1,000,000,000 dollars worth of carbon credits, 25,000 new jobs
A project within a project
500 years after the discovery of America Gianfranco Paghera, well-known for his commitment to social and environmental issues, has teamed up with missionary priest Father Gianni Mometti to create a project within a project. The vast Amazzonia 501 reforestation project also has a far-reaching social impact, because it creates an eco-friendly and largely sustainable production cycle.
PROJECT AMAZZONIA 501
SPECIAL PROJECTS BY CARBON CREDIT CONSUMER STATES AIMED AT REDUCING CO2 POLLUTION
Carbon credits have their own special global market with economic incentives to reduce greenhouse gases and offset our carbon footprint, with a currency in tons of CO2.
THE SCENARIO
The immensity of Brazil and its rainforests, which cover more than half the total area of the country. A vast, complex and varied eco-system with an amazing array of animal and plant biodiversity. The forest owes its name to the Amazons, the legendary female warriors descended from the god of war, Ares, in the Greek mythological tradition. It was here that the Spanish explorer and conquistador Francisco de Orellana (1511-1546) met, or some say merely heard of, a tribe of female warriors. The tale inspired him to name the mighty river he was exploring the Amazon.
Brazil is the guardian of this huge heritage of humanity, which plays such a vital role in the survival of the whole planet. At the heart of the region flows the Amazon river, the longest river in the world. Together with its tributaries, it is also the largest hydro graphic system in the world by size of basin and volume of water.
But this is a threatened area, in constant danger from ruthless deforestation. Here vast swathes of former forest are being transformed into farming land, and mining companies are constantly prospecting for oil and minerals. But at least the mining companies are legally obliged to make good the environmental damage they do.
PAGHERA STEPS IN
And it was a mining company that contacted Paghera and commissioned the company with the task of revitalising 50,000 hectares of rain forest. This was the genesis of the Amazzonia 501 project, a challenge tackled with all the group’s usual expertise and reliability.
This was a project which entailed an in-depth study of the target environment, combined with sophisticated technology and adequate means. The first step was to take a snapshot analysis of the situation: a chemical profile of the soil and an in-depth study on the local flora and fauna, as well as a climate study. A set of essential data to understand the local environment and evaluate exactly which plants to use for the reforestation, from the tallest trees to the most humble of grasses.
THE SEED BANK
The Svalbard Global Seed Vault in Longyearbyen, Norway, in the archipelago of the Svalbard Islands, is a seed bank housing thousands of seeds from all four corners of the globe. The seeds are preserved at a constant temperature of minus 18 degrees Celsius to ensure their survival. An insurance policy guaranteeing botanic continuity were the traditional genetic heritage to be lost.
So a seed-bank was set up on the spot, together with a hi-tech lab to study the plants, and in particular the exact moment they germinated. Selected seeds were then immersed in an ecological compost of water and natural nutrients to foster the contemporary germination of a number of species. The exact mixture used each time was different, according to the requirements of the project at any given point, the physical and chemical properties of the soil and the climate of the place.
DISTRIBUTION
The compost was then mechanically distributed by aspersion, mainly using helicopters. This created an ideal substrate for plant growth, the plants all germinating rapidly more or less at the same time. Gradually the land blossomed into patches of new green, little self-sufficient ecosystems which could grow independently into forests following the natural ebb and flow of the seasons, without any further help from mankind.
FATHER GIANNI MOMETTI
A PROJECT WITHIN A PROJECT
Just as Paghera is getting into the full swing of the reforestation programmes they meet Father Gianni Mometti, a missionary who has been working in Brazil for years assisting the poor and who was looking for funds to launch a joint project. Father Mometti knows the Amazon region well. He is fully aware of its huge potential and the equally huge problems deriving from the agricultural exploitation of the land when it is turned over to grazing; eroding hectares and hectares of forest all to the greater advantage of the landowners and to the acute disadvantage of the poorer elements of society, who consequently find themselvs in difficulty.
