The Himalayan Community Carbon Project (Nepal)

Summary

The Himalayan Community Carbon Project (HCCP) operates with forest user groups of 8 Village Development Committees (VDCs) of Nepal. It is spread from the eastern to the western region in Dhankuta, Baglung, Rupandehi and Dang districts. It focuses on the forests and the livelihoods of poor and socially excluded rural Himalayan communities. HCCP aims to maintain selected mountain forests intact, protect the great Himalayan watershed, and thus make communities less vulnerable to the impacts of climate change. Activities therefore include fire and grazing control, introduction of Improved Cooking Stoves (ICS) and promotion of income generating activities, along with carbon addition activities such as plantation and improved forest management.

This project aims to improve the lives the poorest and the most marginalized people in Himalayan communities, (e.g. women). Building on the experience of Rupantaran Nepal, the project addresses the different needs of communities across large areas of land, benefiting to over one million rural poor people across Nepal.

Both the carbon, and the social and environmental benefits of project activities are to be measured, monitored and independently certified under the internationally recognized Plan Vivo Standard. The money from Plan Vivo Certificate sales will be channeled to the participating communities and distributed using benefit-sharing arrangements that have been established by the communities. The project is undergoing registration under the Plan Vivo Standard.