Ministry of Environment and Energy (MINAE)

Conservación y Manejo de Bosques Tropicales (COMBOS)

Regenwald der Osterreicher

Tenaska Washington Partners II, L.P

National Fish and Wildlife Foundation (NFWF)

Item

Name of organization (original language)

Name of individual if unaffiliated with any organization

Ministerio de Ambiente y Energía-formerly Ministerio de Recursos Naturales, Energía y Minas

Name of organization (English)

Ministry of Environment and Energy-formerly Ministry of Natural Resources, Energy and Mines

Acronym (original language)

MINAE, formerly MIRENEM

Acronym (English)

None

Department

Function(s) within the AIJ project activities

Government regulation/oversight and monitoring/verification

Street

Apartado 8-5810-1000

City

San José

State

Post code

Country

Costa Rica

Telephone

Fax

E-mail

World Wide Web-URL address

Surname

Castro Salazar

First name, middle name

René

Job title

Minister

Direct telephone

506-40-6010

Direct fax

506-40-5240

Direct e-mail

Surname

First name, middle name

Job title

Direct telephone

Direct fax

Direct e-mail

Item

Name of organization (original language)

Name of individual if unaffiliated with any organization

Conservación y Manejo de Bosques Tropicales

Name of organization (English)

COMBOS Foundation

Acronym (original language)

COMBOS

Acronym (English)

(Same as above)

Department

Function(s) within the AIJ project activities

Project administration, financing

Street

Apartado Postal 1456-2050

City

San Pedro

State

Post code

Country

Costa Rica

Telephone

Fax

E-mail

combos@nicarao.apc.org

World Wide Web-URL address

Surname

Wells

First name, middle name

Bob

Job title

Direct telephone

506-253-0736

Direct fax

506-253-4750

Direct e-mail

echancon@sol.racsa.co.cr

Surname

First name, middle name

Job title

Direct telephone

Direct fax

Direct e-mail

Item

Name of organization (original language)

Name of individual if unaffiliated with any organization

Regenwald der Osterreicher

Name of organization (English)

Rainforests of the Austrians

Acronym (original language)

None

Acronym (English)

None

Department

Function(s) within the AIJ project activities

Monitoring/verification, financing

Street

Apartado 930-1200

City

Pavas

State

Post code

Country

Costa Rica

Telephone

Fax

E-mail

World Wide Web-URL address

Surname

Schnitzler

First name, middle name

Michael

Job title

Direct telephone

506-232-5436

Direct fax

506-232-5436

Direct e-mail

Surname

First name, middle name

Job title

Direct telephone

Direct fax

Direct e-mail

Item

Name of organization (original language)

Name of individual if unaffiliated with any organization

Tenaska Washington Partners II, L.P

Name of organization (English)

(Same as above)

Acronym (original language)

None

Acronym (English)

None

Department

Function(s) within the AIJ project activities

Financing

Street

1044 N. 115th, Suite 400

City

Omaha

State

Nebraska

Post code

68154-4446

Country

U.S.A.

Telephone

402-691-9587

Fax

402-691-9530

E-mail

World Wide Web-URL address

Surname

Kunkel

First name, middle name

Greg

Job title

Director, Environmental Affairs

Direct telephone

Direct fax

Direct e-mail

Surname

First name, middle name

Job title

Direct telephone

Direct fax

Direct e-mail

Item

Name of organization (original language)

Name of individual if unaffiliated with any organization

National Fish and Wildlife Foundation

Name of organization (English)

(Same as above)

Acronym (original language)

NFWF

Acronym (English)

(Same as above)

Department

Function(s) within the AIJ project activities

Financing

Street

1120 Connecticut Ave., N.W.

Suite 900

City

Washington

State

District of Colombia

Post code

20036

Country

U.S.A.

Telephone

Fax

E-mail

World Wide Web-URL address

Surname

Stangel

First name, middle name

Peter

Job title

Direct telephone

202-857-0166

Direct fax

202-857-0162

Direct e-mail

Surname

First name, middle name

Job title

Direct telephone

Direct fax

Direct e-mail

Sector(s)

Land-use change and forestry

Primary activity(ies)

Forest preservation and natural regeneration

Country

Costa Rica

Exact location (city, state, region)

The Piedras Blancas National Park, adjacent to the Osa Peninsula, southwest Costa Rica

Project starting date (month/year)

January 1995

Project ending date (month/year)

January 2010

Project lifetime (years)

16

Current stage of project

In progress

The ECOLAND Project will preserve tropical forest through the purchase of approximately 2,500 hectares (ha) of privately-owned land in the Piedras Blancas National Park (formerly named the Esquinas National Park) in southwestern Costa Rica. Approximately 2,150 ha of the land purchased are forested. The remaining 350 ha have already been cleared, but forest regeneration is anticipated to occur once the area is protected. All 2,500 ha of land have been purchased through the project and are in the final stages of being conveyed to the Costa Rican National Park Service for permanent protection.

