The Green Samar Project is a 25-year initiative to reforest 120,000 hectares of degraded forest within Samar Island Natural Park, the largest terrestrial national park in the Philippines. A partnership between French firm aDryada, Samar Bamboo Corporation, and the DENR, the project will plant native tree species and generate carbon credits based on increased carbon sequestration. Local communities will be employed as forest guards and in restoration work, with the goal of reducing illegal logging and kaingin. The project uses a carbon credit mechanism to finance conservation and community development. Carbon credits are calculated as the difference in carbon absorption between the degraded baseline and the reforested area. If successful, the agreement can be renewed for another 25 years. Proponents say this makes the Philippines a regional leader in large-scale nature-based carbon projects.
