Offset Spotlight: Keo Seima Wildlife Sanctuary

Today we are shining the spotlight on Keo Seima Wildlife Sanctuary. Our ultra-transparent offset project marketplace includes this and over 100 others around the world.

Sara Miranda
December 15, 2022
A wide overhead view of a forest with clouds

Today we are shining the spotlight on Keo Seima Wildlife Sanctuary. Our ultra-transparent offset project marketplace includes this and over 100 others around the world.

Reduced Emissions from Deforestation and Degradation in Keo Seima Wildlife Sanctuary

The Keo Seima Wildlife Sanctuary protects approximately 170,000 hectares (420,000 acres) of forested land. The protected land serves as the ancestral home of the Indigenous Bunong people whose unique culture and beliefs are inseparable from the forest. It is also home to more than 950 wild species, including 75 globally threatened species.

Two men in a forest of trees with one looking through binoculars

The project preserves the region’s vulnerable wildlife, including the world’s largest populations of endangered, black-shanked douc and yellow-cheeked crested gibbon, as well as a nationally significant population of Asian elephants. The project channels private-sector financing to the local community conserving the forest. The investments are made possible through the sale of Verified Emission Reductions that are verified using the globally recognized Verified Carbon Standard. The resulting Verified Carbon Units are then traded on the voluntary carbon market. Proceeds from the VCU sales are used to fund forest conservation, wildlife protection, and community development in one of the most under-resourced communities in the world.

A large bird

Since 2009, the project has assisted with co-creating impactful local community teams that protect and manage threatened landscapes. These teams also work to co-develop education, skills training, and other initiatives to improve well-being.    Without the project, destructive activities such as illegal land clearing that replaces native tree species with commercial cash crops would continue posing a risk. With the project, over 1.4 million tonnes of CO2 emissions have been avoided each year for a total of 16,378,529 tonnes of CO2 emissions avoided to date.

A world map with a tree icon on Cambodia

A factor to take into consideration when choosing an offset project to support is which of the UN's SDGs it covers and which are important to your company.

The 17 Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs)...recognize that ending poverty and other deprivations must go hand-in-hand with strategies that improve health and education, reduce inequality, and spur economic growth – all while tackling climate change and working to preserve our oceans and forests.”

Of the 17 Sustainable Development Goals, Keo Seima Wildlife Sanctuary supports six. These six include: No Poverty, Good Health and Well-Being, Clean Water and Sanitation, Decent Work and Economic Growth, Climate Action, and Life on Land. 

To learn more about each of these goals you can visit their website here.

A diagram of 6 of the 17 Sustainable Development goals

Certification is another important factor to keep in mind when selecting an offset project. This project is certified by Verra.

Blue logo with the company name Verra on it

At the end of the day, carbon offsets are your way to invest in meaningful, measurable projects that either pull greenhouse gasses out of the atmosphere or prevent them from ending up there. Browse through our projects to find the perfect one that your customers, employees and other stakeholders can be proud of.

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Sara Miranda
December 15, 2022

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