Scope, baseline scenario and benchmark

Applicability Conditions (Section 10.1)

The project meets all the applicability conditions detailed in Section 4 of VM0047 methodology. The project activities produced continuous vegetative cover on contiguous areas exceeding one hectare and the performance benchmark required to be updated for the first verification.

Baseline Scenario (Section 10.2)

As defined in Appendix 1 Section 10.2. of VM0047, the baseline scenario was represented by the business-as-usual growth of carbon stocks, estimated from remotely sensed control plots located outside of any registered AFOLU project areas. The business-as-usual changes in vegetation cover were represented by the performance benchmark, defined as the ratio of change in stocking index (SI) between control to project plots. The control plots were appropriately matched to the project plots as described in Step 2: Select control plots for each project plot. The baseline was established at the project start date and was set to be updated at every verification period. All project and control plots referenced in the appendix are remotely sensed.

Performance Benchmark (Section 10.3)

As required by VM0047 Section 10.3, the performance benchmark was determined by comparing the average rate of change of the SI (dSI) between project and control plots and was used to demonstrate additionality and define the crediting baseline. A single baseline was calculated for the project activity instance, every project plot being matched to its control plots on the basis of the same 10 year historical time series (t-10 to t = 0).