The idea was to create a large number of local smallholdings, all cultivated directly by local farmers, which would provide them with an eco-friendly livelihood without having to cut down a single tree. The Amazon forest is criss-crossed with large rivers, Father Mometti explains. In the winter the abundant rainfall swells these rivers until they burst their banks and flood the surrounding lands for kilometres.
With the arrival of summer the waters recede back into their original river beds, leaving the land well-irrigated and extremely fertile. It is able to sustain up to two harvests of cereals a year, all too necessary to feed the local populations.
The project ensures that every farmer receives a small-holding and a supply of seeds, usually rice, together with a lake to raise roughly 10,000 spawn of typical Amazonian fish, which currently risk extinction. Each farmer also receives 20 pigs, whose manure is used to fertilise the soil in an ecologically sustainable cycle of production where nothing is wasted.
This system renders a family independent, and within a few years they can return their original stake of stock, which will be passed on to another family, who will also become independent and return the original investment and so on. A system that works, says Father Mometti, and that has rescued a large number of families from the poverty trap.
Father Mometti is still full of enthusiasm after more than fifty years spent working with the poor, a tower of strength and energy. He appreciates Paghera’s help on this project and still remembers Michele who, despite his youth, was a pivotal part of the programme. Today there are more than 3500 lakes and the living standards of the local population has improved enormously, especially for the river folk, the ones who live along the banks of the region’s mighty rivers. A small-holding swiftly makes a family economically independent and after a few years they are even able to buy their farms outright from the state with the profits from their labours.
And although the project continues, showing how man can live in the Amazon rainforest in a fully eco-sustainable fashion, the news from Brazil is not good.
A few months ago news of new deforestation in the Amazon basin began to leak out after years of being held in check. The government stepped in immediately, adopting extremely severe measures against the ruthless despoilers. A new report from the Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change (Ipcc) issued last 13 April left little room for doubts. We must cut our CO2 and greenhouse gases emissions drastically. We already have the tools and the technologies, a solution already exists. What is needed is a process of international cooperation involving all the countries in the world. The calculated cost of a rise in global temperature far outstrips any loss to the economy from a conversion to a low carbon emmission ethos.
The Ipcc, the Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change, is a scientific body created in 1988 by the United Nations to study global warming and climate change.
PROJECT AMAZZONIA 501
SPECIAL PROJECTS BY CARBON CREDIT CONSUMER STATES AIMED AT REDUCING CO2 POLLUTION
Carbon credits have their own special global market with economic incentives to reduce greenhouse gases and offset our carbon footprint, with a currency in tons of CO2.
THE SCENARIO
The immensity of Brazil and its rainforests, which cover more than half the total area of the country. A vast, complex and varied eco-system with an amazing array of animal and plant biodiversity. The forest owes its name to the Amazons, the legendary female warriors descended from the god of war, Ares, in the Greek mythological tradition. It was here that the Spanish explorer and conquistador Francisco de Orellana (1511-1546) met, or some say merely heard of, a tribe of female warriors. The tale inspired him to name the mighty river he was exploring the Amazon.
Brazil is the guardian of this huge heritage of humanity, which plays such a vital role in the survival of the whole planet. At the heart of the region flows the Amazon river, the longest river in the world. Together with its tributaries, it is also the largest hydro graphic system in the world by size of basin and volume of water.
But this is a threatened area, in constant danger from ruthless deforestation. Here vast swathes of former forest are being transformed into farming land, and mining companies are constantly prospecting for oil and minerals. But at least the mining companies are legally obliged to make good the environmental damage they do.
PAGHERA STEPS IN
And it was a mining company that contacted Paghera and commissioned the company with the task of revitalising 50,000 hectares of rain forest. This was the genesis of the Amazzonia 501 project, a challenge tackled with all the group’s usual expertise and reliability.
This was a project which entailed an in-depth study of the target environment, combined with sophisticated technology and adequate means. The first step was to take a snapshot analysis of the situation: a chemical profile of the soil and an in-depth study on the local flora and fauna, as well as a climate study. A set of essential data to understand the local environment and evaluate exactly which plants to use for the reforestation, from the tallest trees to the most humble of grasses.
