California

Fighting Fire with Finance; Introducing the Forest Resilience Bond

On May 9th, 2019, Zach Knight of Blue Forest Conservation hosted a webinar discussing their new Forest Resilience Bonds. Blue Forest Conservation is committed to creating sustainable financial solutions to pressing environmental challenges. We recently launched our first innovative finance mechanism, the Forest Resilience Bond, in partnership with the US Forest Service, the World Resources Institute, and Encourage Capital in the Tahoe National Forest in California in 2018. Instead of relying on budget-constrained government agencies, the Forest Resilience Bond deploys investor capital to finance the upfront costs of proactive forest restoration in an effort to reduce the risk of catastrophic wildfire and associated carbon emissions as well while protecting water resources. Investors earn returns through cost-sharing contracts with the US Forest Service, utilities, and state governments that benefit from the restoration treatments. In addition to wildfire, air quality, and water benefits, the Forest Resilience Bond creates jobs, protects communities, and makes forests more resilient to climate change while offering competitive returns to investors.

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