SexyTrees protocol scope: agroforestry, reforestation, chagras

Introduction to the #SexyTrees methodology

What this protocol covers

This is an economic protocol for restoration initiatives aiming to recover the ecological function of degraded tropical land by adding more native trees. This protocol is interoperable between agroforestry, reforestation, or natural regrowth and extends to traditional Indigenous chagras (see Table B).

Miguel Chindoy, Indigenous author of the chagras section.

Vegetative propagation in action — rhizomes dug from a mature stand,

All included activities restore soil fertility, biodiversity, water quality, and nature-based carbon on lands previously deforested or under unsustainable cultivation, while providing food security and livelihoods to smallfarmer and Indigenous implementers. They must have proven to either reverse or reduce pressure on deforestation. Enrolling plots must be segmented by area, as they constitute variance in human activities and intended human use; however, please note that agrobiodiversity is a gene-based unit.

Mechanisms and credit pathways

Table B: Mechanisms for #SexyTrees to directly earn recurring revenue and/or qualify for outcomes-based forward financing

Mechanism	Tree	Tree carbon	Biochar carbon	Biodiversity	Water	Agrobiodiversity
Agroforestry	🌱🌱🌱	🌱🌱🌱	🌱🌱🌱	🌱🌱🌱	🌱🌱🌱	🌱🌱🌱
Reforestation	🌱🌱🌱	🌱🌱🌱	🌱🌱🌱	🌱🌱🌱	🌱🌱🌱
Natural regrowth		🌱🌱🌱		🌱🌱🌱	🌱🌱🌱
Chagras						🌱🌱🌱

Chagras are included because they are awesome, often include trees, and their protocols overlap on a subset of high-quality sites for the preservation of rare crops. Separating them from the protocol is unnecessarily reductive, including them synergistic.

This protocol is written with standard generic guardrails for sites using it for MRV-based crediting with or without auditing. If it is adopted under a certifying body, many of the sections will be streamlined or redundant, depending on the certifier (See Document history).

What's not included

We don't cover afforestation carbon in this methodology, although we do advocate for its inclusion in crediting the carbon layer.

EUDR compliance

As a side effect of sheer 😎, all plots are EU Deforestation Regulation (EUDR)-compliant, and can prove it, so we automate those certificates into the supply chain from grassroots suppliers for free as part of the protocol.