PFT Joins with Carbon Canopy Coalition to Launch Pilot Forest Carbon Project in VA

The Pacific Forest Trust is teaming up with Carbon Canopy ­-- a coalition of conservation groups, wood products companies and landowners -- for a project that will protect southern forests, combat climate change and demonstrate the national applicability of the Climate Action Reserve's rigorous forest carbon accounting standards.

To address concerns over development and logging practices in the south, the Carbon Canopy coalition, led by Dogwood Alliance and Staples, Inc., will develop a pilot CO2 emissions reduction project in the mixed hardwood forests of western Virginia to determine how the emerging forest carbon market can be leveraged to pay private landowners to expand carbon stores in working forests.

PFT will co-design and manage the project specifically to meet the stringent standards of the Climate Action Reserve, which recently launched a revised, nationally applicable carbon accounting protocol for forests. Offsets registered with CAR are known for their rigor and deliver higher returns in the voluntary carbon market.

"This is an exciting opportunity for us to apply the high quality standards we've developed here in California to a forest carbon project in the largest wood and paper producing region in the world," says Pacific Forest Trust co-director Connie Best. "Qualifying the Carbon Canopy pilot project for registration with CAR will be an excellent demonstration for landowners nationwide that forest stewardship for climate and other environmental benefits will yield true economic as well as ecological returns."

"We are delighted PFT will bring their deep bench of expertise to this project," says Dogwood Alliance Executive Director Danna Smith. "Developing a credible model for southern landowners is essential to the success of this initiative, and PFT's experience with pioneering carbon projects and standards in California will be immensely helpful to us as we move forward."

Through the pilot project, Carbon Canopy will demonstrate how southern forest landowners might benefit financially from forest conservation and restoration activities on the ground that produce gains for wildlife, water quality and the atmosphere in a working forest certified to the high standards of Forest Stewardship Council (FSC) certification. The pilot project will be focused on increasing the abundance of older, more mature natural forests through select logging and thinning.

Read more about the coalition’s efforts in their press release or recent news coverage of the Carbon Canopy launch.