Technical Support Services
Most Plan Vivo projects will require some external technical and commercial support to get started. Support services may also continue during the lifetime of the project. This section provides a brief overview of the technical and commercial opportunities associated with the development and management of Plan Vivo projects.
Scoping and feasibility studies
Many projects of this type, whether Plan Vivo or other land use and forestry initiatives will require some scoping or feasibility assessment prior to initiation. Key questions that will be asked of potential Plan Vivo projects will include:
- What are the most appropriate forestry or agroforestry systems, that provide carbon benefits and local benefits?
- Have local organisations expressed interest?
- What is the potential scale of the project?
- What local organisations might provide administrative and technical support, and what capacity building will be required?
Early Development Support
Local organisations will often require training and assistance in the following areas:
- Establishment of appropriate legal structures
- Setting-up of databases
- Development of technical specifications and carbon models
- Carrying out biomass inventories
- Setting up internal document flow and reporting procedures
- Understanding climate change and carbon markets
On-going support for mature projects
Local project management organisations will often require some continuing support from industrial country organisations, to enable them to become or remain viable. It is recommended that support services should be designed to be a sustainable part of the business. These services may include:
- Handling of sales of carbon credits to purchasers in developed countries
- Periodic assessment and improvement of local administrative and technical services (as part of an annual planning and improvement cycle)
- Preparation for independent verification
- Operating of some internal financial checks and balances
- Strategic advice on the type of carbon services, the scale of operations and the likely value of the carbon assets
Standards expected from providers of support services
Local organisations developing Plan Vivo projects will generally have scarce resources and considerable demands. Potential providers of support services are expected to:
- Be competent - be sure to understand what you are able to offer and how it can be delivered
- Be efficient - this generally means offering what is required by the project, rather than what you may be interested in providing
- Be honest - do not inflate local expectations. Most projects involve a long, hard slog of work from all stakeholders, but particularly the local organisations.
- Be patient - projects are likely to suffer from delays and setbacks, particularly in the early stages when local organisations are trying to understand about carbon services and what role they might play