ERA Announces Signing of REDD Concession Contract and Ground Breaking Ceremony in the Democratic Republic of Congo
August 05 2011 - 9:25AM
Marketwired
ERA Carbon Offsets Ltd. (TSX VENTURE: ESR) through its 100% owned
subsidiary ERA Ecosystem Restoration Associates Inc., (ERA) is
pleased to announce the signing of the Forest Conservation
Concession Contract for the 299,640 hectare Mai Ndombe property
with the Government of the Democratic Republic of Congo (DRC).
This is the first Forest Conservation Concession Contract
awarded by the government of the DRC and was signed in Kinshasa by
the Minister of Environment, Conservation of Nature and Tourism -
The Honourable Minister Jose E. B. Endundo. This Concession
Contract follows the March, 2011 signing of the Carbon Rights
Agreement (CRA) for an integrated Avoided Deforestation project in
the DRC, and the subsequent acceptance by the Ministry of ERA's
Concession Management Plan for Mai Ndombe. This Concession Contract
provides ERA with clear legal standing to administer the first
large scale REDD project in the country.
To celebrate this historic agreement, two ceremonies took place
in Inongo and Kesenge, both in Bandundu Province, within the Mai
Ndombe district, to officially launch the REDD project and the
corresponding social infrastructure projects taking place. The
first ceremony, regarded as the official ground breaking, took
place in Inongo where ERA Congo's logistical center is located. The
event was attended by more than 300 people, including The
Honourable Minister Jose Endundo, district and territorial
administrators, representatives of the Bandundu provincial
government, local Chiefs from the project area, community
representatives, NGO's, members of civil society and ERA. An
official cornerstone was cast in cement upon which Honourable
Minister Endundo placed a commemorative bronze plaque which refers
to the REDD project being undertaken.
Full project development is now underway within the concession
area. ERA's forestry team is currently engaged in the establishment
of forest plot networks within the project area, while engineering
work on the first of five planned schools within Mai-Ndombe has
commenced. Each school will house eight classrooms which will serve
the families of local communities.
Dr. Robert Falls, Chairman of ERA commented: "This is a very
significant day for the Democratic Republic of Congo, the people
and forests of Mai Ndombe, and all of us at ERA. It is clear that
the DRC and Africa will play a meaningful role in climate change
mitigation, and we are honoured and excited to help make this
happen. I would very much like to recognize the Honourable Minister
Jose Endundo for his ongoing support and leadership, our dedicated
and talented team at ERA Congo, and the many individuals within the
DRC who have played important roles in this process. The local
communities and their leaders, business leaders within these
communities, members of civil society, and project supporters at
each level of government - all proved invaluable in navigating and
fulfilling the requirements of a complicated but worthwhile
process. We now look forward to realizing the vision we share by
putting the plan into action."
The project is expected to be developed to the Verified Carbon
Standard (VCS) and the Climate, Community and Biodiversity Alliance
Standard (CCBA) in order to recognize the high social and
ecological value of the project. Current modeling indicates
significant emission reductions in the range of 1.5 to 3.0 million
tonnes per year will be produced once the project is fully
implemented. It is expected that the project will begin issuing
credits in 2012.
Robert Falls | Ph.D., R.P.Bio., Chairman
About ERA Carbon Offsets Ltd.
A pioneer in forest restoration and conservation carbon offset
projects; ERA has delivered over one million tonnes of carbon
offsets to the voluntary market. The company's Community Ecosystem
Restoration Program began in 2005 in British Columbia, Canada, and
its activities have grown to include forest carbon projects in
Africa, New Zealand and the United States. ERA's clients and
product users include Air Canada, Catalyst Paper, Rolling Stone
Magazine, HSE - Entega, The Forest Carbon Group AG, and Shell
Canada Limited. ERA's carbon offset products are validated and
verified to ISO-14064, CCBA, PFSI-VER and VCS standards.
Additional information on ERA can be found on the corporate
website www.eracarbonoffsets.com or by contacting
investor@eracarbonoffsets.com
FORWARD LOOKING STATEMENTS: This document includes
forward-looking statements as well as historical information.
Forward-looking statements include, but are not limited to, the
continued advancement of the company's general business
development, research development and the company's development of
forest-based carbon offsets. When used in this document, the words
"anticipate", "believe", "estimate", "expect", "intent", "may",
"project", "plan", "should" and similar expressions may identify
forward-looking statements. Although ERA Carbon Offsets Ltd.
believes that their expectations reflected in these forward looking
statements are reasonable, such statements involve risks and
uncertainties and no assurance can be given that actual results
will be consistent with these forward-looking statements. Important
factors that could cause actual results to differ from these
forward-looking statements include fluctuations in the marketplace
for the sale of carbon credits, the inability to implement
corporate strategies, the ability to obtain financing and other
risks disclosed in our filings made with Canadian Securities
Regulators.
Neither TSX Venture Exchange nor its Regulation Services
Provider (as that term is defined in the policies of the TSX
Venture Exchange) accepts responsibility for the adequacy or
accuracy of this release.
Contacts: ERA Carbon Offsets Ltd. David Rokoss 604-973-6512
david.rokoss@eraecosystems.com www.eracarbonoffsets.com
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