O Projeto

    The UNITOR REDD+ Project locates in Lábrea, Amazonas State, Brazil, the municipality with the fourth highest aggregate rate of deforestation in Brazil between 2008 – 2020, according to PRODES data. Municipal deforestation rates have increased yearly, from 3.8% in 2017 to 5.3% in 2020, making this a priority area for forest conservation worldwide. A new consortium of 15 neighboring rural properties makes up the Unitor REDD+ Project area, together covering 99,035.20 ha of forest area, to develop forest carbon activities under the guidance and inspiration of the nearby Fortaleza Ituxi REDD Project.

     Not only has the natural ecosystem been extensively damaged in the Labrea region, but land use changes have also caused severe social conflicts through land encroachment, expansion of agriculture, and livestock activity, contributing to the expulsion of extractivist communities in the region. Deforestation in Labrea is strongly correlated with road proximity, along with a recent increase in deforestation rates in the Project's Reference Regions has been attributed to the "Jequitibá" and "Ramal dos Bois" roads. This second is 100km long and goes a distance of 4km from the Project Area, and has connections with roads that cross the Project Area.
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    Upon project approval, landowners will implement mechanisms to ensure surveillance within the Project Area. Specifically, there are six deforestation surveillance posts placed around the properties, with the expectation that nine more stations will be installed after the carbon credits sales (one in each of the properties), adding to the efforts to control deforestation already underway in the neighboring Ituxi REDD project.

     To know more about UNITOR Project at Verra's website, click here.

Objectives

    The main objective of the UNITOR REDD+ Project is to avoid the emission of approximately 12,514,470 tCO²e (approximately 417,149 tCO₂e per year), corresponding to 24,769 hectares of preserved forest during the 30-year duration of the project.

  Fire brigade and technical training for the community on sustainable livestock and forest management will also be carried out. In addition, the project will continue sustainable forest management activities in the Project Area as another tool to ensure forest surveillance. The presence of workers in the logging areas is a significant pressure reducing factor from illegal loggers encroaching on the Project Area.

     Thus, the project also aims to improve the Project Region's socio-environmental conditions, improving deforestation control and developing social activities.

Biodiversity in the Project's Area

   According to the available literature, the faunal biodiversity within the Project Area is known for its highly significant value. In 2007, the Ministry of the Environment published an official document that defines priorities for sustainable land use and conservation. Within it, the regions of Nova California, RESEX Ituxi, and several other areas of the municipality of Lábrea were classified as “high importance” conservation areas.
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     The “Iquiri” National Forest, located in the municipality of Boca do Acre (AM), which borders directly to the north of all three project area groups, published the results of its first mammal inventory in 2012. The register documented 33 species of mammals, including four that stand out on the International Union for Conservation of Nature Red List: Jaguar (Pantera onca), classified as “Near Threatened”; Giant otter (Pteronurabrasiliensis), “Endangered”; Giant Anteater (Myrmecophaga tridactyla), “Vulnerable” (VU); and Giant Armadillo (Priodontes maximus), “Vulnerable” (VU).
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   A study of local biodiversity, recently commissioned by neighboring proponents of the Fortaleza Ituxi REDD Project, carried out by Rio Negro Agroflorestal Ltda. This area locates within the same municipality and has vegetation type, ecosystem, and biodiversity characteristics, which allows us to use it as a primary source of biodiversity data for the Unitor REDD+ Project.