Nicaforest
– the high-impact reforestation project
Nicaforest is a high-impact reforestation project based in Nicaragua, the second poorest country in the Western Hemisphere. A land that has faced significant challenges due to deforestation, including biodiversity loss, animal species extinction, soil erosion, and climate change. Limited resources have made it challenging to restore the natural environment and establish a sustainable community in the region.
To address these issues, the Nicaforest reforestation project has dedicated its efforts to contribute to the local community, creating an impact far beyond mitigating emissions. In addition to planting trees on degraded land, their work includes various environmental, economic, and social initiatives that aim to create long-term value for everyone involved. They have contributed to establishing a sustainable value chain with local landowners in a Shared Benefit Scheme, protecting natural forests, and providing access to decent work and quality education about sustainable forestry.
Nicaforest has removed 98000 tons of CO2. These Gold Standard-certified carbon credits are sold into the voluntary carbon market worldwide. Nicaforest protects approx. 490 hectares of land divided into 4 different land areas. 110 hectares is natural forest that remains unharmed, 345 hectares are reforested land and about 35 hectares are watershed areas and infrastructure.
Three pillars for better impact
Nicaforest centers its efforts around three main pillars that collectively contribute to a long-term vision for a sustainable future: protecting areas and reforestation, establishing a sustainable value chain, and fostering social responsibility through education, health, equality, and economic growth.
1. Protected Areas & Reforestation
Nicaforest oversees nearly 500 hectares of land, including both natural forests and reforested areas, with approximately 100 hectares designated as protected areas. Maintaining and restoring forests is an integral part of improving the health of the ecosystem, providing a crucial habitat for a wide range of animals and plants. Nicaforest also places a strong focus on watershed management within its plantations and actively promotes watershed development in the surrounding community.
2. Sustainable Value Chain
Nicaforest optimizes value throughout its entire operational chain by implementing a range of strategic initiatives. These include planting trees on deforested land, facilitating intercrop food production, efficient forest management, accessing carbon and timber markets, replanting harvested trees, and strategically expanding to new planting sites. Through shared benefits agreements with local farmers, Nicaforest ensures a continuous revenue stream, rather than short-term benefits. By granting farmers access to carbon and timber markets, the reforestation project provides an economically viable alternative to cattle ranching.
3. Social Impact
Nicaforest provides quality education in sustainable development and forestry, offering theoretical lectures and hands-on experience to students ranging from primary schools to universities. The reforestation project actively aims to foster good health, and well-being, and to reduce poverty with initiatives such as ensuring food security for the local community through intercrop food production. They also promote gender equality through various employment practices, training opportunities, contract allocation, engagement processes, and management activities. Aligning with the FSC™ certification's emphasis on equal opportunities for all genders in certified projects.
Nicaforest Certifications
The Nicaforest reforestation project is a highly verified project that holds rigorous international certifications. The Forest Stewardship Council™ and the Gold Standard for the Global Goals certification are both crucial in affirming Nicaforest's high standards, positive impact, and commitment to fostering a sustainable future in the region.
Forest Stewardship Council FSC™
FSC™ is a global non-profit organization dedicated to promoting responsible forestry. FSC™ certifies forests worldwide to ensure they meet the highest environmental, social and economic standards. Through their work, they ensure that stakeholders throughout the forest supply chain live up to the principles that protect healthy and resilient forests for all, forever.
See technical information for the Nicaforest FSC certification here:
Gold Standard for the Global Goals
The Gold Standard organization, founded in 2003 by WWF and other international NGOs, offers the Gold Standard for the Global Goals certification. This certification ensures that projects aimed at reducing carbon emissions not only maintain the highest levels of environmental integrity but also actively contribute to and report progress on the United Nations Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs). Progress reporting follows the Gold Standard methodology and is supervised by SustainCERT, a certification body specializing in carbon credits and other environmental credits.
Through this certification, Nicaforest reports on the following SDGs:
SDG 4. Quality Education
The Nicaforest Reforestation program arranges internships for college and university-level students (between ages 20-24) and working adults (NF employees aged 21-40) on an annual basis. These internships are aimed at enhancing their practical skills in forest management through a learn-by-doing approach, complemented with some theoretical instruction.
SDG 8. Decent Work and Economic Growth
The pursuit of fair employment opportunities and robust economic progress for everyone is a crucial aspect of a sustainable value chain. With the Nicaforest project, we are committed to fostering long-lasting, inclusive, and sustainable economic growth across all aspects of our operations.
SDG 13. Climate Action
Ensuring the health and preservation of our forests is an essential component of promoting the well-being of the entire ecosystem. As part of the initial phase of the Nicaforest project, we have already planted 360,000 trees, leading to a rise in local biomass and a significant positive impact on the environment. To maximize our impact, we employ the Gold Standard methodologies which means we exclusively plant on land that has been deforested for at least 10 years.
The Nicaforest Land Cluster
Nicaforest has outlined a reforestation program in six selected municipalities since 2010: El Rama, Villa Sandino, El Coral, Santo Tomas, Nueva Guinea, and Muelle de los Bueyes. These municipalities represent a cluster area where deforestation and degradation of land are particularly visible. Since the end of 1989, the region has lost over 540,000 hectares (more than 1.3 million acres) of forests. To help a region in need of environmental action, Across Nature, in cooperation with our pilot project Nicaforest, seeks to drive high-impact carbon removal opportunities across the cluster area, utilizing both procured and leased land.
More information about the high-impact reforestation project on Nicaforest.com.
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