A new initiative called Carbon Canopy hopes to create incentives for private forest owners in the Southern U.S. to increase carbon sequestration and practice more sustainable management.
The group is a collaboration between environmental groups and companies including Staples (Nasdaq: SPLS), Home Depot (NYSE: HD) and Interface (Nasdaq: IFSIA).
The comprehensive project is meant to both protect forests and help develop sources of paper and wood products certified to the high standards of the Forest Stewardship Council (FSC).
The Carbon Canopy initiative is focused on forests in the Southern US, the largest paper and wood-producing region in the world where 90% of the forests are privately owned. Combined with the loss of forests to development, logging practices such as large scale clearcutting and the conversion of natural forests to plantations has created concerns about the long-term health of the region’s forests.
As a first step to addressing these concerns, Carbon Canopy will try to determine how the emerging US forest carbon market can be leveraged to pay private landowners to expand carbon stores in working forests in the South. The ultimate goal is to create financial incentives for landowners to increase forest conservation and restoration efforts, and to certify management practices to the high standards of Forest Stewardship Council (FSC), the groups said.
Through the pilot project the Carbon Canopy will “test” how southern forest landowners might benefit financially from expanding forest conservation and restoration on the ground in a working forest certified to the standards of FSC certification. The pilot project will be focused on increasing the abundance of older, more mature natural forests through select logging and thinning.
In addition to expanding carbon sequestration, the management practices are meant to ensure the protection of water quality and biodiversity. The initial project will meet the rigorous carbon accounting standards of the Voluntary Carbon Standard (VSC) and the Climate Action Reserve (CAR) and the management practices will meet the high standards of FSC certification. Staples and Interface have offered to pay the pilot project landowner(s) for increases in carbon stored and sequestered as a result of improved forest management practices on the ground. Pacific Forest Trust will manage the development of the pilot project.
“Never before have we seen this kind of collaboration in the South between forest industry, large US corporations, landowners and environmental groups to find real solutions” stated Danna Smith, Executive Director of the Dogwood Alliance. “Through investing in the protection, conservation and restoration of forests, we can not only reduce carbon emissions, but we can also ensure a healthy forest legacy for future generations, while providing a helping hand to the millions of families and individuals who manage forestland in the Southern US.”
Carbon Canopy partners include: Staples, Dogwood Alliance, Columbia Forest Products, Pacific Forest Trust, FSC US, Rainforest Alliance, Green Press Initiative, Domtar, The Home Depot, Environmental Defense, Interface, The Forestland Group and The Keystone Center.
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