Terrain Natural Resource Management, based in Innisfail, has been working closely with Biocarbon Pty Ltd since 2007 to pilot the joint Degree Celsius terrestrial carbon initiative. This project, recently recognised by the Eureka Prize for Innovative Solutions to Climate Change, has provided a framework for land managers to participate in aggregated regional biocarbon pools.
Degree Celsius manager, Penny van Oosterzee, said, “The Degree Celsius model is the only model of its kind that takes this regional approach to carbon aggregation, allowing land managers of all sizes to participate in carbon trading initiatives, and overcoming many of the challenges faced particularly by smaller land managers, such as transaction and compliance costs, risk and monitoring.”
“Models like Degree Celsius are so important to manage” she said. “It will simply not be possible to curb dangerous climate change without bold initiatives within the agricultural and forestry sectors, such as this one, and we are hoping to roll out the model across Australia.”
Global scientific consensus is that the agriculture, forestry and landuse sector is as important as the energy sector in any comprehensive approach to dealing with climate change. As a result, Terrain has been working with Biocarbon Pty Ltd to establish a business model that will achieve substantial mitigation of carbon emissions within these sectors.
“We’ve done a lot of work with land managers over the past two years,” said Penny. “Now, global auditor, the Rainforest Alliance, is currently auditing this project for accreditation under the Carbon, Community and Biodiversity Standard, which is a fantastic next step.”
“The pilot work has been extremely instructive, allowing us to take the debate from theory and speculation to what actually happens when proposed national and international protocols are applied in the Australian landscape. Most of the landholders joining the Degree Celsius initiative have been farmers, keen to use the project to get on the front foot with any future state and federal government carbon trading plans (like the Carbon Pollution Reduction Scheme).”
Degree Celsius is helping to forge new opportunities and income streams for regional communities in a changing world. Already, the Wet Tropics Project is a functional demonstration of how regional communities, and regional natural resource management groups, can work together to achieve ecosystem services.
Photograph: Degree Celsius team, L-R: Dr Allan Dale (Terrain CEO), Mike Berwick (Terrain Chair), Penny van Oosterzee (Joint Venture Partner Degree Celsius), Gavin Kay (Degree Celsius Field Officer), and Noel Preece (Joint Venture Partner Degree Celsius).
.jpg "Terrain July 09 021 (Small).jpg")
