Conservation Partners Announce Garcia River Forest Receives Top Carbon Credit Verification

23,780-Acre Forest is Largest in California to be Verified by the California Climate Action Registry as Source of Carbon Credits

Mendocino County, CA — February 11, 2008 — Today, The Conservation Fund and The Nature Conservancy announced that Garcia River Forest, a nonprofit-owned forest on California’s North Coast, has become one of the first forests — and the largest — recognized by the California Climate Action Registry as a verified source of carbon credits. The Registry’s protocols are among the most rigorous and comprehensive in the United States. Garcia River Forest today has the capacity to store more than 77,000 tons of carbon emissions annually, which is the equivalent of taking more than 14,000 cars off the road every year. At 23,780 acres, Garcia River Forest is the largest forest certified by the California Climate Action Registry.

Garcia River Forest © John Birchard

“California’s forests, and forests generally, must be at the heart of our response to climate change,” said Chris Kelly, California director for The Conservation Fund, which owns and manages Garcia River Forest. “We are extremely fortunate that California has taken the lead in establishing the country’s most rigorous standards for measuring forests’ contribution to this effort.” Louis Blumberg, director of California forest and climate policy for The Nature Conservancy, which holds a conservation easement on the property, remarked: “The California Climate Action Registry has set a new bar for carbon offset projects not only in California, but globally. Properties verified under the Registry's protocols will boost consumer confidence in forest-based carbon projects by demonstrating that forests, when managed in a sustainable way, provide a viable method for addressing climate change as well as protecting water quality, fish and wildlife.”

By achieving the Registry’s high standard of carbon verification, Garcia River Forest is poised to offer the most reliable and valid carbon credits in the country to private companies and public organizations seeking to offset their greenhouse gas emissions.

Because trees absorb carbon dioxide, their loss through deforestation contributes to greenhouse gas emissions, linked to climate change. Scientists estimate that deforestation accounts for roughly 20% of emissions worldwide. As a result, forests are valuable carbon banks and tools to fight climate change. Until recently, however, California companies and consumers wanting to buy carbon “credits” to offset their carbon emissions had limited and varied information about any given forest’s ability to effectively capture carbon.

To create a viable and reliable market for carbon credits in California and increase consumer confidence in forest-based carbon projects, the California Climate Action Registry developed rigorous and comprehensive protocols that provide a standardized method to accurately account for changes in carbon in forest projects.

Last fall, the California Air Resources Board (CARB) formally adopted those protocols, establishing a clear role for forestry in the state’s climate policy and adding economic value to forest carbon projects. CARB’s actions also make it the first government agency in the United States to adopt protocols for voluntary carbon offsets.

Today, the Registry announced the verification of the first forests, including Garcia River Forest, to meet their new standards. An independent audit of Garcia River Forest, conducted by SGS and SCS, documents conformance with the Registry’s protocols and is required for verification. The Registry will evaluate Garcia River Forest regularly to track levels of carbon, which change as trees mature.

“With credible measurement systems and sustainable management techniques forests are positioned to play an increasingly vital role in the challenge of curbing climate change,” says Mary Nichols, chair of the California Air Resources Board. Nichols already has firsthand experience with Garcia's carbon credits. The Conservation Fund donated credits to offset the carbon emissions caused when Nichols and a team of California air officials and environmental regulators traveled to the United Nations climate change conference in Bali, Indonesia, last December.

“We commend The Conservation Fund and The Nature Conservancy for following the Registry’s rigorous protocols to demonstrate sustainable forest management practices and to quantify the carbon emission reductions from their project,” said the Registry’s president, Gary Gero. “These two organizations have shown true leadership by demonstrating the crucial role that forests play in fighting global warming.

“The accuracy, integrity, conservatism and transparency that are hallmarks of CCAR are demonstrated in the Forest Sector Protocols,” said Linda Adams, secretary of the California EPA and chair of the California Climate Action Registry.

An expanse of redwoods and Douglas firs, Garcia River Forest is the state’s first large nonprofit-owned working forest. The Conservation Fund owns and manages the property as a sustainable working forest that safeguards wildlife habitat, improves water quality and preserves the traditional economic base of the local community. In partnership, The Nature Conservancy owns the conservation easement on the property, ensuring protection, regardless of ownership, that makes verification possible. Conservancy scientists helped develop the forest’s management plan and today conduct forest-carbon research and monitor biodiversity conservation on the property.

“The country’s forests are more than just trees,” said Norman L. Christensen, Jr., professor of ecology and founding dean of the Nicholas School of the Environment at Duke University. “They house remarkably diverse wildlife, filter our lakes, rivers and streams and trap harmful gasses. By protecting Garcia River Forest and meeting these rigorous carbon verification standards, The Conservation Fund and The Nature Conservancy are leading the nation into a future that marries environmental and economic benefit. These are the kinds of solutions that move us forward.”

The Nature Conservancy is a leading conservation organization working around the world to protect ecologically important lands and waters for nature and people. To date, the Conservancy and its more than one million members have been responsible for the protection of more than 15 million acres in the United States and have helped preserve more than 102 million acres in Latin America, the Caribbean, Asia and the Pacific. Visit The Nature Conservancy on the Web at www.nature.org.