xpand Foundation activities report January 2020
Simple action | Many people | Big impact
Xpand Foundation
The xpand Foundation is a social enterprise committed to an inclusive society that values the
meaningful livelihood and happiness of every individual.
The xpand Foundation creates and supports locally controlled enterprises that encourage social
inclusion of disadvantaged people to build their social and economic participation in a society
committed to a green future.
Our approach to sustainable development is to use social enterprise to deliver broad-based economic
growth creating employment and income earning opportunities for low income women and men
leading to a lasting reduction in poverty. The focus is very much on the generation of ‘common wealth’
rather than ‘individual wealth’. The model of social enterprise were individuals are paid for their
contribution to the whole, but no individual will benefit above others simply through enterprise or
business ownership.
Mission
The xpand Foundation is committed to an inclusive society through the promotion of health and wellbeing and empowering communities by putting an ‘earned dollar’ in a person’s pocket to move
beyond charity and aid to value the viable livelihood and happiness of every individual.
Objectives
• Ending poverty and hunger and supporting sustainable living and lifelong learning
• Promoting decent work, education and economic growth
• Acting to combat climate change, manage forests and reverse land degradation
• Encouraging global partnerships for international development through local control of social
enterprise.
• Empowering women and children, (particularly girls), by increasing family income, facilitating
children’s education and creating family job prospects.
Values
• We work to create meaningful employment, build the economic capacity of the most
disadvantaged in the community, including women, the elderly, the poor, the unemployed
and those displaced to take control of their own lives.
• We recognise the importance of human rights, and we work towards an inclusive civil and
democratic society.
• We treat all people as equal, with dignity and respect and without the threat of racial, sexual
or physical abuse.
• We practice sustainable use of the worlds natural resources and replenish what we take,
where we can.
• We promote innovation and the exploration of ideas.
xpand Foundation activities report January 2020
Human rights
• We recognise the importance of human rights, and understand that rights have associated
responsibilities shared by people who espouse an inclusive civil and democratic society.
Ethics
• We each have the right to be told the truth, to be treated with dignity and to be accorded
respect for our human integrity.
• We all have the responsibility to behave morally and to contribute to social values.
Integrity
• We each have the right to be treated as a whole, valued individual.
• We all have the responsibility to treat others equitably without the threat of racial, sexual or
physical abuse, irrespective of income, ability or status.
Sustainability
• We each have the right to material sustenance and physical wellbeing.
• We all have the responsibility to practice sustainable use of the world’s natural resources.
Inclusion
• We each have the right of access to community services including online information services,
without discrimination on the grounds of income, ability or location.
• We all have the responsibility to be inclusive and encourage access to information and ideas
including to online information services.
Empowerment
• We each have the right to education and skills development to enable full community
participation.
• We all have the responsibility to ensure that those most disadvantaged in the community,
including women, the elderly, the poor, the unemployed and those with disabilities are
empowered to take control of their lives.
Innovation
• We each have the right of access to the latest ideas relevant to our lives.
• We all have the responsibility to promote innovation and the exploration of ideas in order to
encourage happy and effective lives.
The work of xpand Foundation would not be possible without the generous support of the PMF
Foundation. PMF have been alongside of the xpand Foundation for the journey. This has enabled
xpand to be agile and responsive to community need as the WithOneSeed program has evolved.
Having such a trusting, supportive relationship has allowed the WithOneSeed program to develop a
sustainable model of development.
The xpand Foundation is extremely appreciative of the contribution made by all of the supporters and
collaborators listed at the end of this report.
xpand Foundation activities report January 2020
Simple action |Many people |Big impact
Over the past year the primary focus of the work of the xpand Foundation has been on the
consolidation of the WithOneSeed community forestry program in Baguia, Timor-Leste and to work
to establishing the model so that it can be managed in Timor-Leste by a Timorese entity. There is
considerable interest in the community forestry model in Timor-Leste with five other communities
joining the program. Another successful Gold Standard performance audit was conducted.
WithOneSeed community forestry program is the first social enterprise acting on climate change
through community lead forestry in Timor-Leste. It is dedicated to improving the resilience of
subsistence communities to make environments sustainable, to end poverty and hunger, to deliver
open education and to create regional partnerships.
xpand Foundation has developed and supported the WithOneSeed program over the past nine
years. It is a community participation program which assists subsistence farmers in the reforestation
of their land. It is now the first internationally certified carbon farming program in Timor-Leste under
the Gold Standard Foundation.
