Avoiding Unplanned Mosaic deforestation and degradation in Malawi: Plan Vivo Technical Specification

Abstract

This technical specification was developed for use by Plan Vivo projects in Malawi. Through the Plan Vivo system communities may be able to access payments for carbon benefits to assist with the protection and restoration of National Parks, and Forest Reserves. This technical specification suggests activities that may help reduce threats to forest cover, and ensure that risks of leakage and non-permanence of carbon benefits are minimised. Methods that should be used to estimate the carbon benefits from project activities and the requirements for management plans are described, and approaches that can be used for monitoring the success of the project are suggested. Many of the approaches described in this technical specification involve the close participation of local stakeholders. Direct experience of resource extraction from forests, and the impacts this brings, gives communities that interact closely with forests a valuable insight in to the likely future of the forests they use. We have therefore developed an approach that requires the close participation of local stakeholder in: (a) the design of activities that prevent deforestation and degradation and help to make the protection of forest more attractive than its destruction (b) the estimation of the carbon benefits project activities will bring, and (c) monitoring of project effectiveness at maintaining forest cover and providing livelihood benefits.