99,204 strong and growing
Carbon offset pilot in Kap could set another milestone
Posted By Mark Gentili
Posted 6 months ago
It is already one of the first companies in Canada to begin selling carbon credits, but now Trees For Clean Air in Kapuskasing might be the first such enterprise to receive third-party certification.
This month the Rainforest Alliance is expected to certify the plantation on Clear Lake Road under the Climate, Community and Biodiversity Standard (CCB). This would, the company hopes, make it the first project of its type in Canada to receive that distinction.
Vancouver-based Carbon Friendly Solutions, the firm that brokers the credits Trees For Clean Air produces, is also hoping to earn the marketing cache that the term “Canada’s first…” creates.
The company’s vice president of Operations, Steve Clark, visited Kapuskasing at the end of July for the official opening of the Kapuskasing pilot project. He was very excited about the impending CCB Standard certification.
“This could be the first third-party validated project in Canada and definitely the first one in Ontario,” Mr. Clark said.
He said this region appears to have a great deal of potential not only for carbon credit grow operations like Trees For Clean Air is managing, but also in the use of biomass in the production of wood bricks, the larger cousin of wood pellets, that can be burned for heat and energy.
After the July 24 ribbon-cutting ceremony, Mayor Alan Spacek said projects like Trees For Clean Air provide great diversity for forestry towns like Kapuskasing, and allow the community to channel its expertise in the forest products industry in a new direction.
“This is a milestone for our community. There have been some challenges and there was a lot of flexibility required, but we look forward to more…innovative projects like this.”
Both Mr. Clark and Trees For Clean Air founder Julie Culverhouse said the municipality was instrumental in navigating local and provincial legislation in order to get the project off the ground.
In the spring, Trees For Clean Air planted 99,204 jack pine seedlings and willow sticks on 42 hectares of fallow farmland off Clear Lake Road North. The plantation will remove approximately 21,000 tonnes of carbon from the atmosphere over its 80-year lifespan.
Trees For Clean Air founder Julie Culverhouse and Carbon Friendly Solutions vice president of operations, Steve Clark, look on as Mayor Alan Spacek officially opens one of Canada’s first carbon-offset reforestation projects.
