Glossary
Annual Forest Grant Plan (Plano Anual de Outorga Florestal – PAOF): document elaborated by the Brazilian Forestry Service that lists all areas available for forest concessions and the criteria used to select them.
Carbon credits from REDD+ projects: the conservation of natural forests generates credits by avoiding emissions associated to deforestation and maintaining carbon stored in forest biomass, thus reducing the amount in the atmosphere.
Carbon credits from reforestation projects: the planting of new trees generates credits through carbon removal, where atmospheric carbon dioxide is captured through photosynthesis and stored in forest biomass.
Environmental services: services provided by nature that contribute directly or indirectly to human well-being, such as erosion and rain cycle regulation or heat and flood mitigation.
Forest concessions: areas of public forests that are temporarily granted to the private sector, through a bidding process, in order to develop economic activities related to sustainable forest management.
Forestation/Reforestation: forestation is generally associated to the intensive planting of commercial species, whereas reforestation consists in the planting of native species aiming to restore the original ecosystem.
Greenhouse Gases (GHG): atmospheric gases such as CO2, CH4 e N2O that absorb part of the infrared radiation emitted by the Sun and reflected on Earth’s surface, keeping this radiation (heat) from escaping into space.
Offset: the compensation mechanism that allows the conversion of a verifiable GHG emission reduction into a credit that grants another actor (the buyer) the right to emit GHG.
REDD+: Reducing Emissions from Deforestation and forest Degradation, plus (+) the sustainable management of forests, and the conservation and enhancement of forest carbon stocks.
Verified Carbon Standard (VCS): the main certification standard for the global voluntary carbon credit market.