VANCOUVER, BRITISH COLUMBIA — (Marketwire) — 08/05/11 — ERA Carbon Offsets Ltd. (TSX VENTURE: ESR) through its 100% owned subsidiary ERA Ecosystem Restoration Associates Inc., (ERA) is pleased to announce the signing of the Forest Conservation Concession Contract for the 299,640 hectare Mai Ndombe property with the Government of the Democratic Republic of Congo (DRC).
This is the first Forest Conservation Concession Contract awarded by the government of the DRC and was signed in Kinshasa by the Minister of Environment, Conservation of Nature and Tourism – The Honourable Minister Jose E. B. Endundo. This Concession Contract follows the March, 2011 signing of the Carbon Rights Agreement (CRA) for an integrated Avoided Deforestation project in the DRC, and the subsequent acceptance by the Ministry of ERA–s Concession Management Plan for Mai Ndombe. This Concession Contract provides ERA with clear legal standing to administer the first large scale REDD project in the country.
To celebrate this historic agreement, two ceremonies took place in Inongo and Kesenge, both in Bandundu Province, within the Mai Ndombe district, to officially launch the REDD project and the corresponding social infrastructure projects taking place. The first ceremony, regarded as the official ground breaking, took place in Inongo where ERA Congo–s logistical center is located. The event was attended by more than 300 people, including The Honourable Minister Jose Endundo, district and territorial administrators, representatives of the Bandundu provincial government, local Chiefs from the project area, community representatives, NGO–s, members of civil society and ERA. An official cornerstone was cast in cement upon which Honourable Minister Endundo placed a commemorative bronze plaque which refers to the REDD project being undertaken.
Full project development is now underway within the concession area. ERA–s forestry team is currently engaged in the establishment of forest plot networks within the project area, while engineering work on the first of five planned schools within Mai-Ndombe has commenced. Each school will house eight classrooms which will serve the families of local communities.
Dr. Robert Falls, Chairman of ERA commented: “This is a very significant day for the Democratic Republic of Congo, the people and forests of Mai Ndombe, and all of us at ERA. It is clear that the DRC and Africa will play a meaningful role in climate change mitigation, and we are honoured and excited to help make this happen. I would very much like to recognize the Honourable Minister Jose Endundo for his ongoing support and leadership, our dedicated and talented team at ERA Congo, and the many individuals within the DRC who have played important roles in this process. The local communities and their leaders, business leaders within these communities, members of civil society, and project supporters at each level of government – all proved invaluable in navigating and fulfilling the requirements of a complicated but worthwhile process. We now look forward to realizing the vision we share by putting the plan into action.”
The project is expected to be developed to the Verified Carbon Standard (VCS) and the Climate, Community and Biodiversity Alliance Standard (CCBA) in order to recognize the high social and ecological value of the project. Current modeling indicates significant emission reductions in the range of 1.5 to 3.0 million tonnes per year will be produced once the project is fully implemented. It is expected that the project will begin issuing credits in 2012.
Robert Falls | Ph.D., R.P.Bio., Chairman
About ERA Carbon Offsets Ltd.
A pioneer in forest restoration and conservation carbon offset projects; ERA has delivered over one million tonnes of carbon offsets to the voluntary market. The company–s Community Ecosystem Restoration Program began in 2005 in British Columbia, Canada, and its activities have grown to include forest carbon projects in Africa, New Zealand and the United States. ERA–s clients and product users include Air Canada, Catalyst Paper, Rolling Stone Magazine, HSE – Entega, The Forest Carbon Group AG, and Shell Canada Limited. ERA–s carbon offset products are validated and verified to ISO-14064, CCBA, PFSI-VER and VCS standards.
Additional information on ERA can be found on the corporate website or by contacting
FORWARD LOOKING STATEMENTS: This document includes forward-looking statements as well as historical information. Forward-looking statements include, but are not limited to, the continued advancement of the company–s general business development, research development and the company–s development of forest-based carbon offsets. When used in this document, the words “anticipate”, “believe”, “estimate”, “expect”, “intent”, “may”, “project”, “plan”, “should” and similar expressions may identify forward-looking statements. Although ERA Carbon Offsets Ltd. believes that their expectations reflected in these forward looking statements are reasonable, such statements involve risks and uncertainties and no assurance can be given that actual results will be consistent with these forward-looking statements. Important factors that could cause actual results to differ from these forward-looking statements include fluctuations in the marketplace for the sale of carbon credits, the inability to implement corporate strategies, the ability to obtain financing and other risks disclosed in our filings made with Canadian Securities Regulators.
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Contacts:
ERA Carbon Offsets Ltd.
David Rokoss
604-973-6512