Isramart : ERA Carbon Offsets Ltd.-State of the Forest Carbon Markets 2009: Taking Root & Branching Out

Isramart news:
VANCOUVER, BRITISH COLUMBIA--(Marketwire - Jan. 15, 2010) - ERA Carbon Offsets Ltd. (TSX VENTURE:ESR) is pleased to announce the release of the Ecosystem Marketplace report titled "State of the Forest Carbon Markets 2009: Taking Root & Branching Out": The first-ever global survey of emerging markets in forest carbon.

Ecosystem Marketplace spent the past year surveying more than 100 market participants - 65 of whom develop forest protection and restoration projects, primarily in rainforest nations, and 37 of whom act as intermediaries. These participants accounted for 230 projects generating credits across 40 countries over the past 20 years.

The survey results signal robust and growing belief in the ability of ecosystem markets to help reverse climate change. These findings were compiled before the December Copenhagen Accord, which explicitly stated the need to develop mechanisms that will reward sustainable land-use practices that capture carbon in trees.

The report finds that from 2007 through the first half of 2009 alone, forest carbon markets have funneled roughly $100 million into forestry conservation projects around the world, transacting 20.8 million MtCO2 in the process. The volume-weighted average price for the voluntary OTC market was $8.44/tCO2.

The report was written through the support of the World Bank BioCarbon Fund, Biological Capital, ERA Ecosystem Restoration Associates Inc. and Baker McKenzie, as well as funding from the United States Agency for International Development (USAID), the David and Lucile Packard Foundation, the Norwegian Agency for Development Cooperation, the United Kingdom's Department for International Development and the Surdna Foundation.

A completed copy of the report can be found on the Ecosystem Marketplace website: www.ecosystemmarketplace.com

Dr. Robert Falls, CEO of ERA commented, "We are pleased to be able to support the important work being done by Ecosystem Marketplace. We believe that international ecosystem conservation, adaptation and restoration play a critical role in the fight against climate change, and the findings of this report validate our belief that forest carbon markets will play a significant roll in any future market-based climate change mitigation system. We look forward to continuing our work in this sector, through the development of our international portfolio of projects, targeting both the voluntary and regulated forest carbon markets."

About Ecosystem Marketplace

Ecosystem Marketplace, a project of Forest Trends, is a leading source of news, data, and analytics on markets and payments for ecosystem services (such as water quality, carbon sequestration, and biodiversity). We believe that by making accessible information on policy, finance, regulation, science, business, and other market-relevant factors, markets for ecosystem services will one day become a fundamental part of our economic system, helping give value to environmental services that, for too long, have been taken for granted. In providing free reliable market information, we hope not only to facilitate transactions (thereby lowering transaction costs), but also to catalyze new thinking, spur the development of new markets and the infrastructure that supports them, and achieve effective and equitable nature conservation.

About ERA Carbon Offsets Ltd.

ERA is a Canadian based pioneer in forest-based carbon offset programs and project development. Through its subsidiary, ERA Ecosystem Restoration Associates Inc., ERA produces significant, measurable carbon sequestration benefits that are validated and verified to international standards and sold to purchasers interested in offsetting their greenhouse gas footprints as a means of mitigating the effects of climate change. ERA is producing offsets from the company's "Community Ecosystem Restoration Program" (CERP) in the Lower Fraser Valley, near Vancouver, British Columbia. ERA is also developing projects in Africa, South America and the United States. ERA has generated ISO validated and verified Voluntary Emission Reductions (VERs) from the CERP project; to supply clients and offset users that include: HSE-Entega, Rolling Stone Magazine, Shell Canada Ltd., Air Canada, the Motion Pictures Producers Industry Association, and the Globe Foundation.

Additional information on ERA can be found on the corporate website www.eracarbonoffsets.com or by contacting investor@eracarbonoffsets.com.

On behalf of the Board of Directors of ERA CARBON OFFSETS LTD.

Robert Falls, Chief Executive Officer

FORWARD LOOKING STATEMENTS: This document includes forward-looking statements as well as historical information. Forward-looking statements include, but are not limited to, the continued advancement of the company's general business development, research development and the company's development of forest-based carbon offsets. When used in this document, the words "anticipate", "believe", "estimate", "expect", "intent", "may", "project", "plan", "should" and similar expressions may identify forward-looking statements. Although ERA Carbon Offsets Ltd. believes that their expectations reflected in these forward looking statements are reasonable, such statements involve risks and uncertainties and no assurance can be given that actual results will be consistent with these forward-looking statements. Important factors that could cause actual results to differ from these forward-looking statements include fluctuations in the marketplace for the sale of carbon credits, the inability to implement corporate strategies, the ability to obtain financing and other risks disclosed in our filings made with Canadian Securities Regulators.