5.1 Key Technical Aspects of CarbonProject Development5.1.1 Project Development CycleA soil carbon project is, first and foremost, not muchdifferent from any other carbon project. The carbonproject development cycle includes various typical stages,which may be expanded, skipped or accelerated dependingon needs and circumstances. There are several ways ofdepicting the project cycle, i.e. focusing on the requirementsof carbon standards (see figure 3) or focusing on projectactivities. In the latter case, a full cycle includes a capacitystage in which participants learn relevant aspects of soilcarbon projects, followed by a pre-feasibility stage and afeasibility stage which is concluded by a documentationstage. Then there is a pre-implementation stage followedby a life cycle stage. Here too, stages may be skipped,combined or accelerated. Comprehensive guidancedocuments and manuals for carbon project development,in general, and project development in the area of landuse, have been widely published over recent years.109 Inthe following, we will limit ourselves to recapitulating majorproject stages, while highlighting specific features of soilcarbon projects.5.1.2 Potential Project Activities andTechnologiesSoil carbon interventions account for GHGs in two ways:carbon sequestration (taking up CO2 from the atmosphere)and conservation (avoiding the release of GHGs into theatmosphere). That means a carbon project can sequestercarbon by creating carbon sinks in the form of growingvegetation or by enhancing carbon storage in soils, or it canprotect land against degradation.A list of intervention types is provided overleaf