Starting signal for the pilot phase
More than 80 participants from the Wald-Klimarat and the circle of pilot projects accepted the invitation of the Ecosystem Value Association e.V.(eva) on October 17 and 18, 2022 in the eastern Harz Mountains at Blankenburg Castle. After a forest excursion, the stakeholder groups involved were informed about the development status of the forest climate standard. After three intensive rounds of workshops, the go-ahead was finally given to test the standard:
Accompanied by TÜV, 10 to 15 pilot projects in Germany will undergo certification in November. eva certificates from reforestation can thus be issued to the participating forest owners for the first time in December, included in the eva Impact Registry and traded on the voluntary market. eva will present the final version of the first German forest climate standard (version 1.0) in summer 2023.
eva is currently in contact with 39 organizations in twelve federal states that are carrying out or planning reforestation in accordance with the forest climate standard. They represent all types of forest ownership: private forests (18) and forest management associations (5), municipal (9) and corporate forests (3), state forests (3) and federal forests. Two further companies are in talks with eva about participating in the pilot phase for the Scope forest conversion, which is expected to start in spring 2023.
Moriz Vohrer, Technical Director of the Secretariat, gave an update on the Forest Climate Standard and the course of the pilot phase. In addition, four pilot project partners shared their experiences to date with the conference guests. The city of Wernigerode kicked things off with an excursion on the first day of the conference. Michael Selmikat, district manager of the municipal forest, gave a tour of the part of his 2,035-hectare (ha) forest that once consisted of spruce trees. In April 2022, Selmikat began the reforestation of two eva project sub-areas. He had the total area of almost 11.7 hectares prepared and planted with promising tree species: European larch (50%), sycamore maple (25%), hornbeam (10%) as well as bird cherry and black alder (5% each). In wet locations, red alder and ash were added. The tree species selection, in combination with intensive young stand management, hunting and deterrence, is expected to store around 283 tons of CO2 equivalents per hectare, which is around 203 tons more than a reference scenario, which would store 80 tons per hectare. The 30-year "crediting period" starts with the certification in the fall. Selmikat, who received the German Forest Award in 2021 for his forestry work, described his experiences with the forest climate standard in practice as consistently positive.
A highlight of the second day of the conference was the presentation of three further pilot projects. Henning Bossmann, Forstwirtschaftliche Vereinigung Vogelsberg-Burgwald, Dirk Neuenstein, HOFOS Oldershausen, and Christian Stuhlmann, Partnerschaftsgesellschaft Waldkonzepte (project with F3 Forest & Farming 4 Future), explained their motivation for applying the forest climate standard. Of course, the certificates are intended to provide forest owners with additional sources of income. However, the service to the ecosystem must be the basic idea, not the financial output. The pioneers unanimously praised the efforts of the eva bodies- the Forest Climate Council and the Technical Committee - with regard to quality, credibility, transparency and cost efficiency through digitalization.
The question from the auditorium as to whether there is a demand for high-quality forest certificates "Made in Germany" in a long-established international market was answered by eva Managing Director Rüdiger Meyer with a clear yes. A price range can only be roughly predicted at this point in time, as market partnerships are only just becoming established in the value chain. eva assumes that German buyers in particular are very interested in regional climate protection projects. The idea of eva certificates helping the German forest and taking CO2 out of the air in this country is a particularly unique selling point of the quality certificates and makes it possible to achieve good prices.
Three workshops focused on the final aspects of the forest-climate standard. "Financial additionality" is given "if the costs of reforesting the area over the project term exceed the resulting income". The second workshop examined specific issues relating to the practicability of the "eva online platform". The new "forest conversion" method was presented and discussed in a third workshop. It is to be described in a follow-up meeting in December, accompanied by a public consultation.
After two intensive days, Alexander Zeihe, spokesperson for the eva board, drew a conclusion and provided an outlook. He expressed his thanks for the committed and qualified participation of all stakeholder groups in the Wald-Klimarat. This has meant that the standard can now move from theoretical development to practical application. He promised to follow up on all the findings of the 4th conference of the IPCC, such as the question of compatibility with state funding or the challenge of target group-oriented communication. He saw the involvement of important market players in the Wald-Klimarrat, such as Pricewaterhouse Coopers (PwC) alongside Colliers International, Triodos Bank, ClimatePartner, Primaklima e.V. and many others, as evidence of the wealth of opportunities offered by the certificates. He thanked everyone who made the conference possible - including the Mayor of Blankenburg, Heiko Breithaupt, who will represent the municipal forest in the Wald-Klimarat in future, and the moderator Janine Steeger.
The 5th Conference of the Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change is scheduled for April/May 2023.
Interested forest owners and project developers should contact the secretariat of the Forest Climate Standard: sekretariat@waldklimastandard.de
