VCS Public Consultation: Proposal for Inclusion of Peatland Rewetting and Conservation

The Voluntary Carbon Standard Association (VCSA) today announces a public consultation on the proposed inclusion of Peatland Rewetting and Conservation (PRC) under the VCS Agriculture, Forestry and Other Land Use (AFOLU) program. The current scope of the VCS AFOLU program includes four project categories;

• Afforestation, Reforestation and Revegetation (ARR)
• Agricultural Land Management (ALM)
• Improved Forest Management (IFM)
• Reduced Emissions from Deforestation and Degradation (REDD)

Conversion and drainage of peatlands (e.g., for agricultural production, or peat extraction for energy or horticultural use) and peat fires cause significant emissions of CO2 and other GHGs globally. To date, there has been no comprehensive global set of guidelines for the development of GHG emission reduction projects on peatlands. The proposed PRC guidelines would expand the scope of the AFOLU program to include PRC as a new AFOLU project category as well as other AFOLU project types implemented on peatlands.

The proposal has been developed by consultants convened by the VCSA, has undergone peer review, and is available at http://v-c-s.org/docs/VCS-Program-PRC-Public-Consultation-Document.pdf The public consultation is open for 60 days, as per ISEAL guidance, and all comments should be sent to secretariat@v-c-s.org by 19 July 2010. The VCSA will also be running a webinar (at two separate times to capture various time zones) to provide an overview of the PRC guidance and opportunity to raise questions: 1)    Wed 2 Jun 2010, 8:30am India, 11am Singapore, 1pm Sydney – Registration link: https://www1.gotomeeting.com/register/287107280 2)    Wed 2 Jun 2010, 5pm Central European Time, 4pm UK, 11am Eastern Time and 8am Pacific Time – Registration link: https://www1.gotomeeting.com/register/453152913