GIERI (Groupe d’Intervention Pour l’Encadrement Et La Rehabilitation Integrale, or, Intervention Group for Farming and Integral Rehabilitation) is a nonprofit organization registered in the Democratic Republic of Congo since 1997. Headquartered in the city of Bukavu, DRC, the goal of the project is to develop methods to sequester carbon and reduce total GHG emissions in the region. The project aims to engage the local population in a long term effort to manage the forest and its resources for growth and sustainability while generating tangible benefits and income. PαC will deploy analyzers within the System of Systems network to provide real time, high frequency data for GHG net emissions over the project area. The data should also be of high interest to African scientists and policy makers as the trend of GHG dynamics is revealed over time. There are few data for GHG dynamics available for this part of Africa. The map inset (Shabunda Region) shows the total area of the Shabunda territory and its relationship to the Kahuzi-Beiga National Park and the Itombwe Nature Preserve. The current project will involve a portion of the Shabunda Territory located in the northwest section of the area shown. The project boundaries are being determined and are under review.
The project developed by GIERI and PαC will contribute to building conditions of peace around the managed environment, Les Forets de da la Paix, and to promote community development across the project area. Forest carbon sequestration through reforestation, improved forest management, agroforestry, afforestation (community forests) and through biodiversity conservation (avoided GHG emissions) will go hand-in-hand with humanitarian programs.
GIERI will use revenue to:
- Improve the nutrition and diet of all persons by upgrading agrarian infrastructure and food security.
- Participate in programs aimed at environmental protection and environmental sanitation.
- Rally community development from local environments based on the initiatives of the local population.
- Actively participate in advocacy for the promotion and socio-economic reintegration of youth.
- Contribute to the alleviation of poverty and vulnerability of the young, the aged and the ill to disaster conditions.
- Contribute to the reconstruction process of peace and community reconciliation.
GIERI has experience in land restoration and environmental project management including the implementation of a project in partnership with Australia Landcare International to reforest the degraded slopes of Kabare and Kasha Hills (2013). GIERI was awarded the Emerging Landcare In Africa Award by the Africa Landcare Network during the 2014 South Africa Landcare Conference in Durbin.
Patrick remarked that the ultimate goal of the project is to “Raise the Human Development Index over the coming generations connecting with the forest and natural resources that we depend upon.”
Update 06-01-2020
PαC Gaia Monitor
Forest Carbon Investment Development Portfolio #2:
GIERI | Shabunda Region, South Kivu Province, DRC, Africa
Les Forêts de la Paix
~200,000 hectares (Phase I: ~89,500 hectares)
PαC Recognizes
MWAMI MOPIPI
Chef De La Cheferie, Kingdom of Bakisi
PLAN DE DEVELOPPEMENT LOCAL (POL) DE LA CHEFFERIE DES BAKISI 2018-2022
A TRIBUTE TO THE LEGA INDIGENOUS PEOPLE AND FORESTS OF THE SHABUNDA REGION
The plan was developed with local communities to improve the health and welfare of the people and protection of the environment
Patrick Ngedo Kaka & Marcel Tshikuta Mulombo
GIERI Executive Management
IN-OPERATION STATUS
Phase I (Step One) Boundary Map Complete, QuantumQarbon forest, and biodiversity conservation offsets are available
Phase II (Step Two) Forest Restoration and Active CO2 Flux Measurements are scheduled to begin in 2021
Project Area Extension Plans in 2021: Western DRC to Boundary with Republic of Congo Including the Cuvette Region of Lake Tumba, Extending North to the Congo River
The Shabunda Region: A Climate Culture Crucible
The Shabunda region is a crucible of Humanity and Nature, a macrocosm of the planet we live on. The lens of the Shabunda project gives us a view of how humanity and nature can coexist as the planet changes. The Lega Indigenous People of the Shabunda region need your support to conserve & restore the rainforest while managing inevitable growth in the region. Alleviation of poverty, access to roads and improvement of health, education, nutrition, and quality of life are central goals of the project leading to social, economic & planetary benefits for all involved.
Right now, the forest is giving way to life-sustaining activities in the region including clearing land for food production and for building materials. We have joined GIERI to slow the advancing wave of forest utilization by supporting forest communities. The Shabunda Project represents the reality of conserving and managing forests on the ground.
