FFCP: Moving Beyond Carbon
AFF is studying the co-benefits of America’s family forests — from watersheds to communities, America has much more than carbon benefits to gain from FFCP’s forests
The American Forest Foundation and the Sorenson Impact Institute have been investigating the additional nature-based benefits family-owned forests can provide. Our new report sheds light on how businesses, communities, and ecosystems all stand to gain from forests managed through our Family Forest Carbon Program.
AFF’s Family Forest Carbon Program has been making incredible strides toward creating direct channels of benefit between family forest owners and carbon credit buyers, but a deeper understanding of the nature-based infrastructure and co-benefits of FFCP forests is long overdue. To fill this knowledge gap, AFF has teamed up with the Sorenson Impact Institute to quantify the potential of FFCP forests beyond carbon, and our preliminary findings are paradigm-shifting.
Nature-Based Co-Benefits: A More Holistic Picture
Nature-based infrastructure like forests provide businesses and communities with innumerable natural benefits. Well-maintained forests filter and regulate water flows, mitigate natural disasters and local temperatures, act as high quality habitat for countless species, and provide health and economic benefits to nearby communities. These benefits are inherent to forests, and largely the tree species that grow in them, but healthy functioning forests often require active management to optimize these benefits alongside carbon sequestration and climate mitigation.
While the carbon credit market is currently the most well-developed of the ecosystem service markets, water and biodiversity credit markets are not too far behind. The Family Forest Carbon Program is well-positioned to provide competitive stacking benefits to landowners, communities, and businesses alike, with the value of these benefits in FFCP forests potentially providing billions of dollars of value beyond carbon credits alone.
Access The Full Report and Summaries
This report, Beyond Carbon: Identifying the Family Forest Carbon Program’s Value Across Water, Biodiversity, Health and Landowner Revenue Pathways, was produced as a collaboration between the American Forest Foundation and the University of Utah’s Sorenson Impact Institute.
To access the full report, please email FFCP_partnerships@forestfoundation.org.
Access Report Summaries Below
FFCP Co-Benefits Executive Summary
Forests managed through AFF’s Family Forest Carbon Program provide a suite of stacking co-benefits to businesses and communities. In this executive summary and webinar, we provide an overview of how FFCP management strategies optimize these benefits and how these benefits interact and stack to enhance forest function and ecosystem services, with a particular focus on the financial implications for businesses, industry, landowners, and rural economies.
Water Co-benefits Summary Coming Soon
Nature-based infrastructure like forests provide flood and drought mitigation, enhance water quality, regulate water flow and chemistry, reduce sediment loads, help replenish aquifers and so much more. This summary and webinar will provide an in-depth overview of how FFCP forests benefit watersheds, potential volumetric water benefits, and financial modeling of water benefits for a variety of industries.
Biodiversity Co-benefits Coming Soon
Forest habitats are some of the most biodiverse ecosystems in the U.S. and FFCP forests provide invaluable habitat connectivity across the Eastern states. FFCP management techniques aim to support abundant biodiversity, which is critical for forest health and function. This summary and webinar will lay out the potential pathways for harnessing biodiversity benefits and markets through family-managed forests.
Health Co-benefits Summary Coming Soon
Forests are critical for supporting human health by purifying the air, regulating local temperatures, providing outdoor recreation opportunities, and improving mental health. These benefits have long-term positive health outcomes that strengthen communities and the work force. This summary and webinar will provide insights into the community enhancing benefits of forests and how these translate to business and healthcare savings.
Economic Co-benefits Summary Coming Soon
Managing and maintaining forested land long-term can be costly, but is very important for climate mitigation and rural economies. Keeping private lands forested necessitates that we harness many streams of revenue to support these landowners. In this summary and webinar, we will cover the many financial options for landowners and how these private financial benefits have broader public implications for local economies.