The avoided loss carbon markets rely on assumptions about how much forest will be lost over a 25-year period in the absence of an intervention to protect those forests. Various Press articles have exposed the exaggeration of these underlying claims and as a consequence the price of avoided loss carbon has dropped dramatically. This is a shame because funding from avoided loss (REDD+) schemes was one of the best ways that deforestation could be curbed. As a rule rePLANET does not get involved with large-scale avoided forest loss projects because of the uncertainty of the assumptions underpinning them. However, what is the point of funding ecosystem restoration if you are not protecting the best examples of those that are left?
To answer these two contradictory questions, rePLANET has a policy of supporting the protection of ecosystems where high-value biodiversity is under serious and current threat. These projects are generally much smaller than the large-scale REDD+ schemes and are aimed at sites that are pushing species to local extinction. rePLANET has projects in Honduran cloud forest, Transylvania species rich grassland and Mexican lowland forest where protection will prevent local species extinctions.