Bosques Pico Bonito, Honduras

Bosques Pico Bonito is a separate limited-liability corporation (LLC) founded in 2006 by EcoLogic and its long-term partner in Honduras, the Pico Bonito National Park Foundation. The for-profit venture has planted over 300,000 trees of mixed native species on over 250 hectares that will be harvested in a commercial cut in 2036. The trees planted on former agricultural and pasture land will generate carbon credits during their growth. BPB also involves agroforestry and forest conservation activities.   

Project operations are located within the buffer zone of Pico Bonito National Park. The park encompasses a total of 100,000 hectares of protected forestland near the north coast of Honduras and the Caribbean coastal town of La Ceiba. It is the third largest national park in the country and boasts one of the highest concentrations of biodiversity in the region.

Pico Bonito National Park is also home to 24,000 people from 82 communities that live in and around the park. These communities face the challenges of poverty common in rural Honduras. Their daily struggles include water scarcity, lack of economic opportunities, substandard health care, and food insecurity.

The Problem

At a worldwide level, climate change from greenhouse gas emissions will cause extreme changes with global temperature and precipitation. In response, international mechanisms such as Kyoto Protocol and European Climate Exchange invoke nations to reduce their emissions, businesses are rethinking processes and facility operations to reduce energy consumption and waste, and individuals are rethinking their overall consumption and transportation patterns. Voluntary carbon credit offsets can partially address climate change by providing a mechanism for reducing emissions beyond levels that can feasibly be reduced directly, and by involving participation of countries, businesses, and individuals otherwise not subject to legal compliance for emission reduction.  

A Part of the Solution

Working toward solving the global warming crisis through forestry-based carbon offsetting measures will produce numerous social and environmental benefits for the rural communities in the region. These benefits include expanding natural forest habitat in the park buffer zone, creating jobs, and providing the necessary training required for locals to become effective natural resource stewards. 

BPB is positioned to become the first Voluntary Carbon Standard (VCS) validated forest carbon project in Central America.  Post-validation in 2011, BPB plans to undertake its first sale of registered carbon credits in the voluntary market for its commercial reforestation activities.  EcoLogic seeks to establish Bosques Pico Bonito as a replicable model so that similar projects can be reproduced throughout the world.

For more information on Bosques Pico Bonito or investing in EcoLogic's carbon offset work, e-mail us at carbon@ecologic.org.

Results

To date, EcoLogic has achieved the necessary milestones for placing the project on a trajectory for success. Including:

  • Received methodology approval from the CDM for AR-AM0004
  • Secured $2 million in investor commitments
  • Planted over 300,000 trees of 16 different native species over 300 HA area for commercial reforestation under guidance of Brinkman and Associates.
  • Employed over 100 local people on temporary basis in reforestation activities.
  • Strengthened relationships with the World Bank, the United Nations, various Honduran government ministries, and various private foundations to bring first VCS validated forest project to Central America.

Looking Forward

  • Continue to measure and monitor forest carbon stocks.
  • Sell VCS registered carbon credits on voluntary marketplace.
  • Conduct first commercial thinning of reforested area.
  • Continue to develop agroforestry and forest conservation activities on over 500 HA of project land.