Welcome to Ecology Crossroads
Indigenous Philanthropy is the greatest and most practical tool that we have to protect tropical forests and mitigate climate change! —Col. David J. Wright, Kentucky
Indigenous Philanthropy Produces Results
Indigenous philanthropy is used by Ecology Crossroads to protect forests through afforestation, agroforestry and biodiversity conservation programs operated by Indigenous peoples in their wilderness territory in Amazonia. It is also used to create livelihoods in natural resource conservation and other culturally appropriate career paths. It's benefits foster Indigenous art, culture, customs, cosmogony, dance, language, music, spirituality, traditions and youth. The objectives of Indigenous philanthropy administered by our organization are tailored to an ecosystem approach which preserves the status quo and reduces colonial hegemony so that self-determination and autonomy are preserved. Through Globcal International equipment, funds and supplies are distributed directly to the Indigenous Peoples Programs through their sovereign court under the direction of the tribal council.
Indigenous Payment for Ecosystem Services (IPES) Agreements Protect Amerindian Territories
Our organization is helping Indigenous Peoples in South America to protect their lands, replant their forests and preserve the natural biodiversity by making them the only legal source of the abundant ecosystem services they provide with their pristine forests. As a nonprofit and charitable services organization we feel it is our job to eliminate the middleman, create an excellent product, increase renewable ecosystem services and connect contributors directly to the source while guaranteeing the results. Establishing a Payment for Ecosystem Services (PES) Agreement with Indigenous Peoples directly, shows respect for their autonomy, provides more carbon credit relief and other potential benefits than any third-party verification companies or carbon credit providers, moreover it is 100% tax deductible.
Directly recognizing and funding Indigenous tribes gets 90% to 100% of the PES payments applied directly to the Indigenous source. Being party to PES Agreements allows members to save their carbon credits from year to year or sell their carbon credits derived from their ecosystem services contract to a third-party.
Philanthropy that Provides Rewards for Everyone
Through our special ecosystem services development project by donating the value of your 2022 carbon footprint offset at the full value as a family or business we will offset your carbon footprint in 2023 and 2024, which can save you $750-$7,500 per year. Larger companies can request Indigenous Legal Agreements by joining the Indigenous foundation, estimating how many carbon credits they need, and our subsidiary, Globcal International will prepare an appropriate ecosystem services agreement and/or access and benefit sharing with Free, Prior and Informed Consent as a member of their new foundation.
Forests play a significant role both in halting biodiversity loss and in mitigating climate change. A variety of payments for ecosystem services (PES) schemes exists to promote biodiversity conservation in forests. These schemes could be used to strengthen the role of forests as carbon sinks as well. Our organization has teamed up with the Huottuja-De'aruhua (Piaroa) People to deliver an Indigenous PES scheme that targets boreal forest biodiversity with an extremely high carbon sequestration index covering an area the size of Switzerland. If the Indigenous Piaroa Forest Territory was a country it would be number 133 in size.
What are Payments for Ecosystem Services (PES)?
Payments for Ecosystem Services (PES) are mechanisms which allow the private and public sector to fund environmental enhancement or conservation initiatives. They create financial incentives for farmers and other landowners (“sellers”) to contribute to improving the environment above and beyond the minimum standard required by law or regulation. The enhanced ecosystem service delivery brings direct or indirect financial benefits to industry, developers, and the public (“buyers”), incentivising them to invest in these projects.
Offsetting schemes are similar to PES schemes, except that they are driven by regulatory or voluntary caps on environmental degradation, incentivising buyers to invest in projects that deliver additional environmental gain. Hundreds of schemes are in place worldwide, including a number in the UK, delivering benefits for water quality and quantity, flood risk, carbon, biodiversity, pest management and recreation. This is a growing market with a number of economic, regulatory, and environmental drivers.
Difference between IPES Agreements and Carbon Offsets
Most basic contemporary laws seek to defend, protect and identify the source, origin or cause of creation, existence, invention, manufacture or production of something, a product or a service. Some people are inclined to believe that the natural forests are the source of forest project carbon credits which is about 10% correct. Natural forests belonging to the Indigenous Peoples of South America are a source for hundreds of ecosystem services which can be utilized in many different ways, creating carbon credits from the ability to sequester atmospheric carbon dioxide is just one of those services. The people who live in and protect the forest provide the ecosystem services for themselves and others to sustain an ecosystem approach to their very existence as Indigenous peoples.
In order to create "carbon credits" the developer must provide verified statistical data regarding the source and the purpose of the carbon sequestration activity which is evidenced by the trading instrument (certificate) that is listed in a carbon registry. For a forestry carbon credit to come into existence the developer must have an agreement with a land owner that has trees and land capable of sequestering carbon dioxide by the ton, then this must be verified by a third-party. A cryptocurrency developer may be able to launch a product starting with one or two Bitcoins, but a carbon credit developer needs well developed agreements in order to originate carbon credits.
Carbon Credit Benefits from IPES Agreements
PES Agreements and IPES Contracts differ slightly in that most PES Agreements exist between Indigenous People and Local Communities (IPLC) and the state, county, government or a qualified NGO or carbon trading company, whereas IPES Agreements or Contracts can be made with any party that can sign a contract. Normally however, these agreements are only prepared for those who are interested in acquiring the usufruct right to sequester 100,000 to 3,000,000 metric tons of CO2e.
By establishing an Indigenous payment for ecosystem services agreement through Ecology Crossroads donors can preserve an area as small as 10 hectares which sequesters 250-380 metric tons of CO2e per year. Annual contract payments are based on 25% to 47% of the value of carbon offsets applied to Fairtrade Forestry Projects. Each year an ecosystem services annual report will be prepared based on all the forest monitoring data collected from the site, calculations are based on the number of trees per hectare, the size, age and species of the trees, trees planted or removed, the amount of carbon dioxide being sequestered, the amount of oxygen being produced, an inventory of non-wood products harvested, and production of agroforestry resources.
Donors can use the annual report for their site 10 to 10,000 hectares to claim their carbon offsets and disclaim the ecosystem services that they are waiving their rights to such as ecotourism and agroforestry production. The carbon credits do not need to be verified because they are coming directly from the source that has been recognized by the World Bank and the UNFCCC Registry under US law. All Ecosystem Service Statements issued by the Indigenous Peoples are registered by their court of civil laws. All carbon credits created in theory must be proven as viable prior to registration.
Watch for the IPES Convention and Contract Guideline
August 09, 2022
International Day of the World's Indigenous People
The Indigenous Payment for Ecosystem Services (IPES) Guideline is made available to members of Ecology Crossroads Programs and the Huottuja Foundation upon request.
Resource References: Methodology for Assessing the Quality of Carbon Credits, Best Carbon Offset Programs - Investopedia, Lessons for the EU’s Carbon Farming Plans - IATP, and Even with Moves toward Transparency, Corporate Climate Pledges and Carbon Offsets Will Be Complicated
Header Image: Based on the original research performed by Globcal International (Theobroma Labs), Ecology Crossroads became convinced in 2022 that we discovered the ancient evolutionary source of the wild Theobroma cacao genome on the Guiana Shield within the territory of the Piaroa people in South America. Historical research concluded that Theobroma cacao was found among the Piaroa, Yekuana and Yanomami tribes who were engaged in the cacao trade (collecting cacao) as early as 1651 with/for Spanish explorers and missionaries.