Permian Global
Permian Global is a mission-led business that is working for the protection and recovery of tropical forests. By developing large-scale tropical forest protection and restoration projects, our company aims to reduce atmospheric carbon dioxide levels, protect habitats to safeguard biodiversity and support sustainable local economies and wellbeing.
Recognising the vital importance of forests as a means of tackling climate change, Permian Global is driving large-scale forest recovery and protection through the development of REDD+ (reduce emissions from deforestation and forest degradation, and forest conservation, sustainable management of forests, and enhancement of forest carbon stocks) projects. These projects are financed through the generation and sales of sale of verified emission reductions (VERs).
Halting the loss and degradation of forest ecosystems and promoting their restoration have the potential to contribute over one-third of the total climate change mitigation that scientists say is required by 2030 to meet the objectives of the Paris Agreement – IUCN
Tropical Forest Protection & Regeneration
First, Permian Global targets areas of natural tropical forest that are demonstrably under threat of damage or conversion. Our team assesses the land rights, the legal ownership and performs extensive research into the carbon content, biodiversity as well as the needs of the people living around the forest.
Next, we work with local communities, local businesses, regional governments and other stakeholders to begin developing the project. We begin building a project team which, where possible, will consist of local people. The team will need to be able to fulfill all the project roles, such as monitoring and protecting the forest from fires, illegal logging, illegal poaching etc; forest regeneration activities; developing sustainable livelihoods as alternatives to destructive practices; community outreach to ensure health care is provided to remote communities and there is access to clean water and sanitation.
All these activities will need to be fully described and assessed by independent third-party auditors, so that the project can be verified against credible standards. Verification must cover the carbon side of the project as well as the other climate, community and biodiversity factors.
A forest’s role in climate change is two-fold: it can act as both a cause and a solution for greenhouse gas emissions.
An estimated 25% of global emissions come from the land sector – this is the second largest source of greenhouse gas emissions after the energy sector. About half of these (5-10 GtCO2e per year) comes from deforestation and forest degradation.
However, forests are also a vital part of the solutions to addressing the effects of climate change. Some 2.6 billion tonnes of carbon dioxide, one-third of the CO2 released from burning fossil fuels, is absorbed annually by forests. Estimates show that nearly two billion hectares of degraded land across the world – an area the size of South America – offer opportunities for restoration. Increasing and maintaining forests is therefore an essential solution to climate change.
Forests, particularly tropical forests, are large complex ecosystems that when healthy are covered with trees of different species that have grown without human intervention.
A healthy natural forest is a dynamic, complex self-regulating ecosystem, composed of a community of species – including animals, trees, plants and micro-organisms – and abiotic components, such as minerals, energy, wind, water and ultraviolet light.
Each species in a forest ecosystem plays a functional role in supporting it: different species of bird consume and spread the seeds of different species of tree; insects pollinate flowering plants; large trees close the canopy, shade out the forest floor and prevent highly competitive grass species invading; top predators keep a check on population numbers of herbivores, which allows tree saplings to become established. Biodiversity is therefore crucial to continuing the provision of ‘ecosystem services’ such as rainfall generation, soil conservation, and carbon sequestration.
Local communities are integral to the success of forest conservation projects. Truly effective conservation must facilitate transformation of a local economy from one based on exploitation of natural resources, to one driven by sustainability and environmental protection.
Meet The Team
Permian Global is involved in forest protection and regeneration activities across the tropics, including in Indonesia, Malaysia, Brazil, Colombia, and Peru. The international team, which includes conservationist, scientists, project managers as well as experts in forest carbon markets and community engagement, is spread across these locations, with additional offices in the UK, Switzerland and the US.
