LifeForce ™ @ Belipola Arboretum, the World's First Analog Forest

Project Description 1

To support day to day activities at the world's first Analog Forest we encourage you to purchase LifeForce. LifeForce does not merely pay for planting a tree, instead we pay the arboretum for the Photosynthetic Biomass that each tree-UNIT has been monitored, recorded and validated (MRV’d) to have produced over four years. This contractual approach supports the arboretum for four years (usually the most valueless initial growth period of a tree) by validating the externalities produced by each tree-UNIT while bridging the highest value for tree farming in the world. Analog forestry (AF) is a system of silviculture that seeks to establish a tree-dominated ecosystem that is analogous in architectural structure and ecological function to the original climax or sub-climax vegetation community. These quasi-natural forests are designed to mimic the structural and functional aspects of indigenous forests and are referred to as Analog Forests. Analog Forestry also draws on designs and input from traditional models of forest management as well as from the natural forests which are studied by AF practitioners in various different bioregions across the globe. [www.analogforestry.org] To be analogous to the indigenous climax state, the AF is designed to mimic the efficiency and dynamics of natural processes, which can then be replicated in a studied manner. In addition to their ecological characteristics, analog forests are designed to provide long term economic benefits. Therefore, an analogue forest may be composed of natural and exotic species in any proportion, with the contribution to structure (biomass) and function (ecological action) being the overriding factor that determines its use.

What’s special about LifeForce ™ at Belipola Arboretum ? The PES value of each tree supports 50 hrs of applied AF training to one agriculture undergraduate student registered with the national university system. That means over the next 4 years 100 undergraduate students in the agriculture sciences will receive up-to-date information and strategies for natural farming as well as mitigating the negative effects of climate change.

Beneficiary(s)

1. Belipola Arboretum Management, EarthRestoration PL


2. 100 agriculture students (25 per year for 4 years) to be experienced in 50 hrs accredited learning related to AF —- >


3. LifeForce customers can follow the progress of this project and redeem their NFT’s through their personal LifeForce ledger

LifeForce with tree-farmers in Cheddikulam

Project Description

Cheddikulam is recognized as one of the environmental zones vulnerable to climate change in South Asia. Forest garden landowners selected to work with the PILOT for LifeForce tree farming contracts were the top 25 practitioners of Analog Forestry (over the past decade from 2008 to 2018) through the International Analog Forestry Networks outreach in this region.

Analog forestry (AF) is a system of silviculture that seeks to establish a tree-dominated ecosystem that is analogous in architectural structure and ecological function to the original climax or sub-climax vegetation community. These quasi-natural forests are designed to mimic the structural and functional aspects of indigenous forests and are referred to as Analog Forests. Analog Forestry also draws on designs and input from traditional models of forest management as well as from the natural forests which are studied by AF practitioners in various different bioregions across the globe. [www.analogforestry.org]

The LifeForce Project in Cheddikulam is recognized as an added layer of income to support day to day farming activities of the select beneficiaries, as well as a demonstration of the LifeForce tree - farming contract to scale medium term income goals for the landowners. LifeForce tree contracts do not merely pay for planting a tree, instead all registered beneficiaries were paid under specified payments for ecosystem services based on the the Photosynthetic Biomass that each tree-UNIT has been monitored, recorded and validated (MRV’d) to have produced over four years. This contracted PES integrated with the LifeForce transaction pathway supported the progressive education of these landowners while also bridging the highest income value for tree farming in the world.

Mission statements from the Cheddiculam Tree - Farming community

• “We are aware that the critical Ecosystem services such as; production of Oxygen, sequestering of Carbon, water cycling and ambient cooling is carried out by the photosynthetic component of biomass. This is being lost at an exponential rate, due to the fact that these Ecosystem Services have not been valued, nor economically recognised.”


• “Investment in food security, should take climate change seriously as the optimum operating temperature of chlorophyll is at 37 deg C. In a warming world where temperatures will soar well above that, food production will be severely impacted.


• “Trees and all other forms of vegetation cool the environment around them through the transpiration process, which takes place in the leaves”.


• “Analog Forests have been recorded to have daytime temperatures at least 3 degrees below the ambient”


• “I’ve looked after my trees like children, they have been nurtured over time and the payback has been rewarding”


• “We should be inviting similar initiatives that seek to build up the Photosynthetic Biomass stocks wherever possible in our country”.