"Forest reconstruction" pilot phase enables practical adjustments to the forest climate standard

In the plenary session, Moriz Vohrer, Technical Director, presented the content adjustments that have been made to the Forest Climate Standard (WKS) in the Forest Reconstruction Method since the last meeting in Blankenburg, from the pilot version v0.4.3 to draft 1.0.0 of the full version. In the past nine months, a total of 79 adjustments (complete overview here), the most significant of which are

Structural adjustments:

• Instead of just talking about climate services, the standard now generally includes the term ecosystem service (ES) in order to enable the development of methods for other ES.

• The General Terms and Conditions have been updated to reflect the changes.

Content adjustments: 

• The accreditation guideline, which defines the process for scientifically sound and practice-oriented development of methods under the WKS, has been newly added. 

• On the basis of an expert opinion, the permanence buffer was set at 15% of all certificates generated in order to ensure the permanence of climate certificates from forest carbon offset projects in Germany. 

• Another milestone in the development of the standard is the expansion of the scope of the WKS to include the forest conversion method. The forest conversion method is being developed by eva together with the Wald-Klimarat and Pina Earth.

Fine-tuning from practical testing during the pilot phase:

• Calibration of baseline modeling, in which the development of natural regeneration is modeled without human influence on the basis of various input parameters such as game pressure, climate resilience of tree species, strength of competing vegetation, etc.

• Individual indicators are interpreted in detail by answering clarification questions. A total of 12 clarification questions were answered by certifiers during the audits of the pilot projects. With the help of these clarification questions, the indicators could be concretized, which enables an efficient audit for projects after the pilot phase.

• For the selection of silvicultural development types (WET), mixtures of different WETs are now also permitted. The location and the ratio of deciduous to coniferous stands must be taken into account, and innovative tree species are now also possible.

Forest climate standard goes into public consulation with version 1.0 as a draft 

With the presentation at the Forest Climate Conference, eva opens the draft v1.0 to the interested public in a public consultation: This standard forms the basis for various methods that follow eva's accreditation guideline, in particular the forest restoration and forest conversion methods. The standard was open for public consultation from June 26 to July 24, 2023. 

With this public consultation, eva is also presenting the accreditation guideline: Methods are designed according to a standardized process along this guideline to ensure their quality. Both the existing Forest Restoration method and the Forest Restoration method currently being developed together with Pina Earth and the Wald-Klimarat follow eva's accreditation guideline. 

The forest conversion method involves the conversion of pure stands into structurally diverse mixed forests. In accordance with the guideline, a quality check is planned for the fall so that a pilot phase for this method can begin in late fall after approval by the Technical Committee. 

"Trial makes perfect" - both the standard and the online platforms stand up to the practical test

Rüdiger Meyer is responsible for the first pilot phase and provides an insight into the learning successes: "In the pilot phase, we were not yet interested in generating a large number of certificates, but rather wanted to subject the technology and process to a reality check - we succeeded in doing this and were able to implement the necessary adjustments." The open projects from the pilot phase are currently being certified until fall 2023, meaning that a total of around 75,000 eva certificates can be expected from this initial phase. The projects cover all different types of ownership in almost all federal states. 

In a panel discussion, the pilot partners Jan Müller-Thomsen from Oldershausen HOFOS GmbH and Christian Stuhlmann from Waldkonzepte PartG as the first users, as well as the certifier responsible for the pilot phase, TÜV Nord, represented by Carl-Luis Weiss, shared their experiences.

Christian Stuhlmann, who accompanied the pilot phase from the very beginning, is satisfied with the user-friendliness of the platform and takes away the fears of future users: "The dynamic development of the platform has been great - that was also the requirement for this phase. It's possible that not everyone will be able to use the platform straight away - a certain amount of prior knowledge is required. But in this case, there are forestry service providers, for example, who can be deployed as project managers and can actively support smaller private forest owners, for example."

Jan Müller-Thomsen, who took over the pilot project from Dirk Neuenstein, emphasized the support he received from the eva project team: "I see myself as a digital native and got on well with the logical structure of the platform. Some processes, such as uploads, did not run smoothly, but that was to be expected with a newly developed technology. The eva team was on hand with help and advice and also accepted and implemented suggestions for the design of the platform."

The advantage of the digital certification process is also praised by Carl-Luis Weiss: "For me as a certifier, digital certification is a huge step forward. The certification is carried out and completed on the computer, no separate report is required. I also always have the relevant extract from the standard directly available for all my entries. And, of course, the platform's offline function is a big advantage for the audit on the project site." For a smooth audit, he advises users: "Prepare the audits properly, provide as much information as possible at the beginning - then the audit will run through quickly."

Rüdiger Meyer summarizes how valuable the pilot phase and the commitment of the pilot partners and TÜV were: "The fact that everyone remained so constructive and consistent during the pilot phase enabled us to develop a high-quality product. And that is the prerequisite for surviving on the market. The commitment of everyone involved goes far beyond the regular field of activity: without this commitment, we would not be as far as we are now with eva and the forest climate standard."

"With high-quality certificates for the voluntary market, eva addresses the high level of buyer interest in a product from Germany." 

In an update on the market, Rüdiger Meyer provides an insight into the voluntary carbon market in Germany and outlines the motivation of companies to purchase eva certificates. 

A panel discussion with Helena Scholz, Climate Partner, and Rudolf Maier, Callirius AG, emphasized the relevance and need for high-quality and exclusive eva certificates as a component of certificate portfolios. Rudolf Maier emphasizes the rethinking of buyers: "With the current critical reporting, companies have become more cautious and regional projects are increasingly being sought. The local forest climate standard responds to this demand with its small, sharply regional projects. Companies are no longer just interested in the tons of CO2but about all co-benefits: companies are giving more thought to this." The aspect of regional traceability of the certificates is added by Helena Scholz: "The driver is both the direct link to the regional projects, as well as the emotion - which is particularly attached to the forest in the DACH countries: companies want to create an impact regionally and give something back to nature locally. This commitment can then be shown to customers transparently and in detail."

