General

SilvaCarbon is a flagship U.S. interagency program that enhances capacity in more than 25 developing countries to gather, analyze, and use data to improve agricultural, forestry, and land management practices. The program disseminates U.S. scientific standards and methods, which strengthen evidence-based land use planning, and distributes innovative U.S. technology such as satellite and laser monitoring of forests. It provides essential training in forest and terrestrial carbon estimation methodologies to improve developing countries monitoring, reporting, and verification capacity and performance. This in turn helps ensure that countries achieve the same high reporting standards as the U.S. in the context of the UNFCCC, as well as improves performance in agricultural regions that are key suppliers for major U.S. companies.

General

"This grant will support the Climate and Land Use Alliance at ClimateWorks Foundation. CLUA’s mission is to realize the potential of forested and agricultural landscapes to mitigate climate change, benefit people, and protect the environment, primarily in Indonesia, Brazil, and Mesoamerica. Land use — from deforestation, land degradation, and the draining and burning of tropical peatlands to fertilizer application and rice and cattle production — is responsible for about 25 percent of human-related greenhouse gas emissions. More effective land use protects the climate by reducing carbon emissions and preserving nature’s vital carbon sinks. "