The BioCarbon Fund Initiative for Sustainable Forest Landscapes (ISFL) is a multilateral fund, supported by donor governments and managed by the World Bank. It promotes reducing greenhouse gas emissions from the land sector, from deforestation and forest degradation in developing countries (REDD+), and from sustainable agriculture, as well as smarter land-use planning, policies and practices.
ISFL has a geographically diverse portfolio of large-scale programs that can have significant impact and transform rural areas by protecting forests, restoring degraded lands, enhancing agricultural productivity, and by improving livelihoods and local environments.
The ISFL supports programs in Colombia, Ethiopia, and Zambia. An additional program in Indonesia is under consideration. The fund provides technical assistance to support the design of programs that impact multiple sectors of the economy and results-based payments to incentivize and sustain program activities.
Climate-smart land use is critical for reducing poverty, increasing productivity, building resilience, and helping countries meet their global climate commitments.
Established in 2004, the BioCarbon Fund (BioCF) has been at the heart of linking carbon finance and sustainable land use over the last decade. It was the first carbon fund established in the world to focus on land use, piloting the first Afforestation/Reforestation (A/R), Reduced Emissions from Deforestation and Forest Degradation (REDD+), and Sustainable Agricultural Land Management (SALM) activities at the project scale. These first experiences have provided a wealth of knowledge on how to quantify emission reductions from different land use activities and have helped pave the way for other land-use carbon initiatives that have followed. BioCF pilots have also generated a wealth of knowledge on the land tenure issues, financing arrangements, and benefit-sharing schemes that are essential for the long-term success of these initiatives.
Today, there is a huge network of governments, businesses, civil society, and local communities working to advance the land use carbon agenda internationally.
The BioCarbon Fund Initiative for Sustainable Forest Landscapes (ISFL) aims to contribute to this momentum by creating a portfolio of programs that will promote sustainable agriculture, forestry and smarter land-use practices in an integrated approach. ISFL programs will cover a variety of geographies and will transform large rural areas by protecting natural forests, restoring degraded lands, and enhancing agricultural productivity, thereby improving livelihoods and local environments.
