Rewetting Drained Temperate Peatlands Verified Carbon Standard (VCS) Methodology: Project Boundary
Geo-referenced data
Total area
Details of the land rights holder and user rights
The project will meet the requirements and conditions set forth by the methodology. Building on this, It is rare a project will have a homogeneous landscape throughout the whole geographical boundary. In that case, projects can be stratified based on a few factors. Project boundaries, whether temporal or geographic, are an imperative step in completing a restoration project on Minnesota’s Northern peatlands. Using the VCS’s “Methodology for Rewetting Drained Temperate Peatlands” as a guide, Mitigation Partners, Inc (MPI) develops and plans our project boundaries. Making sure MPI identifies restoration sites with the best potential to offset atmospheric carbon. Below are a few highlights from the methodology which MPI find useful in planning and applying project boundaries to peatland restoration projects.
Temporal Boundaries
The methodology sets the temporal boundaries for the project as the project crediting period. In other words, the specified period of time in which GHG emissions reduced or removed through the project are verified and issued. Projects need a thorough and well defined plan which details the project crediting periods start date, the crediting period as a whole, and rationale to support the timeline chosen. An important note pulled out of the methodology is, if emissions increase during a short period after rewetting then this counts as a negative reduction and falls within the crediting period.
Geographic Boundaries
Geographic boundaries are a clear need for a successful project. Documentation such as tenure records, remotely sensed data, and certified topographic maps may be provided to demonstrate the clear delineation of the project’s boundary. In any event, the program requires coordinates and a distinct boundary in order to be verified. Of course, not all projects are going to have one contiguous piece of land serving as the project area. As long as there is a unique geographical identification per unit and a few other requirements, including
Maps of the area
Stratification
Projects with variable landscapes can be stratified into a few different variables including, peat depth, water table depth, tree cover and/or vegetation compositions,. Breaking the project area up into these variables improves the accuracy and precision of peat depth, carbon stock, and GHG flux estimates. Although generally recommended, a few scenarios require the project area to be stratified by peat depth:
In the instance that, more than 5% of the project area lacks peat or the depth of the peat is below a threshold value
When using a high value for subsidence rates in the project scenario, the project area has more than 5% of the peat depleted within 100 years
Assuming the use of a high value for subsidence rates in the baseline scenario, in more than 5% of the project area, the project crediting period exceeds the peat depletion time (PDT)
When stratifying the project area it is vital to ensure that the sum of individual strata equate to the total project area, each unit is identified with spatial data (maps or GIS coverage), and land cover maps need to be less than ten years old and ground-truthed.
How MPI Applies This Information
Gathering conditions, requirements, and recommendations from the methodology allows MPI to properly source the corresponding information. With this information MPI can establish project boundaries, temporal or geographical. In doing so, the crucial first step in getting a restorative peatland project off the ground is underway. Allowing us to build off our boundaries and progress onto the baseline scenario.
Mitigation Partners, Inc. Founders Dax Dickson & Tory Christensen
