Forest Climate Mitigation in Action: Resources for the Future Holds Expert Discussion | Article

Forests have always been appreciated for the tremendous benefits they provide to humans and wildlife, from erosion control, to habitat, to water filtration, to wood products. Only relatively recently have scientists started to understand the climate change mitigation potential of forests, too. In the United States, over 800 million acres of forested land—over half of which is owned by private landowners—sequesters 11-15 percent of domestic carbon emissions each year. Despite the abundant environmental benefits of maintaining forested land, forests face threats from pests, wildfires, and development. Policymakers and forestry experts are therefore working to develop policies and programs that incentivize private forest owners to sustainably manage their forests, achieving both conservation and climate change mitigation goals.

A recent Resources for the Future event, Managing Forests for Climate Mitigation--from Theory to Practice, discussed market-based policies and programs aimed at increasing sustainable forest management and compensating landowners for climate mitigation practices.

Sustainable Forest Management Certifications

Paul Trianosky, Chief Conservation Officer of the Sustainable Forestry Initiative (SFI), discussed the role of certification programs like SFI's, which “ensure accountability and verification of sustainability performance” to forest product purchasers. SFI alone currently certifies about 370 million acres of forests in the United States and Canada. Trianosky noted that certification programs started in the 1990s primarily focused on biodiversity conservation and water quality but added that today, “we know that in order to address sustainability, we have to talk about climate as well.” To that end, SFI is undertaking several studies under its Conservation Impact Project to gain a greater understanding of forest carbon stocks and forest management practices that optimize sequestration. From those studies, SFI can adapt the management standards participants employ to receive certification. In 2020, new standards ask program participants to identify climate risks and opportunities for mitigating climate impacts in their forest operations.

Trianosky emphasized that there are compelling economic benefits to sustainable forest certification for forest landowners beyond the ecosystem services such certifications help optimize. Corporations are becoming more interested in reducing their carbon footprints, including within their supply chains, and certification can provide businesses and their investors with assurance that wood products are both sustainably sourced and have a low climate impact.

Carbon Offsets through Regulatory Compliance

Under California’s expansive climate policy, Assembly Bill 32, carbon polluters are assigned binding caps on their emissions but can purchase carbon offsets from forest owners that are managing their forests to increase carbon sequestration. State officials establish a baseline measurement of carbon storage in participating forests and conduct a rigorous process of verifying increased sequestration. The methodology for verification was designed by the Pacific Forest Trust, a forest science and policy think tank based in California. Laurie Wayburn, co-founder, co-CEO, and President of Pacific Forest Trust, stated that the first landowner to participate in the credit scheme received a “six-figure check.” Such income can keep forestry businesses operational and provide more stability given the volatile nature of timber markets. Thirty states host offset projects that participate in California’s carbon market, which to Wayburn indicates “landowners are willing to step up when the price is right for a credible program on offsets.”

Educating Underserved Landowners

Sam Cook, Executive Director of Forest Assets for the North Carolina State University College of Natural Resources, introduced his work creating educational content and workshops with the Southern Rural Development Center in order to create “centers of community and prosperity” in rural underserved areas. The centers will focus on serving youth, veterans, socially disadvantaged farmers and ranchers, and generally improving quality of life.

Cook noted that many small-scale forest landowners are unaware of sustainable forestry practices, and of federal and nonprofit services that could assist them in efforts to farm sustainably and access carbon markets. These issues are further compounded by questions over land ownership, as landowners occupying property that has been passed down over generations frequently lack the paperwork needed to participate in sustainable forestry programs and carbon markets.

The Southern Rural Development Center, sponsored by the U.S. Department of Agriculture's Centers of Community and Prosperity, aims to hold workshops addressing these and other rural issues for technical service providers and nonprofit and faith leaders based within rural underserved communities starting in July 2020.

Engaging Small-Scale Forest Landowners

Christine Cadigan, of American Forest Foundation (AFF), presented the Family Forest Carbon Program. The Family Forest Carbon Program is a new initiative specifically designed for small-scale landowners who are not able to access more traditional carbon programs due to financial and logistical barriers. One feature of the Family Forest Carbon Program is a focus on incentivizing sustainable forestry practices. For example, AFF worked with a team of scientists from The Nature Conservancy to identify forestry practices that produce a “quantifiable carbon benefit above a common forestry baseline.” Participating landowners are given funds to implement those practices, rather than being paid for total carbon sequestered at a later date. The program also validates carbon credits at the landscape level to reduce the total costs individual participants must pay for carbon measurement, reporting, and verification (MRV) accounting. Rather than validating each participating property, the program monitors a representative sample of participating properties. The Family Forest Carbon Program, funded in part by Amazon, is currently working with Verra Verified Carbon Standard to receive approval for this new methodology in order to sell carbon credits from this program in voluntary markets.

This event was a follow-up to an earlier RFF event, Forests and Climate Change: The Role of Markets, described here.

Author: Amber Todoroff