It’s about environmental justice, social justice and economic justice and supports 10 of the 17 UN
Sustainable Development Goals. WithOneSeed also embraces the Universal Declaration of Human
Rights. Both of these international standards provide a framework for our work.
Our long-term vision is to develop social enterprise models that can contribute to building villagebased economies using environmental practices that are viable and support sustainable living. Putting
an earned dollar in a person’s pocket empowers them to make decisions for their own future. It is
beyond charity and aid.
The program has four commitments to:
> make environments sustainable
> end poverty and hunger
> increase education and training
> build regional partnerships.
Our approach is simple in its theory and application. We’re planting trees and planting ideas. Our
innovation comes from the annual incentive payments made to subsistence farmers who maintain the
trees, paid from the sale of carbon credits into the international carbon market. If a subsistence farmer
has to choose between planting a cash crop or planting trees that may take 20 years to provide a
financial return, the choice is obvious. However, if we can make a cash crop from trees that sequester
carbon, the equation is quite different.
The development of the TreeO2 smartphone app has introduced greater efficiency into the
management of the new forests. TreeO2 enables the tracking of every tree by planting date, location,
ownership and growth rates. Each tree has a unique ID through the use of RFID nails. Managed
through an online dashboard a new level of transparency, accountability and confidence in the
community forestry model has been established.
xpand Foundation activities report January 2020
WithOneSeed community forestry
The xpand Foundation in partnership with the Foundasaun Ho Musan Ida has been developing and
running the largest community lead agroforestry program in Timor-Leste since 2010. Working with
small land holder subsistence farming communities Ho Musan Ida is dedicated to improving the
resilience of rural and subsistence communities through the creation of activities focused on social
and economic participation for all people irrespective of location, ability, income or education.
The Ho Musan Ida model has been developed and refined over the past ten years in Baguia.
Track record and achievements to 2020.
Ho Musan Ida community forestry started in Baguia, Timor-Leste in
2009 and is the only internationally certified carbon offset program in
Timor-Leste
Over 980 Baguia farmers earning an annual income from community
forestry
Around 200,000 trees under management with 40,000 added each
year
Over 60,000 t CO2e removed from the global atmosphere
xpand Foundation activities report January 2020
More than 25,000 carbon credits sold internationally to companies
and individuals committed to carbon drawdown
Ho Musan Ida achieved the internationally certified carbon forestry
program under the Gold Standard Foundation in 2016 and has
achieved the required performance audits in 2017 and 2019.
MOU with the Government of the Democratic Republic of TimorLeste.
Over US$300,000 paid into the Baguia village economy
Over 5% of Baguia farmers directly benefiting financially from Ho
Musan Ida flowing on to just under 30% of the population
15 permanent full-time jobs and 30 casual jobs created in Ho Musan
Ida
Three main nurseries and 18 sub nurseries producing over 50,000
saplings a year.
Established the John Tadeo Gusmao Agroforestry and Permaculture
Training Centre in Baguia.
Baguia Farmer Finance Cooperative established
Internationally recognised Master Tree Growers agroforestry training
program established in Baguia and Covalima.
10 of the 17 United Nations Sustainable Development Goals being
addressed by Ho Musan Ida
Subsistence farmers are acutely aware of the devastation caused by soil erosion, the loss of crops
and the declining access to water. What is needed is education to allow them to devise good
strategies for land management.
The simple premise of the Ho Musan Ida Foundation philosophy is that by putting an ‘earned’ dollar
in a person’s pocket gives them the power to make decisions for themselves and their family. It is
moving beyond charity and aid to a sustainable livelihood that delivers respect, self-esteem and selfreliance.
To fulfil this philosophy subsistence tree farmers are required to be paid for their effort in planting
and maintaining the forest trees, from the outset of the program. This is a fundamental difference
between the Ho Musan Ida program and other tree planting projects.
Annual payments for managing and maintaining trees helps communities to build local economies
and grow sustainably. By boosting economic participation in subsistence communities, we can help
end poverty and hunger, create employment opportunities, raise living standards and improve
infrastructure.
xpand Foundation activities report January 2020
New opportunities to generate revenue from community agroforestry now exist through the selling
of stored carbon held in the new forests. As the world starts to really focus on the impact of climate
change there are growing opportunities in the international carbon market. Recent IPCC
(Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change) reports (Oct 2018) acknowledge that Forests represent
a huge carbon stock, as well as providing opportunities for sustainable livelihoods and biodiversity
conservation. This report suggests that restoration and conservation of forests alone could account
for between 24-30% of the solution to climate change. This is being universally recognised, with over
100 nations including forests in their climate pledges for 2025 or 2030.