The 12,500-hectare Esquinas Forest was declared a national park by the Government of Costa Rica in 1993, but almost all of the land within the park is privately-owned. Some landowners hold logging concessions, a number of which are active, and many owners face economic pressures that encourage deforestation. Under Costa Rican law, the Government cannot restrict land-use decisions of private landowners, meaning the Government must purchase lands it wishes to protect. The ECOLAND Project will bring nearly 20% of the park’s land under protection.

Project development costs include costs associated with the review of several potential projects prior to the selection of the ECOLAND project, the USIJI application process, and other pre-implementation activities. Project implementation costs include land purchases and creation of a $40,000 endowment to cover annual implementation costs.

Party(ies) that will be monitoring project activities

National Park Service, Regenwald der Osterreicher, COMBOS

Party(ies) that will be externally verifying project results

This information is not yet available.

Date when the monitoring plan became (or will become) operational (month/year)

November 1996

Types of data that will be collected

Biomass stocks

On a year-to-year basis, the National Park Service will perform routine monitoring of forest conservation activities in the Piedras Blancas National Park and insure that the purchased areas are protected from incursion or logging. In addition, the Austrian group Regenwald der Osterreicher has recently established an eco-tourist lodge in the Esquinas area. The staff of the lodge will provide on-the-ground monitoring of the protection status of the project area.

Periodic satellite and other photographic imaging will also be used to monitor protection of the project area. A biomass survey will be conducted to confirm the magnitude of the carbon savings associated with the project.

Please check one of the following.

This report is a first report.

This report is an intermediate report.

This report is a final report.

Please check one of the following:

This report is a joint report. Letter(s) of approval of this report from the designated national authority of the other Party(ies) involved in the activity is(are) attached in Section J, Annex.

This report is a separate report.

Additional comments (if any):

The ECOLAND project is actively supported by the government of Costa Rica. Most tourists are attracted to Costa Rica by its natural areas. Tourism revenues in 1993 were $577.4 million, up 34 percent over the previous year. In 1993, only 8,000 tourists, or 1 percent of all visitors, made the 10-hour trek to Corcovado National Park, located on the Osa peninsula. This is a very small percentage considering the beauty and ecological importance of this park. As improvements in transportation infrastructure are put in place, however, this volume is likely to skyrocket. The Costa Rican government considered it imperative that the natural resources of the region, which form the foundation upon which the tourism industry is based, be protected before uncontrolled growth adversely affects the region. As such, the project is both compatible with and actively supportive of the country’s economic development and socioeconomic and environmental priorities.

The Osa Peninsula and the surrounding area provide critical habitat for large mammals and birds that are extinct or threatened in other parts of their range. By securing habitat for species under threat of extinction, the project will help maintain the rich biodiversity in the area. In addition, the project will help maintain water quality and will greatly reduce soil erosion resulting from the removal of plant cover.

The Esquinas Forest was identified by biodiversity experts as the most important concentration of biodiversity not under adequate protection in Costa Rica. This was part of the basis for selecting the ECOLAND project over other project opportunities inside and outside of Costa Rica.

The project developer states that there are no identifiable negative developmental impacts of the project. Landowners currently living on parcels purchased through the project are expected to relocate to existing farms outside the Piedras Blancas National Park or into urban areas where they will have greater access to amenities.

See discussion above under "Compatibility with Economic Development and Socioeconomic and Environmental Priorities".

Site number (order of presentation in this report)

1 of 1

Site name/designation

ECOLAND: Piedras Blancas National Park

Project sector

Land-use change and forestry

Primary activity(ies)

Deforestation, conversion of agricultural and pastoral lands, logging

Has the reference scenario changed since the last report? (If yes, explain any changes below.)

Yes

No

This is the first project report.

Description:

After the 1996 report was submitted, the amount of land expected to be purchased by the project changed. As indicated in the 1996 report, the project developer anticipated that approximately 2,340 ha of land would be purchased, of which 2,036 ha were forested and 304 ha had been cleared. However, the project developer purchased 2,500 ha, of which 2,150 ha is forested and 350 ha have been cleared.

Although the forest land protected by the project is located within national park boundaries, it is threatened by logging and conversion to agricultural and pastoral lands by those who privately own the land. As a result of scarce funds, these private landowners have not been bought out by the Costa Rican government. Without the project, the 2,150 ha of forest land is projected to be deforested over the next 15 years. Thus, carbon stocks on the forested area will diminish as standing timber is either removed or burned. The carbon stocks on the 350 ha of land already deforested are projected to remain constant over the 15 year project lifetime.

Primary activity(ies)

Forest preservation and natural regeneration

Description:

The predicted project scenario has also been slightly revised since 1996 last report to reflect the actual amount of land purchased by the project. Of the 2,500 ha of land purchased, approximately 2,150 ha are forested. With the project, this forested land is expected to be protected, thus preventing carbon dioxide emissions from deforestation that would have occured otherwise. In addition, the project is expected to allow forest regeneration to occur on another 350 ha of project land that are currently not forested. The project area has been purchased, and it is in the process of being placed under the jurisdiction of MINAE and management by the National Park Service.

