Blog / ESG VMI has our own Brazilian Rainforest (really!) 28 April 2023 — by Barry Bassett This is not quite as crazy as it sounds but there genuinely is a region of Brazilian rainforest which we have paid to be caretakers of, as part of an Albert-certified CO2e offsetting scheme, to help us achieve Albert-approved Carbon neutral status since 2022. Read all about the project here. We surveyed our clients and suppliers and overwhelmingly, this scheme was selected for our offsetting scheme, so we initiated it and paid to offset our 121.4T of CO2e carbon emissions generated in 2022 to invest in a project to preserve the Brazilian Rainforest to avoid deforestation over a 30 year project lifetime. Can I visit the VMI Rainforest? Sadly not – this is part of a much wider project but keen to avoid ‘greenwashing’ and offset schemes which aren’t really effective, we trusted Albert, the home of sustainability for film & TV to select worthy projects for which this was one such project that took our fancy and also that of our clients and staff. Here are some images taken from the project. Context Brazil contains more than 490 million hectares of forest, covering 59% of its entire territory and putting it in second place for nations with most forests worldwide. Most of this forest consists of the incredibly biodiverse Amazon rainforest. Despite covering only 1% of the planet’s surface, the Amazon is home to 10% of all known wildlife species, with many more being described each year. However, Brazil has at times also been the country with the highest level of forest loss in the world. Between the years 1990-2015, 53,167,000 hectares of forest were cleared, with an average rate of loss of 0.4% a year. The expansion of the agricultural sector due to cattle ranching, soy farming, timber collection, infrastructure and colonization has contributed to this historically high deforestation rate, which is concentrated in the northern portion of the country, where the Amazon rainforest lies. Project The primary objective of this Agrocortex REDD+ project is to avoid the unplanned deforestation of the 186,389.66 ha project area, consisting of 100% Amazon rainforest. This project aims to avoid 30,0006 ha of deforestation which equates to 14,507,808 tonnes of CO2e in emissions reductions over the 30 year project lifetime. The project will avoid unplanned deforestation by implementing a ban of unplanned logging and other unpermitted degradation within the project area. An increased level of monitoring will be carried out to prevent invasion of illegal deforestation by outside agents. Additionally training of fire brigades and periodic maintenance of fire extinguishers and forest machinery will be implemented to reduce destruction caused by fires in the area. Sustainable harvesting of the project area will also be carried out. These efforts include harvesting at a reduced rate, replanting native species, and protecting and replanting rare species such as Mahogany. The long term protection of this area will ensure that unsustainable practices such as clearcutting (the uniform cutting down of all trees in an area), which is rife in the area, are prevented from taking place. The preservation and protection of this project area will protect its biodiversity, maintaining habitats for the species that live within the forests. A total of 158 different tree species were surveyed within the project bounds, and it is known to host eight endangered mammal species and numerous endangered bird and plant species. The detailed management of the forest will also mean the continued employment of nearly 400 workers within the region. Verification This project is verified by the Verified Carbon Standard and the Climate, Community & Biodiversity Standards. You can view it on the Verra Registry here. Click on the link below to see confirmation of our carbon offset scheme