23 March 2011: The report of the 31st meeting of the Clean Development Mechanism (CDM) Afforestation and Reforestation (A/R) Working Group, which was held from 14-16 March 2011 in Bonn, Germany, is now available on the CDM website. The Working Group considers matters relating to CDM afforestation and reforestation project activities.

During the meeting, the Working Group considered the proposed new A/R methodology “Afforestation and reforestation of degraded tidal forest habitats” and requested the Secretariat to send the draft reformatted methodology to the project participants to confirm whether the methodology still applies to their project. It also requested the Secretariat to send the draft reformatted methodology to the Secretariat of the Convention on Wetlands of International Importance (Ramsar Convention) for their comments. In addition, in response to the CDM Executive Board’s request for the development of top-down methodologies to increase the geographic coverage of the CDM to under-represented regions, the Working Group agreed to recommend a new A/R methodology “Afforestation and reforestation of lands other than wetlands.”

The A/R Working Group also agreed to recommend amendments to approved A/R methodologies and tools as a part the ongoing process of improving approved methodologies to further enhance their objectivity, applicability, usability and consistency. The Working Group considered amendments to the following approved methodologies and tools: “Afforestation and reforestation of degraded land;” “Tool for estimation of greenhouse gas (GHG) emissions due to clearing, burning and decay of existing vegetation attributable to a CDM A/R project activity;” “Tool for estimation of change in soil organic carbon stocks due to the implementation of A/R CDM project activities;” “Tool for estimation of carbon stocks and change in carbon stocks of trees and shrubs in A/R CDM project activities.” It agreed to recommend to the Executive Board to approve the amendments, which are contained in annexes to the report. The Working Group also began considering submissions requesting clarifications to approved A/R methodologies, and agreed to continue consideration of the submissions at its next meeting. [Publication: Report of the 31st Meeting of the Afforestation and Reforestation Working Group]