Dec 9 2009
The Nature Conservancy in collaboration with Blue Source launched a unique forest conservation program. The conservation program, Working Woodlands, aspires to fight climate change and protect forests. This program aims to reward landowners who show good ability to manage their forest effectively with market-based incentives.
Dylan Jenkins, the Pennsylvania Director of Forest Conservation for The Nature Conservancy, said that this model conservation program encourages private landowners to adopt efficient and effective conservations strategies on their lands to trade in growing carbon credit market.
Working Woodlands adopts a unique strategy that combines long-term conservation agreement, forest management certification from Forest Stewardship Council (FSC), and carbon market payment, which makes an attractive proposition for private landowners to adopt conservation.
With Nature Conservancy providing services for FSC certification and Blue Source providing financing for carbon credit development, the program aims to eliminate all costs for landowners. Blue Source will be adding the carbon offsets to its portfolio and sell the carbon credits to companies that need to manage their greenhouse gas emissions.
Roger Williams, Vice President of Blue Source, said that the program has been designed in such a way to make participation of landowners easy. He added that the collaboration between the companies provides an opportunity for landowners in U.S. to participate in forest conservation with no up-front costs and receive carbon credits and timber.
Luke Dillinger, Wood Procurement Forester at Domtar’s Johnsonburg paper mill, said that Working Woodlands is superior to all other carbon offset programs since it is attached with FSC certification. He added that this program allows landowners to earn revenues from sustainable sources, and at the same time manage healthy forests as the long term goal.
Source: www.nature.org/pennsylvania