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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.