Pledge by Restore the Earth Foundation, Inc.
1 Million Acre Reforestation In Mississippi River Basin - “North America’s Amazon"
Total Trees Pledged: 100,000,000Supporting actions: Sustainable Forestry, Nursery Development, Data and Technological Tools, Science and Technical Assistance, Tree Protection through Management, Workforce Development,
Restore the Earth Foundation, Inc. (REF), is a 501(c)(3) not-for-profit organization whose mission is to advance landscape-scale reforestation in the Mississippi River Basin. Our present focus is restoring 1 million acres of North America’s Amazon, the most ecologically degraded area with the highest concentration of underserved communities in the US. This is the largest reforestation project opportunity concentrated in one area in the middle of the North American continent. To accomplish this Restore the Earth is planting 100,000,000, 1-gallon, high value, native EKOgrown trees (the equivalent of 600,000,000 bareroot seedlings). The EKOgrown trees, developed in partnership with USDA NRCS and the Rootmaker system, assures high survivability, enhanced growth rates and earlier seed and nut production.
To accomplish this 1-million-acre mission, Restore the Earth has partnered with public partners:
US Fish & Wildlife Service (USFWS)
Lower Mississippi Valley Joint Venture (LMVJV)
USDA Natural Resource Conservation Service (NRCS)
USDA Farm Service Agency
Louisiana Department of Wildlife and Fisheries (LDWF)
Arkansas Wildlife and Fisheries, Mississippi Department of Wildlife Fisheries and Parks, local counties and parishes
Private partners include:
Alliance for Water Stewardship
Bluestone Life
Caesar's
Citgo
Clif Bar
Clif Bar Family Foundation
ClimeCo
Coca-Cola Foundation
Dow Chemical
Dow as the official carbon partner for the International Olympic Committee (IOC)
Ducks Unlimited
Eileen Fisher
Entergy
ERM
Freeport McMoran
Gulf of Mexico Foundation
Lyft
National Fish and Wildlife Foundation (NFWF)
Royal Dutch Shell
Seventh Generation
Shell
Silicon Ranch Corporation
South Louisiana Wetlands Discovery Center
Starry Night Fund
Sustainable Brands
The Water Institute of the Gulf
Timberland Pro
US Business Council for Sustainable Development (US BCSD) VMware
Wells Fargo
Trees: 100,000,000
Trees: 100,000,000
Sustainable Forestry: All Restore the Earth reforestation projects are under permanent conservation easements held by the NRCS. NRCS oversees and manages the long-term sustainability and stewardship of the reforested sites.
Nursery Development: Working with the NRCS regional conservationist, Restore the Earth identifies and contracts with nursery growing operations and planting crews in the geographic region where the reforestation is taking place. When the scale of the project requires scaling up nursery production, Restore the Earth works with the NRCS, its existing nursery partners to support the establishment and development of local nursery operations, owned and staffed by those in the community. Restore the Earth’s approach is to keep funding in the surrounding communities where the reforestation projects are taking place.
Data and Technological Tools: Restore the Earth’s EcoMetrics platform is an innovative feature of the Restore the Earth contribution to this project. EcoMetrics allows partners, investors and other stakeholders to monitor and measure the full environmental and social value generated these restoration projects, beyond economic returns. The ability to quantify and monetize the impacts of the landscape-scale restoration efforts will provide all stakeholders with a more robust picture of the overall value generated by the reforestation project thereby promoting transparency to the fullest extent possible. EcoMetrics is stakeholder based and scientifically driven.
Science and Technical Assistance: Restore the Earth welcomes opportunities to share its data and tools including our EcoMetrics and its data tools, as well as additional frameworks applied to our projects such as the monetization of water credits, and Water Quality Trading protocols.
Tree Protection through Management: Our NRCS partners oversee and manage the long-term sustainability and stewardship of the reforested sites. We plant 1 gallon, native trees, using the RootMaker® system, which typically demonstrate a 85-90% survival rate. Additionally, all Restore the Earth reforestation projects are under permanent conservation easements held by the NRCS.
Workforce Development: Restore the Earth reforestation provides for job training and creation. Working with the NRCS regional conservationist, Restore the Earth identifies and contracts with nursery growing operations and planting crews in the geographic region where the reforestation is taking place. When the scale of the project requires scaling up nursery production, Restore the Earth works with the NRCS, its existing nursery partners to support establishment and development of local nursery operations and planting crews, owned and staffed by those in the community. Restore the Earth’s approach is to keep funding in the surrounding communities where the reforestation projects are taking place.
All Restore the Earth projects are identified and designed in consultation by the USDA NRCS using site specific best land use and hydrological practices. Restore the Earth and our public partners will monitor, measure and track the progress and impact of each project, with monitoring plans including canopy coverage, erosion control, soil enhancement, biodiversity, etc. Permanent conservation easements are placed on all projects. NRCS oversees and manages the long term sustainability and stewardship of the reforested sites.
260,000,000 MT CO2e