The Paris Climate Agreement comes into effect in 2020 and carbon pricing is already being factored
into the business/finance models of many countries and businesses. Community agroforestry in
Timor-Leste has the opportunity to tap into this market opportunity.
Video of WithOneSeed Impact
In the Mountains Of Timor-Leste, A Small Success On Climate Change
José Ramos-Horta, Contributor
Former President, Timor-Leste, 1996 Nobel Peace Prize laureate
International standards
To ensure the credibility, transparency and accountability Ho Musan Ida follows a number of
international standards.
Gold Standard Afforestation/Reforestation Carbon Certification.
The WithOneSeed community forestry program is the
only internationally certified carbon farming program
in Timor-Leste today. The program was first certified
in 2016 and has undergone two performance audits
since one the most recent in 2019. Performance audit is a rigorous validation that the program is
following what are the requirements of the gold standard certification. This involves a review of all
program documentation for site visit to meet with three farmers and confirm that they are in full
agreement and understanding of the program and also requires a detailed assessment of our carbon
calculations. And independent auditor is then appointed who then visits the communities which are
undertaking the reforestation activities and verifies the reforestation activities. Each performance
audit provides an important opportunity for the community to review the re-forestation practices and
also enables a formal process through which the program can deliver education and knowledge
building activities throughout the community.
WithOneSeed program successfully passed the 2019 performance audit and now has just over 24,000
verified carbon credits to sell on the international carbon market. These carbon credits are sold on the
international carbon market for US$18 each.
The impact of the international certification on the success of the Ho Musan Ida mode cannot be
underestimated. A key to this is the ability to raise income from the sale of high-quality Gold Standard
certified carbon credits into the international voluntary carbon market. This income allows Ho Musan
Ida tree farmers to receive an annual incentive payment for the trees that they keep alive. The trees
xpand Foundation activities report January 2020
must remain in the ground for the period of the certification. After this time the farmers are able to
selectively harvest trees for building, furniture making and sale according to discussions in the
program. To mitigate the risk of “premature” cutting the program looks into the application of the
traditional law called “tara bandu” still being of high importance at the community level. It is also
important to note that the trees are planted on private small holder land which means the ownership
of the tree is held by the farmer.
UN Sustainability Development Goals
Ho Musan Ida methodology also has been designed to address a number of the UN Sustainable
Development Goals (SDGs).
Ho Musan Ida particularly helps realise the SDGs by helping to:
• end poverty and hunger and promote sustainable farming and lifelong learning
• promote decent work, sustainable agricultural communities and economic growth
• take action to combat climate change, manage forests and reverse land degradation
• encourage local, national and global partnerships for sustainable development
• empower women and children, and particularly girls, by increasing family income,
facilitating children’s education and creating family job prospects.
Universal Declaration of Human Rights
Furthermore, Ho Musan Ida also embraces the Universal Declaration of Human Rights in strongly
committing to:
• the right to life, liberty and security of person
• the right to work, to free choice of employment
• the right to an adequate standard of living
• the right to education
• the right to full and free personal development available through community participation
Community forestry methodology
WithOneSeed has developed a program methodology incorporating the key elements of the Gold
Standard A/R criteria
• Designed for small-scale farmers in rural areas
• Designed for members of democratic community-based organisations able to contribute
to social and economic development
• Designed to provide reforestation with native or naturalised tree species
• Designed to create a sustainable land-management plan
xpand Foundation activities report January 2020
• Designed to use improve complementary livelihoods
• Designed to be based on land title or certified community or customary ownership that
allows accountability for carbon reduction and
• Designed to monitor, record and sell carbon stored
• Designed to allow farmers to receive payments for carbon stored in trees
• Designed to be replicated
• Designed to meet Gold Standard Foundation standards through a community
consultative process
• Designed for farmer managed and owned land
• Designed to encourage the development of local capacity, and minimise dependence on
external support.
