DGB Bamboo Project
- Technology › Clean Development Mechanism: A/R Small-scale methodology. Afforestation and reforestation project activities implemented on lands other than wetlands. AR-AMS0007. Sectoral scope 14.
- Project developer › DGB (Pty) Ltd
Project Description
The Ngxingxolo Social Bamboo Carbon Project also known as the DGB Bamboo Project, includes aspects of regenerative agricultural practices, social upliftment through long-term job creation and additionally, Carbon sequestration. The agricultural activities include planting bamboo shoots for promotion soil stability and facilitating a water stress tolerant crop for commodity production. This was originally done, with fencing off the area to deter herbivorous activities on the bamboo plantation.
The additional activities that are implemented from the initiation of the project registration, are the conversion of the bamboo AGB into long term sinks of carbon, where residents (mostly women) are employed to harvest and treat the bamboo to slow down decomposition/deterioration of the bamboo and produce a fencing commodity. These commodities will then be sold by the employees to the village for 5.00 ZAR. The poles are intended to be used for kraal poles, to keep livestock fenced in, as well as some distribution to market, if surplus amounts are produced, in East London.
Project Benefits
DGB implemented this project for the main purpose of climate benefit and social responsibility as a corporate entity. They have started with this project instance as a pilot project in 2011, and now want to expand on the social impacts that it has, as well as the carbon sequestration potential through added activities from the plantation activities, as well as product use activities.
These include:
- Micro-economic activities of the tending to bamboo plantation and permanent employment of Ngxingxolo residents, even further than those already paid for their standby activities;
- Providing seasonal training on regenerative land-management (for the cattle grazing pilot) and harvesting periods, included in monitoring plan;
- The residents of the area having the information and expertise to manage land wisely, regenerate land, and reduce erosion, as Khwidzhili (2019) reports that sustainable land management in the RSA is not common practice, with most of the country using exploitative farming techniques;
- The harvested produce from the plantation area going towards the residents for their own use and additional revenue streams (above the permanent and harvesting positions) from these activities where DGB assists in processing of the bamboo into fencing for cattle kraal and other fencing operations.
Audits
The audit report identified an issue with the soil sampling used to estimate the soil organic carbon content (SOC). Namely that the sampling was not representative of the whole project area. Consequently the auditor recommended that the SOC estimate be reduced to 25% of the PIN estimate. When the next audit is carried out it will use a representative sampling process and the SOC will be re-assessed. See the Audit Report Addendum below.
The table below shows the revised Soil Organic Carbon estimates.
| Carbon | 2019 | 2020 | 2021 | Total |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| sequestration: | t CO2e | t CO2e | t CO2e | t CO2e |
| AG Biomass | 10.56 | 10.56 | 10.57 | 31.69 |
| BG Biomass | 9.61 | 9.61 | 9.6 | 28.82 |
| SOC (adjusted to 25% of PIN estimates) | 11.81 | 11.81 | 11.81 | 35.43 |
| Total | 31.98 | 31.98 | 31.98 | 95.94 |
Total Credits Sold: 0