Agriculture, Forestry & Other Land Use

As part of its drive for credibility and innovation (combined with the fact that forestry projects account for a large portion of offsets sold within the voluntary carbon market), the VCS includes Agriculture, Forestry and Other Land Uses (AFOLU) in the list of eligible project activities based on a new approach to manage non-permanence risks. Currently the following four categories of AFOLU project activities are eligible under the VCS Program:

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

The following documents are provided to assist in the development of VCS-compliant AFOLU projects and methodologies:

Tool for AFOLU Methodological Issues
Step-wise rules for addressing AFOLU methodological issues

Tool for AFOLU Non-Permanence Risk Analysis and Buffer Determination
Step-wise rules for AFOLU non-permanence risk analysis

Guidance for Agriculture, Forestry and Other Land Use Projects
Guidance for AFOLU Projects

The expert work to develop the innovative VCS rules for AFOLU projects was made possible through the generous financial and technical support of DFID and the Syngenta Foundation for Sustainable Agriculture.

List of AFOLU Experts

An AFOLU expert is a person with expertise and experience in AFOLU methodologies, tools, modules and/or projects and who is approved by the VCSA for methodology element assessments within a given AFOLU project category. The requirements for use of AFOLU expert are set out in the Double Approval Process document.

List of VCSA Approved AFOLU Experts
The VCSA is currently inviting applications for AFOLU experts and will upload newly approved experts as and when they become approved.