Hiniduma, located in the southwest of Sri Lanka, is a mixed agricultural community surrounded by one the island’s last few remaining rainforest ecosystems. The “Hiniduma Bio-link Project” aims to establish a biodiversity corridor between two large remnant disturbed rainforest patches – Singharaja (UNESCO World Heritage Site) & Kanneliya (International Man and Biosphere Reserve), and to conserve buffer zones around the forest edges through reforestation.

The primary aim of this project is to reduce the pressure by local communities in the surrounding areas on the remaining rainforest patches, whilst enhancing the livelihoods of traditional communities living in close proximity to tracts of natural forest where the biodiversity is high, but under imminent threat. As a byproduct, the Carbon Dioxide sequestered through this project generates carbon credits that are sold as voluntary carbon credits in the local and international carbon markets, the proceeds of which are diverted back into the project to ensure its continuation.

This project, follows the Plan Vivo Standard – the longest standing and most established forestry carbon accounting standard in the world that aims to support rural smallholder communities manage their natural resources more sustainably, with a view to generating livelihood and ecosystem benefits. This project is also the first ever carbon credit generation project to have been certified by Plan Vivo in the Asian region, and the field level verification done by a third-party forestry expert from the UK. The carbon credits are registered under a well-known registry called the Markit Registry.