For the near future, Rüdiger Meyer sees opportunities to work with eva project developers and CO2-traders in the marketing of projects: "We are ready to equip the eva Impact Registry with additional features for effective marketing and we are preparing supporting information material. And, of course, we offer to accompany sales talks with companies."

Professional exchange at eye level in three workshops

In the afternoon, the guests discussed the current draft v1.0 of the forest climate standard in two workshop sessions, the forest conversion method together with Pina Earth and took a deep dive into the eva certification process on the platform with the eva project team. 

The Forest Climate Council conference opens as a "Forest Climate Conference"

The Ecosystem Value Association deliberately opened up its format to a larger group of participants at the 5th Forest Climate Council Conference in Blankenburg in October 2022. The aim is to bring together all players in the developing ecosystem services market in Germany. 

With the renaming in Berlin on June 22, 2023 from the "Conference of the German Forest Climate Council" to the "Forest Climate Conference", eva is underlining this focus. In the evening, numerous guests from politics, the market and forestry gathered at the reception on the occasion of the Forest Climate Conference to exchange ideas with the IPCC and the eva team. 

Alexander Zeihe, Spokesman of the Board of the Ecosystem Value Association, thanked the members of the Forest Climate Council, the Technical Committee and all network partners for their persistent, constructive and enriching commitment.

eva is currently in contact with 39 organizations in twelve federal states that are carrying out or planning reforestation in accordance with the forest climate standard. They represent all types of forest ownership: private forests (18) and forest management associations (5), municipal (9) and corporate forests (3), state forests (3) and federal forests. Two further companies are in talks with eva about participating in the pilot phase for the Scope forest conversion, which is expected to start in spring 2023.  

Moriz Vohrer, Technical Director of the Secretariat, gave an update on the Forest Climate Standard and the course of the pilot phase. In addition, four pilot project partners shared their experiences to date with the conference guests. The city of Wernigerode kicked things off with an excursion on the first day of the conference. Michael Selmikat, district manager of the municipal forest, gave a tour of the part of his 2,035-hectare (ha) forest that once consisted of spruce trees. In April 2022, Selmikat began the reforestation of two eva project sub-areas. He had the total area of almost 11.7 hectares prepared and planted with promising tree species: European larch (50%), sycamore maple (25%), hornbeam (10%) as well as bird cherry and black alder (5% each). In wet locations, red alder and ash were added. The tree species selection, in combination with intensive young stand management, hunting and deterrence, is expected to save around 283 tons of CO2-equivalents per hectare, around 203 tons more than a reference scenario, which would store 80 tons per hectare. The 30-year "crediting period" starts with the certification in the fall. Selmikat, who received the German Forest Award in 2021 for his forestry work, described his experience with the forest climate standard in practice as consistently positive.

A highlight of the second day of the conference was the presentation of three further pilot projects. Henning Bossmann, Forstwirtschaftliche Vereinigung Vogelsberg-Burgwald, Dirk Neuenstein, HOFOS Oldershausen, and Christian Stuhlmann, Partnerschaftsgesellschaft Waldkonzepte (project with F3 Forest & Farming 4 Future), explained their motivation for applying the forest climate standard. Of course, the certificates are intended to provide forest owners with additional sources of income. However, the service to the ecosystem must be the basic idea, not the financial output. The pioneers were unanimous in their praise for the efforts of the eva bodies- the Forest-Climate Council and the Technical Committee - in terms of quality, credibility and transparency. in terms of quality, credibility, transparency and cost efficiency through digitalization.

The question from the auditorium as to whether there is demand for high-quality forest certificates "Made in Germany" in a long-established international market was answered by eva Managing Director Rüdiger Meyer with a clear yes. A price range can only be roughly predicted at the present time, as market partnerships are only just becoming established in the value chain. eva assumes that German buyers in particular have a very great interest in regional climate protection projects. have a very strong interest in regional climate protection projects. The idea behind eva certificates is to help the German forest and reduce CO2 out of the air is a particularly unique selling point of the quality certificates and enables good prices to be achieved.

Three workshops focused on the final aspects of the aspects of the forest-climate standard. "Financial additionality" is given "if the costs of reforesting the area over the project term exceed the resulting income". The second workshop examined specific issues relating to the practicability of the "eva online platform". The new "forest conversion" method was presented and discussed in a third workshop. It is to be described in a follow-up meeting in December, accompanied by a public consultation.

After two intensive days, Alexander Zeihe, spokesperson for the eva board, drew a conclusion and provided an outlook. He expressed his thanks for the committed and qualified participation of all stakeholder groups in the Wald-Klimarat. This has meant that the standard can now move from theoretical development to practical application. He promised to follow up on all the findings of the 4th conference of the IPCC, such as the question of compatibility with government funding or the challenge of target group-oriented communication. He saw the involvement of important market players in the Forest Climate Council, such as Pricewaterhouse Coopers (PwC) alongside Colliers International, Triodos Bank, ClimatePartner, Primaklima e.V. and many others, as evidence of the wealth of opportunities offered by the certificates. He thanked everyone who made the conference possible - including the Lord Mayor of Blankenburg, Heiko Breithaupt, who will represent the municipal forest in the Wald-Klimarat in future, and the moderator Janine Steeger.

The 5th Conference of the Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change is scheduled for April/May 2023.

Interested forest owners and project developers should contact the secretariat of the Forest Climate Standard: sekretariat@waldklimastandard.de