Friday, June 19, 2020 2:15 pm
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GEORGIA (News release) -- The American Forest Foundation (AFF) announced WestRock, a leading provider of differentiated paper and packaging solutions, through its WestRock Foundation, has committed to supporting family forest owners addressing climate change by investing in the development of the Family Forest Carbon Program (FFCP), a new program created by AFF and The Nature Conservancy (TNC).
Families and individuals own the largest portion - 38% - of the forestland across the United States, more than the federal government or forest industry. These families support the resources and benefits Americans count on from forests - wildlife habitat, clean water, wood supplies and carbon sequestration - and have an opportunity to further enhance those benefits through increased sustainable forest management and improved practices.
The Family Forest Carbon Program is a new approach to climate change mitigation that more readily opens carbon markets to small family forest owners. Carbon markets have traditionally been cost prohibitive to small forest holdings, those between 20 and 1,000 acres, and complex to navigate. The Family Forest Carbon Program provides a path to participation, simplifying the process and reducing cost, providing technical assistance and creating incentives for family forest owners to adopt enhanced management practices. This will help landowners maximize sustainable forest practices that can further reduce carbon dioxide in the atmosphere and improve the productivity of their lands, ultimately keeping working forests as forests.
The WestRock Foundation's investment will enable expansion of the Family Forest Carbon Program in Pennsylvania where it is currently being piloted. It will also support further scientific development of the program's carbon accounting methodology, which is being validated by Verra, the non-profit organization that oversees the Verified Carbon Standard (VCS). This development and validation is a critical step in the advancement of the pilot into broader availability for landowners.
The American Forest Foundation (AFF) is a national non-profit conservation organization that protects and measurably increases the clean water, wildlife habitat, and sustainable wood supplies that come from family-owned forests.
Families and individuals own the largest portion - 38% - of the forestland across the United States, more than the federal government or forest industry. These families support the resources and benefits Americans count on from forests - wildlife habitat, clean water, wood supplies and carbon sequestration - and have an opportunity to further enhance those benefits through increased sustainable forest management and improved practices.
The Family Forest Carbon Program is a new approach to climate change mitigation that more readily opens carbon markets to small family forest owners. Carbon markets have traditionally been cost prohibitive to small forest holdings, those between 20 and 1,000 acres, and complex to navigate. The Family Forest Carbon Program provides a path to participation, simplifying the process and reducing cost, providing technical assistance and creating incentives for family forest owners to adopt enhanced management practices. This will help landowners maximize sustainable forest practices that can further reduce carbon dioxide in the atmosphere and improve the productivity of their lands, ultimately keeping working forests as forests.
The WestRock Foundation's investment will enable expansion of the Family Forest Carbon Program in Pennsylvania where it is currently being piloted. It will also support further scientific development of the program's carbon accounting methodology, which is being validated by Verra, the non-profit organization that oversees the Verified Carbon Standard (VCS). This development and validation is a critical step in the advancement of the pilot into broader availability for landowners.
The American Forest Foundation (AFF) is a national non-profit conservation organization that protects and measurably increases the clean water, wildlife habitat, and sustainable wood supplies that come from family-owned forests.