Family Forests: An Untapped Powerhouse in Climate Mitigation
More than a third of U.S. forests are stewarded by individuals and families, and it’s time we support their conservation efforts.
The United States is home to an incredible treasure trove of natural resources. Across the country, 38 percent of forest land is owned not by the federal government, nor by large forestry corporations, but by families and individuals who are stewards of the forest and strive every day for their own economic security. These private forest lands serve many economic and recreational purposes and provide over 90 percent of our nation’s domestically produced forest products, including the timber needed to build homes and businesses.
Over the past several years, there has been a renewed conversation around the efforts to improve the sustainability of forests. All too often, these small landowners have been excluded from the national climate change conversation and the opportunity to participate in the carbon credit market, which could both provide families with sustained revenue and bring meaningful climate change mitigation practices to fruition.
One of the barriers to their participation is that traditional carbon projects require landowners to invest significant up-front capital before receiving any carbon revenue. This is simply impractical for the vast majority of family forest owners. Because carbon markets function on a large scale, those who own small acreages have not been able to access existing carbon markets—which can provide valued income from the sequestration of carbon in their forests—due to high project development costs.
https://www.nature.org/en-us/what-we-do/our-insights/perspectives/family-forests-powerhouse-in-climate-mitigation/?src=s_lio.gd.x.x.&sf121512568=1
Bezos/Amazon doing some good for the planet.
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