Forest Acquisitions

WMTP Tree Protection Project

Facilitating Forest Acquisitions in Local Watersheds

Facilitating the Transfer of Key Watershed Private Parcels Into Perpetual Protection

Connecting local organizations who seek carbon offsets to local forestland owners — in other words, facilitating forest acquisitions — is yet another way Whatcom Million Trees Project works to protect existing mature trees in our region.

Sustainability plans typically strive to reduce emissions (Scope 1-3) via new systems/hardware and operational changes. That’s important, of course, but maintaining/increasing our region’s natural sequestration of carbon emissions is also needed to provide a truly sustainable future. Why? Because…

(a) carbon levels must be dramatically reduced in our atmosphere — emission reductions alone cannot do that, and

(b) trees/forests offer so many other sustainability benefits to our community beyond carbon — such as biodiversity support, flooding reduction, natural cooling, fresh air, health and wellness benefits, and much more.

Working with us to create local carbon offsets is a compelling alternative to purchasing poorly-verified ‘paper’ carbon credits for projects elsewhere in the world. Recent analyses have shown, for example, that 90% of rainforest carbon credits are worthless in creating true positive carbon impact. Our local results…

— are easily verifiable as real,

— can showcase your organization as a locally-focused sustainability leader,

— are far more meaningful to customers than overseas projects,

— provide positive hands-on engagement opportunities for volunteers, and,

— may help to establish hiking, park land, ecological corridors, nature education settings, or other community assets.

We’ll lead you through a more nuanced, collaborative process than purchasing questionable overseas offsets at a fixed price per metric ton. Seen as a complementary piece of an organization’s overall sustainability response, local forest acquisitions can provide solid long-term return/benefits to an organization’s investment.

Volunteer Opportunities

• Are you a landowner or real estate agent for a sizable (50+ acres) forested property in Whatcom County? We’d like to know about your site(s). Please contact us!

Related Links/Resources

Guardian Report About Rainforest Carbon Credits