THE SEED BANK
The Svalbard Global Seed Vault in Longyearbyen, Norway, in the archipelago of the Svalbard Islands, is a seed bank housing thousands of seeds from all four corners of the globe. The seeds are preserved at a constant temperature of minus 18 degrees Celsius to ensure their survival. An insurance policy guaranteeing botanic continuity were the traditional genetic heritage to be lost.
So a seed-bank was set up on the spot, together with a hi-tech lab to study the plants, and in particular the exact moment they germinated. Selected seeds were then immersed in an ecological compost of water and natural nutrients to foster the contemporary germination of a number of species. The exact mixture used each time was different, according to the requirements of the project at any given point, the physical and chemical properties of the soil and the climate of the place.
DISTRIBUTION
The compost was then mechanically distributed by aspersion, mainly using helicopters. This created an ideal substrate for plant growth, the plants all germinating rapidly more or less at the same time. Gradually the land blossomed into patches of new green, little self-sufficient ecosystems which could grow independently into forests following the natural ebb and flow of the seasons, without any further help from mankind.
FATHER GIANNI MOMETTI
A PROJECT WITHIN A PROJECT
Just as Paghera is getting into the full swing of the reforestation programmes they meet Father Gianni Mometti, a missionary who has been working in Brazil for years assisting the poor and who was looking for funds to launch a joint project. Father Mometti knows the Amazon region well. He is fully aware of its huge potential and the equally huge problems deriving from the agricultural exploitation of the land when it is turned over to grazing; eroding hectares and hectares of forest all to the greater advantage of the landowners and to the acute disadvantage of the poorer elements of society, who consequently find themselvs in difficulty.
The idea was to create a large number of local smallholdings, all cultivated directly by local farmers, which would provide them with an eco-friendly livelihood without having to cut down a single tree. The Amazon forest is criss-crossed with large rivers, Father Mometti explains. In the winter the abundant rainfall swells these rivers until they burst their banks and flood the surrounding lands for kilometres.
With the arrival of summer the waters recede back into their original river beds, leaving the land well-irrigated and extremely fertile. It is able to sustain up to two harvests of cereals a year, all too necessary to feed the local populations.
The project ensures that every farmer receives a small-holding and a supply of seeds, usually rice, together with a lake to raise roughly 10,000 spawn of typical Amazonian fish, which currently risk extinction. Each farmer also receives 20 pigs, whose manure is used to fertilise the soil in an ecologically sustainable cycle of production where nothing is wasted.
This system renders a family independent, and within a few years they can return their original stake of stock, which will be passed on to another family, who will also become independent and return the original investment and so on. A system that works, says Father Mometti, and that has rescued a large number of families from the poverty trap.
Father Mometti is still full of enthusiasm after more than fifty years spent working with the poor, a tower of strength and energy. He appreciates Paghera’s help on this project and still remembers Michele who, despite his youth, was a pivotal part of the programme. Today there are more than 3500 lakes and the living standards of the local population has improved enormously, especially for the river folk, the ones who live along the banks of the region’s mighty rivers. A small-holding swiftly makes a family economically independent and after a few years they are even able to buy their farms outright from the state with the profits from their labours.
And although the project continues, showing how man can live in the Amazon rainforest in a fully eco-sustainable fashion, the news from Brazil is not good.
A few months ago news of new deforestation in the Amazon basin began to leak out after years of being held in check. The government stepped in immediately, adopting extremely severe measures against the ruthless despoilers. A new report from the Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change (Ipcc) issued last 13 April left little room for doubts. We must cut our CO2 and greenhouse gases emissions drastically. We already have the tools and the technologies, a solution already exists. What is needed is a process of international cooperation involving all the countries in the world. The calculated cost of a rise in global temperature far outstrips any loss to the economy from a conversion to a low carbon emmission ethos.
The Ipcc, the Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change, is a scientific body created in 1988 by the United Nations to study global warming and climate change.
