A forest burned for agricultural purposes.
Mexico will lead the way in reforestation projects pledged during a climate change conference this week in Lima, Peru.
Eight Latin American countries will replant 20 million hectares of degraded land by the year 2020 in a project known as Initiative 20×20.
Of those 20 million hectares, Mexico will plant 8.5 million under the plan, which will be financed by five private investment funds that have committed a total of US $365 million.
The pledges were made yesterday at the United Nations Framework Convention on Climate Change, where the project was announced by one of the conservation groups behind it, the World Resources Institute in Washington, DC. Walter Vergara, a senior fellow at the institute, says Latin America has lost about 36 million hectares of forest and grassland to agriculture in just 14 years.
The region is growing more food but it is being done at the expense of virgin forest and grassland, said Vergara. Converting that land for agriculture and livestock accounts for nearly half of all greenhouse gas emissions in the region, the institute says.
Instead of funding the project with grants from charities, it is turning to investment funds looking to make a profit.
The largest contribution will be made by Luxembourg-based Althelia Climate Fund, which invests in agro-forestry projects near protected areas. “We want to build a credible business case so that bigger tickets will follow,” said a managing partner of the fund, Christian del Valle.
The idea is to plant trees on land currently used for agriculture, helping the land retain water, thereby adding to its productivity and providing shelter for animals. In the long term, the trees can be harvested to provide farmers with more income.
That process can produce significant results, says the technical director of the Moringa Fund, which also invests in Latin America, as well as Africa. Clement Chénost said a patch of trees can improve pasture land by as much as six times, which means less acreage can sustain more livestock.
Other countries that have pledged to join the initiative are Peru with 3.2 million hectares, Guatemala 1.2 million, Colombia 1 million, Ecuador 500,000, Chile 100,000 and Costa Rica 50,000 hectares.
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