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CARBON & CLIMATE CHANGE

NEWT & SIG Carbon Team Up on Natural Climate Solutions

Implementing Real Climate Solutions on the Ground

Northeast Wilderness Trust (NEWT) and SIG Carbon are embarking on an ambitious effort to help curtail the worst effects of climate change through natural climate solutions.

According to research, setting aside forests that already exist by legally preserving them as forever-wild is proving to be the most scalable, cost efficient, and effective option for carbon storage.

In an effort to dramatically accelerate the pace of regional wilderness conservation across New England and New York, NEWT launched the Wildlands Partnership program and its accompanying carbon project, “Wildlands Carbon”. The program offers local land trusts resources to work on wilderness conservation while receiving periodic income through a developing carbon market.

Howland Research Forest in Maine was part of Northeast Wilderness Trust’s first project through SIG Carbon, which has generated $585,000 towards forever-wild conservation.

Aggregation: Breaking Down Barriers for Smaller Land Trusts

The Wildlands Carbon project will employ a multi-owner approach that aggregates smaller properties into one, larger carbon project.

Traditionally, a minimum of 3,500 acres was required in order to offset the costs of setting up a carbon project. Through aggregation, landowners and land trusts in the Northeast can now pool resources, split costs, and enter the market.

In exchange for permanently protecting properties as wildlands—meaning no resource extraction or land conversion will ever occur—participants gain access to revenue on the carbon market that they can use to keep forests standing and storing carbon indefinitely.

SIG Carbon shares Northeast Wilderness Trust’s appreciation of wild forests, and values conservation efforts that will truly help address the climate crisis. SIG will manage the carbon projects for their full 40-year terms.

With a strong relationship that spans more than a decade, SIG Carbon previously worked with NEWT to enroll the Howland Research Forest and the Alder Stream Wilderness Preserve in the California Climate Action Reserve (CAR). These projects were among the first in the country to register carbon credits on protected wilderness. To date, credits from these two properties alone have generated more than $580,000 in revenue to support the conservation of forever-wild land with Northeast Wilderness Trust.

Through the Wildlands Carbon project, SIG Carbon and NEWT are creating an aggregation model that can be replicated across the country.

Alder Stream Wilderness Preserve in Maine was part of Northeast Wilderness Trust’s first project through SIG Carbon, which has generated $585,000 towards forever-wild conservation.

Creating Future Old-Growth Forests

When properties are conserved as forever-wild and enrolled in the Wild Carbon market, they are permanently protected from development, timber harvest, mining, agriculture, and motorized/mechanized recreation.

The program ensures that every forest that generates Wild Carbon™ credits will become a future old-growth forest. Due to the expectation of permanent carbon storage, credits generated on forever-wild land are unique and unparalleled in the carbon market.

Learn more about how protecting wildlands is essential to mitigate climate change.

Photography: Howland Research Forest by Zack Porter; Alder Stream Wilderness Preserve by Shelby Perry