value forests and we think, well, you know, forests were these things created 380 million years ago when CO2 was 4000 parts per million, 10 times what it is today. And it brought down the world's temperature by 10 degrees.
Tony Simons LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/tony-simons-359b09b/
Center for International Forestry Research and World Agroforestry (CIFOR-ICRAF): https://www.cifor-icraf.org/
Global Canopy: https://globalcanopy.org/
The Managalas Project: https://themanagalasproject.com/
Favourite trees: Guaiacum sanctum, Mangifera indica (mango tree), Quercus robur (oak tree)
Host: Shauna Matkovich from The ForestLink
Producer and editor: Magdalena Laas from Unscripted Creatives
02:03
Overview - Tony's background
05:30
Greenwashing evolution
12:56
Papua New Guinea Managalas Project
17:50
Financial stakeholders - approvers, enablers, and implementers
22:38
Fungible value and non-fungible aspects of the project
27:08
Rules of engagement - corporations and communities
33:31
Local community trust - carbon markets - partners/funders - revenue stream
38:19
What's in it for corporates funding the project?
43:00
Key successes of the project & lessons shared
45:49
Importance of land use planning & management
49:00
Actionable forestry investment advice
Nature by MaxKoMusic/Soundcloud
Sopwell Woodlands and Scohaboy Bog SAC, Cloughjordan, Co Tipperary, IRELAND by wild_rumpus/Soundcloud
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