Pina Earth's forest restoration projects are now certified for the first time under a national standard - adapted to the ecosystem services of our regional forests. This is a major milestone for us at Pina Earth and for the eva foundationwhich is now adding the second method to its portfolio after the specially developed forest restoration method.
"Pina Earth's forest conversion method is the first external method to undergo the accreditation process under the eva foundation's Forest Climate Standard. We are thus expanding the scope of the Forest Climate Standard to include the conversion of commercial forests to structurally diverse mixed forests. The WKS thus promotes the adaptability of German forests to climate change." - Moriz Vohrer, Technical Director, Standards & IT at the eva foundation
We are now pleased to present the first two projects under the WKS on our forest dashboard. Both projects were successfully validated and certified by TÜV Nord in April 2024 following a site visit in March.
In the project Herzfelde project, 143 hectares of older conifer-dominated stands are being converted into mixed stands rich in deciduous trees. The project area is located in the Uckermark Lake District and is surrounded by the Dolgenseekette nature reserve. Tree species such as hornbeam, small-leaved lime, sycamore, Norway maple and bird cherry are being introduced through planting and sowing.
In the project Wendland project, 165 hectares of pure pine stands are being converted into structurally rich mixed stands. The region around the project area is embedded in the Lower Saxony Elbe Valley Biosphere Reserve and the Elbhöhen-Wendland Nature Park. A new forest generation is being established through targeted planting and natural regeneration. The newly introduced tree species include Douglas fir and coastal fir, supplemented with deciduous tree species such as red oak, sand birch, chestnut, English oak and lime.
We are delighted about this milestone and thank you for the successful cooperation so far!
"Companies that invest in certified climate protection projects as part of their climate strategy need one thing above all: tangible projects that are based on a robust, transparent and scientific methodology. Our successfully completed public consultation and the external technical audit as part of the accreditation process under the Forest Climate Standard have confirmed this. This enables us to support companies and create the necessary transparency for the market." - Leos Paul Bloch, Head of Business Development and Sourcing at Pina Earth
The publication was preceded by numerous dialogs with various stakeholder groups along the entire value chain, both from forestry practice and from theCO2 market. Expert reports on our technology were also prepared and the results assessed by the Technical Committee of the Forest Climate Standard. All these steps not only help to further develop and continuously improve the forest conversion method, but also ensure the quality of the method and external transparency.
In concrete terms, three public webinars, a public consultation, several stakeholder workshops, meetings of the Technical Committee and Forest Climate Council conferences have been held to date:
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"The last few months have been very valuable for us. With the first two pilot projects for the forest conversion method under the forest climate standard, we have not only made history, but have also been able to experience the benefits of the digital certification platform. The handling of all certification steps, from the preparation of project information to the upload of all relevant evidence, the feedback from the auditors and the answering of queries, through to the finished PDD including the validation report, went smoothly and quickly. We look forward to the next pilot projects and further cooperation with eva!" - Ronja Wolf, Head of Project Development at Pina Earth
The feedback from the individual projects will continue to be consolidated and individual indicators adjusted accordingly where necessary. As soon as the methodology has been revised, the second public consultation will begin. Various stakeholder groups will again be invited to comment on our method documents and ask critical questions. Even if the full version is subsequently adopted after the feedback has been incorporated, the aim remains to be a 'learning standard'. The forest restructuring method will continue to evolve with new scientific findings and practical experience. The current version of the standard can be viewed via the following link: https://version.waldklimastandard.de/
Would you like to find out more about how
Please contact us via team@pina.earth.
To stay up to date, you can also follow us on LinkedIn(Pina Earth, eva foundation) or subscribe to the Forest Climate Standard newsletter(https://waldklimastandard.de/newsletter/).
Ronja Wolf has been supporting project development at Pina Earth as Forest Carbon Project Manager since 2022. She holds a Master of Science in Sustainable Resource Management (TUM) from the Faculty of Forest Sciences and Resource Management. After graduating, she worked for renowned sustainability consultancies, advising companies on the design and implementation of their sustainability strategies.
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