Family Forest Blog
February 28, 2022
A Snapshot of Trends Among Carbon Buyers
Take a look at how current and prospective carbon buyers are thinking and what conversations are being held today on what the future of the voluntary carbon market will look like.
January 26, 2022
The Future Is Now
This month, Rita Hite put her boots on the ground as president and CEO of the American Forest Foundation. She reflects on the optimism she’s feeling for the future of America’s family forest owners, AFF and our planet.
December 2, 2021
Determining a True Carbon Benefit Part 4: Permanence
An important step to ensuring that a carbon benefit is valid is if it stands the test of time. This is called permanence, which is defined as ‘the longevity of the carbon benefit of at least 100 years.’ The Family Forest Carbon Program is working to ensure the permanence of our carbon benefit.
October 14, 2021
AFF’s 2021 Capitol Hill Fly-In Goes Virtual
Due to ongoing constraints of the pandemic, AFF held its first virtual Capitol Fly-in, with more than 100 attendees and 114 meetings where attendees were able to advocate for vital legislation.
October 4, 2021
Empowering Rural American Forest Owners to Take Climate Action
In the U.S., forests serve as the nation's largest terrestrial carbon sink, offsetting 15% of our nation’s annual emissions. More importantly, studies suggest this could be nearly doubled - through reforestation and improved forest management of our existing woodlands.
September 30, 2021
Long-term Offtake Agreements for a Lasting Natural Climate Solution
Long-term offtake agreements are a tool to help unlock conservation finance and scale conservation initiatives. For companies, they mean solidifying long-term planning and getting ahead of the rise in demand and prices of carbon credits. Find out more.
September 2, 2021
Determining a True Carbon Benefit Part 3: From Intention to Action
When measuring additionality many carbon projects ask, “Is the carbon generated from a forest carbon project because of the project or would it have happened absent the particular project or intervention?” While intention does play a role, it is often misinterpreted by those unfamiliar with the needs and behaviors of forest owners. Rather, to create a true carbon impact, a forest carbon project should factor intention into program design, yet measure real-life behavior.
July 20, 2021
Loan Guarantees to Help Scale Carbon Projects for Small Forest Holders
Capitol Hill has been buzzing with conversations, hearings, and round tables on how rural America can help address climate change. One such opportunity is via carbon markets for small forest holders.
May 26, 2021
Determining a True Carbon Benefit Part 2: Baselines
The Family Forest Carbon Program has created a new methodology, including an innovative approach to setting a baseline, similar to what is done in medical trials.
April 13, 2021
Determining a True Carbon Benefit Part 1: Additionality
Of all the concepts in the world of carbon credits, perhaps the most difficult to understand, yet critically important is ‘additionality.’ Ensuring carbon additionality is essential to ensure a company’s climate investment is making a true, positive difference. Christine Cadigan, Senior Director of the Family Forest Carbon Program, further explains the concept.
February 25, 2021
How Companies Can Help Scale Carbon Markets for Small Forest Owners
Earlier this month, the Task Force for Scaling Voluntary Carbon Markets released its final report outlining various steps that project developers, carbon standards, investors, companies and governments can take to help scale the voluntary carbon market. We've provided a summary of the findings and recommendations on how companies can utilize these recommendations, including – among other things – working with and through the Family Forest Carbon Program to achieve their climate goals.
August 20, 2020
New White Paper Details Opportunities to Empowering Family Forest Owners to Address Climate Change
The American Forest Foundation (AFF), a conservation organization that focuses on empowering family and private forest owners to protect and improve their forests, has released a new white paper outlining the case for working with family forests to sequester and store more carbon.
August 19, 2020
White Paper: Family Forests and Carbon Markets
It’s undeniable that our environment and climate face extreme challenges that must be addressed. Detailing America’s family-owned forests and their owners, the white paper explores the values and motivations of landowners, their barriers to action, and a crucial mechanism — carbon markets — that can help enable them to take action.
August 7, 2020
When and How to Leverage Family Forest Carbon
Growing stakeholder and investor pressure for climate change commitments has resulted in numerous corporate announcements of publicly declared reduction targets, including Kimberly-Clarke and BMW just this month. But how will they meet these goals? Many companies are still trying to figure this out. But how does a company begin to systemically address their carbon footprint? Perhaps the answer lies in a framework used by conservationists for over a century, the carbon mitigation hierarchy.
June 23, 2020
7 Terms You Need to Know About Carbon and Family Forests
The issues of climate change and sustainability are important ones. In order to tap into the opportunity within family forests to address these issues, it is critical to understand why these forests and how. To help facilitate this, the American Forest Foundation (AFF) has developed a set of terms common to climate discussions, along with an explanation of how those terms relate to family forest owners, and to AFF’s and The Nature Conservancy’s collaborative program, the Family Forest Carbon Program.