IUCN, the International Union for Conservation of Nature

The Livelihood Fund crediting biodiversity and communities

02 September 2011 | News story

The Livelihoods Fund, a carbon investment fund providing investors access to biodiversity friendly carbon credits that aid the rural poor through large scale and social impact projects, was launched in July.

French food and beverage multinational Danone is supporting the “wetland carbon” component of the nascent carbon investment fund, which for now, unites four companies: Danone, Credit Agricole, Schneider Electric and CDC Climat; in a common livelihoods venture. Projects under the initiative will be based in developing countries and are vetted by an Advisory Board, of which IUCN is a member. The fund envisages taking up 3-4 projects each within three main programs:

1. Ecosystem restoration and preservation
2. Agro-forestry with soil restoration
3. Rural energy development that will reduce deforestation

The fund is expected to raise 30-50 million Euros and generate 6-11 million tonnes of carbon credits/year in the next 23 years. Currently, fund investors are Danone, Credit Agricole, Schneider Electric and CDC Climat.

One example of a fund project is the Casamance project, an ecosystem restoration and preservation project in Senegal which is helping 450 villages to replant 7000 hectares of mangroves. The project aims to capture a total of 900,000 tons of carbon over 20 years and rebuild a food ecosystem that produces fish and protects crops.

Another mangrove restoration project in Sunderbans, India aims to generate carbon credits whilst supporting rural poor by providing additional food and by helping to protect their habitat from marine disturbances. 1000 hectares of mangroves were planted in 2010, whilst 2000 hectares will be planted in 2011 and plans are in place to plant an additional 3000 hectares in 2012.

In Andhra Pradesh, India, the communities from Araku valley have implemented a large programme of planting fruit trees, as part of a pilot project funded by Danone. In addition to revenues coming from coffee, (which is currently the primary cash crop grown in the valley) fruits from the Araku valley will in future bring food resources and revenue. The project envisages developing a functional forest that will not only provide ecosystem services but will also generate revenues by supplying marketable forest products to local people 700 hectares of land have already been planted in 2010 and 3000 hectares will be planted in 2011.

The livelihood fund will continue to seek out the best balance between providing high returns on carbon credits for investors and allowing the rural poor to generate financial resources for projects with high social and environmental value.

For further information on the fund please click here

Contact:

Bernard Giraud, Director of Sustainable Development and Social Responsibility
Jean-Pierre Rennaud, Director of the Danone Fund for Nature.
Danone / Sustainable Development Department
17 Boulevard Haussmann / F-75009 Paris
Tel: +33 (0)1 44 352 020

James Oliver,
Global Marine and Polar Programme
e-mail: james.oliver@iucn.org