– from the Climate Spectator website; 15 February 2011

GREEN DEALS: Tall timber

Two Australian companies are hoping to raise funds and pursue projects in Asia and Africa after their jointly owned methodology to protecting forests received approval from the Voluntary Carbon Standard. GreenCollar Climate Solutions and the listed company m2m Corp (MCL) say their Logged to Protected Forests methodology is the first that provides a mechanism to generate credits from converting logging concessions to protected forests. GCS CEO James Schultz said the methodology could be a “powerful tool” for saving forests in developing countries, where millions of hectares are planned for commercial harvest, and provide an economic alternative to  logging for indigenous peoples living in forest areas.

However, the first project likely to be approved under the new system could be a Tasmanian-based project developed by the Australian company REDD-Forests.

MCL said in a separate statement, described the approval as a significant breakthrough and it would look to accelerate the development of projects. It says credits from large, third party forestry projects that have approval from the VCR as well as the Climate, Community and Biodiversity standard (CCB), can generate prices of $5-$8, despite the recent volatility in voluntary markets.

MCL said it expects average portfolio returns in excess of 5% of gross projects’ sales proceeds each year, with the percentage growing over time. MCL is a listed IT firm that was to be the vehicle used for an effective backdoor listing by the carbon firm Carbon Planet last year. However, the deal fell through and MCL is now pursuing its own carbon development business.