Carbon farming leads to increased carbon sequestration and/or reduced carbon emissions into the atmosphere.
Short to Medium term actions were set by the Communication on Sustainable Carbon Cycles to try and upscale carbon farming. The CARBONICA project aims to introduce Carbon Farming techniques in the widening countries of Greece, North Macedonia and Cyprus. The Interbalkan Environment Center (i-Bec), as an international organization promoting new technologies and innovations links together the public and private sectors for sustainable management of natural resources and protection of the environment. As a result, it has set the goal to create well-working prototypes that have a direct impact on carbon farming, whilst also opening the pathway to safer agri-food products, through certifications.
A methodology protocol was created for Working Package 3, while the project illustrates 15 demo sites, 5 in each country. The protocols have been designed to address the requirements of the EU for a green business model that rewards land managers for taking up improved land management practices. These practices result, among others, in the increase of carbon sequestration in living biomass, dead organic matter, and soils by enhancing carbon capture and/or reducing the release of carbon into the atmosphere, in respect of ecological principles favorable to biodiversity and the natural capital overall. Therefore, i-Bec suggested both carbon footprint and carbon sequestration methodologies customized to MRV demands for accurate and cost-effective tools.
This should result in a greater level of safety for agribusiness stakeholders and farmers willing to adopt carbon farming management practices. Building a trust ecosystem for using new technologies e.g., remote sensing, earth observation data, spectra-libraries, and concrete carbon farming protocols, windows of opportunities emerge to facilitate full absorption of public funds, such as CAP funds, and additional income through the sale of carbon removal credits.
Contribution by Dr Paraskevi Chantzi, i-BEC
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