Project ID: ACR508
Standard: ACR Standard v6.0 (July 2019)
Methodology: IFM (Version 1.3, April 2018)
Project start date: September 9, 2017 
Current validation and verification body: S&A Carbon, LLC

Although the landowners purchased the land with a conservation easement limiting annual harvest rates to 15% of the forestland area per year, they deemed the project lands to have exceptional environmental benefits and voluntarily agreed to forego harvest. Their decision preserves the integrity of the hardwood structure and watershed that’s home to many species of flora and fauna, including nesting habitat for the swallow-tailed kite. Typically for the region, approximately one-third of the property is classified as swamp or similar, and these acres are seasonally underwater. Hardwood pulpwood makes up a large portion of inventory (approx. 85%), while the upland acreage is mostly suitable for pine with a species mix of 80% loblolly and 20% slash pine. Manulife Investment Management is foregoing hardwood harvests allowable under the conservation easement for the purposes of conservation and carbon capture. The project allows the forest to grow toward a climax community with a closed canopy of a mature, intact ecosystem. Live tree stocks were modeled in the FVS, a group of forest growth simulation models developed by the U.S. Forest Service, for the initial period from 2017 to 2037. The start date tree list was grown forward with FVS with non-management applied for a period of 20 years.

Co-benefits

• Improved water quality to the regional watershed, flood protection, and storm resiliency
• Wildlife corridor protection for flora and fauna species, including Florida black bear, wood stork, roseate spoonbill, river otter, and gopher tortoise
• Feasibility of co-benefit certification under assessment

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