We have developed a Two-Step process that first stabilizes the loss of forest through a NO-NEW-LOSS program and then restores the intact forest (NET-FOREST-GAIN) while establishing a buffer zone for growth of species used for building materials, forage, agroforestry, and crop cultivation.
Step One offsets, called QuantumQarbon-NNL, represent avoided emissions and verified conservation units. Verification is made by high-resolution satellite imagery and citizen surveys made by community members who are paid tor their participation. QQ-NL offsets are available for purchase now by voluntary and compliance buyers, large and small. Access the map below to identify the area (horizontal) and time in years that you or your organization wants to protect.
Step Two offsets, called QuantumQarbon-NFG, represent actual in-country direct measurement of CO2 flux that provides a complete carbon accounting for the forest. All net sequestered forest carbon is verified and registered and also available to voluntary and compliance buyers worldwide.
The images below visualize the effort needed to slow the wave of deforestation towards the intact rainforest interior of this region. Just as humanity advances step-by-step into nature, we can step-by-step back from nature, allowing ecosystems time to repair and regrow. In the same step, communities in the region require need access to centers of activity and commerce allowing the transfer of improved agriculture technology, seed stock, health and medicines and materials that result in less pressure on the natural forest.
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Image 1. This image shows the region of the Phase I project area. The red areas mark ground that has been deforested based on satellite imagery (you can access the database here: http://earthenginepartners.appspot.com/science-2013-global-forest). The perimeter was mapped using a GPS satellite receiver via a motorbike along the perimeter. The route is by dirt pathway and various crossings of handmade bridges. The perimeter from Mapimo to Masangk was not traversed as this area is completely covered in rainforest vegetation and cannot be traversed. Thus, this northern perimeter remains intact. The general dirt road otherwise runs through the areas of expanding community activities.
The objective of this project is to provide assistance to the communities to reduce the pressure on the rainforest. The Tribal Chief and leaders have developed a plan that will reduce the pressure on the rainforest. The role of PAC is to provide a mechanism for voluntary and compliance buyers around the world, to participate in this effort to save the rainforest. The intended outcome is to blend the resilience of nature with human activity such that both nature and humanity can co-exist. This is the inevitable outcome for the region. The motivation for this project is driven by the individuals who live in and want to protect the rainforest but also by the larger realization that the Congo Basin could trend towards the degradation of the Brazilian rainforest.
Image 2. This image shows the zonation of the project area (Image 1) according to the density of the village areas. Red indicates the area of highest community activities while the blue area represents the intact rainforest. The zones also represent a way to prioritize the actions needed to assist the communities in reducing the pressure on the forest and “pulling back” or show that there is NO-NEW-LOSS of forest in these areas. The verification of community activities will be made by high-resolution imagery compiled within PAC analytical practices. The imagery analysis will take place twice per year. The resolution is less than 10 hectares, well within the capability to map the difference for each of the grids within the project area. The areas represented by the red, yellow, green, and blue zones are shown on the map. The bottom half of this image shows that we have estimated the number of hectare-years needed to slow the wave of forest pressure by village communities. Each vertical block represents a “year” of intervention on a hectare by hectare basis. Each hectare is assigned a mitigation value of $50. Each vertical hectare stack is assigned a mitigation value of $50 x years (height). The value of the Indigenous People and nature that surround them, is priceless. Our approach is to assign a mitigation value to the area–that is, the estimated cost of improving the community resources such that the pressure on the forest is diminished, certainly that there is NO-NEW-LOSS.
Image 3. This visualization shows 10-hectare grids across the Shabunda region. The village of Kasangati is shown as a key area to provide innovations to reduce the pressure on the interior forest. The height of the “wall” represents the dimension of years of intervention required. For example, the red wall front shows grid cells stacked up to 30 high, representing the 30 years mitigation value for the region. Each grid is tracked and can be identified by voluntary and compliance buyers when purchased.
Image 4. Here you see the actual village of Shabunda nestled in the crook of the Ulindi River. Shabunda village is isolated having no roads and sporadic air support primarily by UN helicopter transport.
Image 5. High resolution of the project area looking into the basin of the intact rainforest interior.