The Future of Reforestation Carbon Credits

You are about to access MORFO's white paper entitled: "The Future of Reforestation Carbon Credits - Prioritizing biodiversity and socioeconomic benefits for effective carbon sequestration". To access this white paper, please fill in this form:

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Since the creation of MORFO, our aim has been to create the scientific, technical, technological and social conditions necessary for the development of native and resilient forestry projects. These projects need funding. In early 2023, articles were published in the Guardian and Die Zeit on carbon credit systems. These articles questioned the effectiveness of carbon credits linked to forest preservation projects. Although these concerns are somewhat separate from MORFO's ecosystem restoration projects, we felt it was our duty to conduct this research. We reviewed over 300 documents, including scientific studies, company reports, articles and opinions, and interviewed more than 20 experts.

Our central question was straightforward: How can we help finance more reforestation projects? Although criticized, this system enables the preservation and restoration of millions of hectares around the world. It also enables carbon to be stored in the atmosphere or prevented from being released. For the first half of 2023, carbon credit emissions from Nature-based Solutions (NbS) activities were estimated to have reached 58 million MtCO2e, down 10% on H1 2022.

It quickly became clear that the results of our research needed to be shared, for three main reasons:

1. Consensus among the various stakeholders, even those with differing points of view, is that solutions already exist and simply need to be communicated as clearly as possible.
2. We're convinced that biodiversity and economic benefits are essential pillars of reforestation projects.
3. We want local players' financing needs of to be heard.

Preserving and restoring our forests should be at the heart of global investment. At MORFO, we work diligently every day to ensure that these investments translate into impactful and resilient projects. We hope that this document will contribute to the development of many new nature-friendly restoration projects.