Responsible by nature

As a full-cycle climate forest project originator, Carbone Terre à Terre (CTaT) is actively working to launch its first generation of forest climate pilot projects. CTaT's initial project focus will be on community and agricultural-driven afforestation/reforestation (ARR). Other types of forest climate projects, such as REDD+, IFM, fuel switching, and clean energy, may be considered at a later date. Although conserving existing forest carbon reserves (e.g., REDD+ and IFM) remains a priority, transitioning from poor and unsustainable agricultural and energy wood practices to sustainable, high-yield systems on degraded lands adjacent to forests is the most effective method of safeguarding primary forests with high biodiversity and ecosystem service values. Therefore, CTaT’s initial efforts will focus on bringing excess atmospheric carbon back into terrestrial ecosystems through regenerative agriculture and agroforestry.

CTaT’s flagship ARBRE+ project is a good example. In this project, CTaT collaborates with landowners in the Appalachian region of Quebec to establish biodiverse sugar maple orchards in abandoned agricultural fields that cannot regenerate naturally. These sugar maple plantations will mature into old-growth forests (ages 150 to 300) and then transition into steady-state, uneven-age, biodiversity hotspot forests. These forests will remain as such for over 500 years since their establishment. The ARBRE+ project also involves integrating dedicated feedstock biological carbon removal and storage (BiCRS) with willow interrows. This unique, intensive agroforestry system demonstrates how climate change mitigation can create biodiversity hotspots over time. ARBRE+ just received an AA rating from BeZero, the highest rating any ARR project has received.

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