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The Nature Conservancy is participating in a Cooperative Agreement with the Department of Energy (DOE) National Energy Technology Laboratory (NETL) to explore the compatibility of carbon sequestration in terrestrial ecosystems and the conservation of biodiversity. The title of the research project is "Application and Development of Appropriate Tools and Technologies for Cost-Effective Carbon Sequestration".The objectives of the project are to: 1) improve carbon offset estimates produced in both the planning and implementation phases of projects; 2) build valid and standardized approaches to estimate project carbon benefits at a reasonable cost; and 3) lay the groundwork for implementing cost-effective projects, providing new testing ground for biodiversity protection and restoration projects that store additional atmospheric carbon. This Technical Progress Report discusses preliminary results of the six specific tasks that The Nature Conservancy is undertaking to answer research needs while facilitating the development of real projects with measurable greenhouse gas reductions. The research described in this report occurred between April 1 st , 2005 and June 30th, 2005. The specific tasks discussed include:• Research has carried on steadily to make progress and complete the baseline studies. The baseline study in northwest Florida was finished, and data analysis continues for the Chile and Peru work. Plans for the third-party technical advisory panel in early 2006 are being made. The focus of the meeting will be on methodologies needed to quantify land use and forestry offsets to qualify for different carbon markets and voluntary registration regimes. This topic will allow for consideration of the approaches we are taking within emerging climate mitigation regimes, to assess compatibility and make adjustments in approaches as appropriate.The Feasibility study for longleaf pine Restoration in northwest Florida has been completed and submitted. Work on the Northeast Feasibility study has been underway. Neil Sampson has completed a draft of part 1 of the work which is under review by the project team. Work on part 2 is also progressing, with some data still being assembled for a completion of a first draft. Project team members also held a meeting in Connecticut with key stakeholder to brief them on the project. 5 EXPERIMENTAL Task 1 Carbon Inventory AdvancementsCarbon Inventories can be increased and costs lowered through improved techniques. Forest Inventories have been carried out for a number of reasons; to use for M3DADI calibration (task 2), for use in carbon baseline development (task 3) and for development of new regression equations and improved estimates of biomass for different terrestrial systems. Some calibration of Laser Induced Breakdown Spectroscopy (LIBS) calibration has also been carried out using soils collected during TNC research in Indiana and in association with a workshop in Brazil. Task 2 Emerging technologies for remote sensing of terrestrial carbonEmerging remote sensing technolog...

The Nature Conservancy participated in a Cooperative Agreement with the Department of Energy (DOE) National Energy Technology Laboratory (NETL) to explore the compatibility of carbon sequestration in terrestrial ecosystems and the conservation of biodiversity. The title of the research project was "Application and Development of Appropriate Tools and Technologies for Cost-Effective Carbon Sequestration".The objectives of the project were to: 1) improve carbon offset estimates produced in both the planning and implementation phases of projects; 2) build valid and standardized approaches to estimate project carbon benefits at a reasonable cost; and 3) lay the groundwork for implementing cost-effective projects, providing new testing ground for biodiversity protection and restoration projects that store additional atmospheric carbon. This Final Technical Report discusses the results of the six tasks that The Nature Conservancy undertook to answer research needs while facilitating the development of real projects with measurable greenhouse gas reductions. The research described in this report occurred between July 1 st 2001 and July 10 th 2008. The specific tasks discussed include: Task 1: carbon inventory advancements  Task 2: emerging technologies for remote sensing of terrestrial carbon  Task 3: baseline method development  Task 4: third-party technical advisory panel meetings  Task 5: new project feasibility studies  Task 6: development of new project software screening toolThe project occurred in two phases. The first was a focused exploration of specific carbon measurement and monitoring methodologies and pre-selected carbon sequestration opportunities. The second was a more systematic and comprehensive approach to compare various competing measurement and monitoring methodologies, and assessment of a variety of carbon sequestration opportunities in order to find those that are the lowest cost with the greatest combined carbon and other environmental benefits.In the first phase we worked in the U.S., Brazil, Belize, Bolivia, Peru, and Chile to develop and refine specific carbon inventory methods, pioneering a new remote-sensing method for costeffectively measuring and monitoring terrestrial carbon sequestration and system for developing carbon baselines for both avoided deforestation and afforestation/reforestation projects. We evaluated the costs and carbon benefits of a number of specific terrestrial carbon sequestration activities throughout the U.S., including reforestation of abandoned mined lands in southwest Virginia, grassland restoration in Arizona and Indiana, and reforestation in the Mississippi Alluvial Delta. The most cost-effective U.S. terrestrial sequestration opportunity we found through these studies was reforestation in the Mississippi Alluvial Delta.In Phase II we conducted a more systematic assessment and comparison of several different measurement and monitoring approaches in the Northern Cascades of California, and a broad 11-state Northeast regional assessment, rather than...

The Nature Conservancy is participating in a Cooperative Agreement with the Department of Energy (DOE) National Energy Technology Laboratory (NETL) to explore the compatibility of carbon sequestration in terrestrial ecosystems and the conservation of biodiversity. The title of the research projects is "Application and Development of Appropriate Tools and Technologies for Cost-Effective Carbon Sequestration".The objectives of the project are to: 1) improve carbon offset estimates produced in both the planning and implementation phases of projects; 2) build valid and standardized approaches to estimate project carbon benefits at a reasonable cost; and 3) lay the groundwork for implementing cost-effective projects, providing new testing ground for biodiversity protection and restoration projects that store additional atmospheric carbon. This Technical Progress Report discusses preliminary results of the six specific tasks that The Nature Conservancy is undertaking to answer research needs while facilitating the development of real projects with measurable greenhouse gas impacts. The specific tasks discussed include:• Task LIST OF GRAPHICAL MATERIALS EXECUTIVE SUMMARYThe Nature Conservancy is participating in a Cooperative Agreement with the Department of Energy (DOE) National Energy Technology Laboratory (NETL) to explore the compatibility of carbon sequestration in terrestrial ecosystems and the conservation of biodiversity. The work is being accomplished in close collaboration with NGO partners, government and academic institutions, and U.S. based companies. This research is being conducted on sites where carbon sequestration activities have been underway for several years, and on sites that appear to offer opportunities for carbon sequestration for those interested in taking action to reduce atmospheric greenhouse gas concentrations.Our objectives are to: 1) improve carbon offset estimates produced in both the planning and implementation phases of projects; 2) build valid and standardized approaches to estimate project carbon benefits at a reasonable cost; and 3) lay the groundwork for implementing cost-effective projects, providing new testing ground for biodiversity protection and restoration projects that store additional atmospheric carbon. The Nature Conservancy is undertaking six specific tasks to answer research needs while facilitating the development of real projects with measurable greenhouse gas impacts. The specific tasks include:• Task Task 1: Carbon Inventory AdvancementsIn Brazil, at projects supported by American Electric Power and General Motors, new regression equations were developed for fern trees (xaxim sp.). The equation shows that height and biomass are closely correlated. Some large trees were also harvested and weighed, and the results showed that there may need to be an adjustment made to the allometric equation that has been used to estimate biomass in trees. A vegetation map was also developed for this area in preparation for inventory work to be accomplished in coordination...

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