In 2016, after undertaking a REDD+ feasibility study, Wildlife Works and Wildlife Alliance successfully established the Southern Cardamom REDD+ Project (Southern Cardamom) in partnership with Cambodia’s Ministry of Environment. Southern Cardamom is designed to promote climate change mitigation and adaptation, maintain biodiversity and create alternative livelihoods under the United Nations scheme of Reducing Emissions from Deforestation and forest Degradation (REDD+).
Located in South-West Cambodia, Southern Cardamom covers a land mass of 445,339 ha and protects a critical part of the Cardamom Mountains Rainforest Ecoregion. Critically, it protects critical habitat for significant populations of International Union for Conservation of Nature (IUCN) threatened species, including: Asian elephant, Asiatic black bear, sun bear, large spotted civet, clouded leopard and dhole. The landscape has also been identified by the Royal Government of Cambodia as an opportunity for tiger reintroduction. The project also funds 98 rangers.
Southern Cardamom is registered according to Verra’s Verified Carbon Standard (VCS) and Climate, the Community and Biodiversity (CCB) standard and is Gold Level REDD+ verified carbon units (VCU) accredited.
The Southern Cardamom REDD+ Project achieves 15 Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs), having a positive impact on approximately 16,000 livelihoods across 3,800 families who inhabit the protection zone. The benefits to the community include improved health care facilities such as hiring of additional healthcare employees, rainwater collection and solar power systems, sanitation and support for outreach. It also supports a Community Scholarship Fund for students from any of the 29 communities in the Project zone.
Viridios Capital has access to a significant allocation of the Southern Cardamom’s REDD+ credits, which are forecast to average annual avoided emission of 3,580,834 tCO2e. Contact our Corporate Solutions team to learn more.