New Ecotrust tool provides path to carbon markets for forest owners

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Ecotrust announced Thursday that it created the first certified methodology for London-based Voluntary Carbon Standard that will provide forest managers with a new tool to develop marketable carbon projects on their forest lands.

In the absence of a regulated global carbon markets, voluntary markets for offsets have grown up around the world. Voluntary Carbon Standards acts as a certification body for these offsets, guaranteeing their legitimacy.

Ecotrust worked for 9 months on the VCS approval process for its methodology, which provides clear guidelines on harvest practices and requires Forest Stewardship Council (FSC) certification.

"We’ve been talking a lot about how land owners can diversify their forestland portfolio," said Steve Dettman, forest carbon program manager at Ecotrust. "This gives them a tool to make balanced decisions that aren’t just driven by timber price."

For example, if a forest owner extends its harvest rotation, more carbon is stored in the trees, potentially becoming marketable offsets. But the owner doesn’t need to commit to never cutting down trees, only a more careful approach to forest management.

The Voluntary Carbon Standard requires any methodology to be reviewed by two separate standards organizations, in this case Scientific Certification Systems and Det Norske Veritas, there was also a comment program as part of the process.

To develop this methodology, Ecotrust worked with Winrock International, a global nonprofit that specializes in carbon estimation and accounting.

"The methodology is a product of many years work under regulatory and voluntary standards. We have created a practical methodology with high scientific rigor that has broad applicability," said Tim Pearson, carbon expert for Winrock, in a press release. "It is our hope that this forms a new tool to help launch forest carbon offset projects around the world."

In March, Ecotrust subsidiary Ecotrust Forest Management, announced it sold carbon credits generated by an Olympic Peninsula forest to a private equity fund.

Voluntary carbon offsets are expected to be grandfathered if a mandatory carbon market is established.