Ho Musan Ida has four core commitments
Reforestation
Reforestation/agroforestry is a key response to global climate change. It
provides a highly effective form of carbon capture and storage while
reducing soil erosion and degradation and improving the habitat and water
table. Ho Musan Ida works with subsistence farming communities in Timor
Leste to establish village-based reforestation/agroforestry projects led by
local Community Tree Cooperatives.
Economic participation
Increasing social and economic participation in subsistence communities,
helps end poverty and hunger, provides education and training, creates
employment opportunities, raises living standards and improves
infrastructure. Ho Musan Ida makes annual payments to members of the
tree farmers for managing and maintaining trees.
Climate education
Ho Musan Ida engages with the schools in Baguia to provide a program on
climate education. This program called Climate Education Week takes
students, parents and interested community members into remnant forest
where a range of educational activities that focus on climate adaptation
and mitigation are undertaken. A key focus of this program is about trees
and the importance of trees to the community. It is important that the
younger generations have a deep understanding of what the Ho Musan Ida
program is doing. The long-term viability of Ho Musan Ida rests with this
generation.
xpand Foundation activities report January 2020
Regional partnerships
Ho Musan Ida is building partnerships across the Asia Pacific region to
build social and economic participation through educational, cultural
and people-to-people links. Establishing productive relationships will
ensure the next generation understands their role and responsibilities
as global citizens.
TreeO2 technology Innovation
A key part of the transparency of the
WithOneSeed community forestry program is the
tracking of every farmer and every tree he or she
plants. For the past 10 years this has been done
using a Garmin GPS device. WithOneSeed
community foresters visit each tree farmer and
together they GPS locate every tree. This
information is then downloaded and mapped to
allow the program to know exactly how many
trees survive each year. This information is also
used to calculate the annual farmer payment which is based on the number of surviving trees on each
small holder farm. In 2019 just under AU$100,000 was paid to the Baguia tree farmers.
In a year where a performance audit is conducted, sample plots are used and the circumference of a
random sample of trees is taken. This information is then used to calculate the amount of carbon that
is stored in the new forests. While this methodology has served the program well we are always
looking for ways to make the community forest management more efficient, accountable and reliable.
Over the past 18 months a new and unique technology has been developed and trialed. The outcome
has been the development of a smartphone app called TreeO2. TreeO2 uses RFID nails which are
inserted into each tree at breast height. Each farmer is provided with a WithOneSeed membership
card, which also contains an RFID chip. This gives each farmer a unique ID and each tree also has a
unique ID. The two ID’s are linked by the TreeO2 app which allows the program to record a range of
data incl uding planting date, species, GPS location, circumference measurements, farmer payment
information. TreeO2 stores this information in a cloud-based server and this information can be
analysed at any time.
xpand Foundation activities report January 2020
A visualisation of the tree tracking
The TreeO2 smartphone app will play a significant role in managing the new forests and will deliver
significant efficiency and transparency gains. The app will also deliver cost saving in relation to
perform ance audit costs.
TreeO2 is being rolled out across the 1000 farmers tagging the 200,000 trees in 2020. This will
significantly reduce time and costs in maintaining small holder community forestry programs
anywhere in the world. This provides great confidence that what we say we are doing, we are actually
doing.
Governance & supporters
The Board
Hayden Raysmith AM (Chair)
Kylie Bodenham (Treasurer)
Craig Kenny OAM (Secretary)
Andrew Mahar AM (Executive Director)
John Clarke (Director)
Michelle Cheeh (Director)
Arbel Givargis (Director)
Patron
Dr Jose Ramos Horta
Donors
PMF – Key long-term support for WithOneSeed program
English Family Foundation – Fit out of the Baguia Fort
DFAT – Agroforestry and Permaculture training
xpand Foundation activities report January 2020
Collaborators
Corner Store Network
Oxfam TL
Tradewinds
Australian Agroforestry Foundation
Friends of Suai
Permatil
Disruptive Media
Mullion Group
Covalima Community Centre
DIK -Rotary
Renew
Individuals
Dr Marnie Telfer – Carbon engineer
Lauren O’Rielly – Permaculturist
John Tiliard – Solar lighting
Education
Monash University
Melb University
Griffith University
Melbourne Business School
Legal advice
Da Silva Teixeira (Timor-Leste)
BakerMackenzie
Pollination Group
Gold Standard Auditor
Pangolin Associates
Financial Auditor
McBain McCartin
Further information:
Contact:
Andrew Mahar AM
+61 401009242. [email protected]
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