When you buy a carbon credit from the ArBolivia project you are not just paying for a “tonne of carbon” – you are helping to raise some of the poorest communities in the world from the poverty which drives the vicious cycle of slash and burn farming & deforestation and protect biodiversity in one of the most precious habitats on Earth – the Amazon rainforest—, where deforestation is fuelled by poverty.
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The average smallholding is 25 hectares – more than 15 times as much: Whilst some of this land has been cleared for farming much of it is still virgin forest – and your contribution helps it stay that way. It provides impoverished farmers like Emma with professional land management support for her entire holding so that she can increase her farming yields and retain soil fertility for her crops. This means she can earn more income to provide for her family – her two elderly parents and 4 children.
Our “permaculture” methods are also far less labour intensive – which means less backbreaking manual work for her in the sweltering heat of the jungle - and they also lead to higher levels of carbon capture in both plants and soil. In addition to the trees which qualify for credits, we also plant a further 20% in separate areas purely for conservation and repair—especially for control against flooding. Furthermore we also pay her; rent for the use of her land to grow trees compensation for the loss of immediate income from crops, whilst the trees are growing remuneration for her labour in maintaining her trees.
Perhaps most important of all is that you provide people like Emma with HOPE for a better future for her children and her community, who will ultimately benefit from the revenues from mature trees.