Primary activity(ies)

Forest preservation and natural regeneration

Description:

The project has purchased approximately 2,500 ha of land. As anticipated in the predicted project scenario, approximately 2,150 ha of the land purchased through the project is forested. The remaining 350 ha had been deforested before it was purchased by the project developer.

Site number

1 of 1

Project sector

Land-use change and forestry

If not protected by this project, the forested portion of the project area is projected to be deforested over the next 15 years at an average rate of 143.33 ha/yr (= 2,150 ha/15 yrs). This deforestation is assumed to begin in the second year of the project.

Based on general soil and vegetation carbon content literature, the total amount of carbon sequestered on the project forest area is estimated to be, on average, 235 t C/ha, of which 125 t C/ha is assumed to be stored in soils, and 110 t C/ha in vegetation. In addition, based on general forest carbon literature, it is estimated that deforestation would result in a 60% loss in soil carbon, or 75 t C/ha (= 125 t C/ha * .60), and an 80% loss of carbon stored in vegetation, or 88 t C/ha (= 110 t C/ha * .80). Therefore, it is anticipated that 163 t C/ha would be released through deforestation, and annual reference case carbon emissions would be 23,363 t C/yr (= 143.33 ha/yr * 163 t C/ha). To determine the CO₂ emissions on a full molecular weight basis, the total tonnes of annual carbon were multiplied by the ratio 44 t CO₂/12 t C.

The initial carbon stock on the 2,150 ha of forested land protected by the project is estimated to be 505,250 t C (= 235 t C/ha * 2,150 ha). While this forest area is considered to be in equilibrium, recent biomass removal suggests that biomass growth may occur over the lifetime of the project. However, to be conservative, additional carbon sequestration due to biomass growth on the 2,150 ha of forested area is not estimated. Instead, annual carbon stocks for the forested area are held constant to estimate the project scenario, and annual sequestration on the forested area is estimated to be zero throughout the lifetime of the project.

Carbon stocks on the 350 ha that are no longer forested are anticipated to increase as the area regenerates its natural forest cover under the protection of the project. It is estimated that 3 t C/ha would be sequestered annually through biomass growth as the forest regenerates, for an annual total of 1,050 t C (= 3 t C/ha * 350 ha). Sequestration on this 350 ha of project land is expected to begin in the second year of the project.

Estimated annual carbon stocks for the project are equal to the carbon stocks on the currently forested area, 505,250 t C, plus the 1,050 t C sequestered through forest regeneration on the 350 ha of the unforested land each year. Calculations of project scenario carbon stocks are as follows:

Year 1 (1995) 505,250 t C

Year 2 (1996) 505,250 t C + 1,050 t C

Year 3 (1997) Year 2 stock + 1,050 t C

Year 4 (1998) Year 3 stock + 1,050 t C

Year 5 (1999) Year 4 stock + 1,050 t C

etc.

Therefore, anticipated annual carbon sequestration for the project is simply equal to the carbon sequestered each year through forest regeneration on the 350 ha of the project area that are currently not forested. To determine sequestration on a full molecular weight basis, the annual carbon sequestration was multiplied by the ratio 44 t CO₂/12 t C.

A biomass survey was planned to empirically verify the carbon loading figures used in projecting the GHG benefits of the project. This biomass survey has been delayed pending completion of the land purchase and conveyance process. Since the land conveyance process is currently underway, it was anticipated that the biomass survey would be carried out during 1997.

The project developer states in the proposal that "because of the alarming rate of deforestation in Costa Rica and the virtually inevitable result that all remaining primary forest outside the country’s protected system will be lost in the forseeable future, most within the next decade...the concept of "carbon leakage" becomes an irrelevant quantitative variable."

The project developer identified the most significant threat to the project area as the inability to ensure long-term maintenance and protection of the project area.

Four steps will be taken to assure long-term protection and maintenance of the project area. These steps include: maintaining continued park service presence, negotiating strategic land purchases, attracting an increase in ecotourism, and creating an endowment of US $40,000.

Funding Source

Amount

($US)

Percent of Total Funding

(%)

Tenaska

Total

Funding Source

Amount

($US)

Tenaska

Rainforests of Austria

National Fish and Wildlife Foundation

Total

None (the project is fully funded).

The Costa Rican Government has stated that the ECOLAND Project will serve as a model for subsequent Costa Rica-USIJI efforts. The project will also provide Costa Rican institutions with experience in protecting endangered rainforests.

The land purchases have been completed. The project area is in the process of being conveyed to the National Park Service; however, there have been some delays in this process due to requests by the Costa Rican government for submission of additional legal documents.

Some difficulties in negotiating land purchases were encountered, although in almost all cases the desired parcels were procured at the forecasted price.

This information is not yet available.

Country/Project Title

Date of Approval(day/month/year)

ECOLAND: Piedras Blancas National Park

Rene Castro Salazar, Minister, Ministry of Natural Resources, Energy and Mines (MIRENEM, now MINAE)