How does Improved Forest Management work?

Improved Forest Management (IFM) practices are designed to avoid the emissions that would typically be created from harvest or natural disturbance of forested areas (for example, wildfires), as well as enhancing the capacity for these areas to naturally store carbon. They centre around the concept of additionality, illustrating how these carbon benefits would not occur without the IFM project (i.e. The ‘baseline scenario’).

IFM methodologies typically include reducing the intensity of logging in a forest, encouraging natural regeneration of the forest and enriching the forest through planting new, native or commercially valuable tree species. They also include extending the length of time between harvests, setting aside some areas from harvesting (production-to-conservation), reducing forest degradation, and managing fire, pests, and disease.

These carbon credits are typically issued based on both avoided emissions and carbon removals. Avoided emissions are calculated as the difference between the emissions that would have occurred with the project in place compared to without the project (i.e., the difference between baseline and project scenario emissions). Carbon removals are quantified by measuring forest biomass growth and tracking changes in carbon stocks in aboveground and belowground tree biomass, and in some cases dead wood, litter, harvested wood products and soil organic carbon pools over time.

IFM projects should recognise, respect and embrace the governance systems within both Indigenous Peoples as well as local communities. This is proven to reduce conflict and increase the efficacy of projects, it also increases the likelihood that the rights of both Indigenous Peoples and local communities are protected.