Project CESAR targets to ultimately comprise 10,000 Ha under Monsoon management in collaboration with public and private land owners. In addition to institutional investment financing, in particular for Green Compliance and Use of Proceeds investment, Monsoon will allocate a small proportion of the available area for crowdfunded investment tranches to raise broader public awareness.
Project CESAR leverages Monsoon’s past investment experience in water & waste management for broader impact in line with current global climate priorities. This project builds an economic & environmental buffer zone to ecologically sensitive areas such as the Tonle Sap Eco Sphere region that is crucial to environmental, flora, fauna, cultural and economic well-being of the entire Greater Mekong region. Such buffer zones are critical in providing the necessary economic and geo-physical support for the protection of the ecological areas as well as providing a green zone in its own right that supports self-sustainable agro-economic activity.
Community engagement is a crucial element of Project CESAR that is built into Monsoon’s land management plan. Monsoon will allocate tracts of Community Farming land adjacent to our afforestation tracts. This allows farmers to use Monsoon land supported by agro-technical assistance provided by Monsoon, providing a livelihood and income for their children’s education. The afforestation tracts benefit from resident farming communities who earn additional income by assisting with planting & maintenance and act as on-site Forest Guardians. Further, properly managed agriculture and forestry symbiotically enhances soil health.
Monsoon intends to establish a scalable commercial model for Afforestation and sustainable Carbon Sink Management that can be replicated in other locations. Monsoon is aligned to the objectives and timelines of the Paris Accord, the Kyoto Protocol and the regional governments’ development and compliance timelines, in particular those of the PRC, Japan, Singapore, Cambodia and Indonesia.
This project will be piloted at sites with an initial pilot target of 2,000 Ha in aggregate to be managed by Monsoon in vicinities adjacent to gazetted ecological zones. The project sites is expected to comprise diverse terrain and ecosystems including areas for both wetland conservation and new planting.
Monsoon will work with key stakeholders for land conservancy, carbon sink management and revenue generation through regional Asian ETSs. Monsoon is establishing key stakeholder alliances and investor participation as the project is to be developed, nurtured and managed as a complete ecosystem with the requisite resources, experience and expertise.
Upon successful piloting, we intend for the project to extend to other public and private sites nationally in Cambodia and for the model to be adopted in other Asian markets through Monsoon sponsorship.