Swiss developer Allcot works on 3 REDD projects in Colombia

Quantum Commodity Intelligence - Swiss carbon project developer Allcot is working on three avoided deforestation projects in Colombia, which includes one in a remote region of the country that is increasingly at risk from farming and tourism activities, it said on Friday.

The Sierra Nevada carbon project aims to protect an area of 100,000 hectares in a mountainous region situated in Colombia's northeast, only 40 kilometres from the Caribbean Sea, Angélica Beltrán Guerrero, Allcot AFOLU senior manager, told Quantum.

The project is undergoing listing with the Voluntary Carbon Standard (VCS), which should be effective by the end of 2023, and is aiming for Climate, Community and Biodiversity (CCB) Gold status eventually.

It should generate around 90,000 metric tonnes (mt) of emission reductions per year, although assessments are underway to estimate its exact location.

Allcot has worked with the Koguis, Arhuacos and Wiwas indigenous communities for more than two years already to develop this project, with around 18 months spent on validating details with them before a contract was signed in May.

One of the partners is Conservation International, which is advising Allcot on social and cultural aspects, it says.

"It takes a long time to develop such a carbon project, especially in the way we're doing it," says Beltrán Guerrero.

"We want to design the project with the communities... we have technical expertise but don't want to bring all the solutions."

Threats include forest degradation from agriculture and tourism, as well as the growth of the communities themselves.

Allcot is working on two other REDD projects in the Pacific and Amazon areas of Colombia.

The majority of REDD projects in Colombia to date have been implemented in the Pacific region, in the country's west, which has benefitted from a better security situation until an armed guerilla ceased activities several years ago.

Several carbon developments are now underway in the centre of the country and the Amazon region.

The Revolutionary Armed Forces of Colombia (FARC) signed a historic deal with the government in 2016 to lay down arms, although some local insurrections are still ongoing.