Pina Earth's forest adaptation projects are now certified for the first time under a national carbon standard tailored to the ecosystem services of our regional forests. This is a major milestone for us at Pina Earth and for the eva foundation, which is now incorporating its second method into its portfolio, following is own reforestation method.
"Pina Earth's forest adaptation method is the first external method to undergo the accreditation process under the eva foundation's forest climate standard (Wald-Klimastandard - WKS). This expands the scope of the forest climate standard to include the transformation of commercial forests into structurally diverse mixed forests, promoting the adaptability of German forests to climate change." - Moriz Vohrer, Technical Director, Standards & IT at the eva foundation
We are excited to present the first two projects under the forest climate standard (WKS) on our forest project dashboard. Both projects were successfully validated and certified by TÜV Nord in April 2024, following an on-site visit in March 2024.
In the Herzfelde project, 143 hectares of older conifer-dominated stands are being converted into hardwood-rich mixed stands. The project area is located in the Uckermark Lake District and is surrounded by the Dolgensee Chain Nature Reserve. By planting and seeding, tree species such as hornbeam, winter lime, sycamore, and bird cherry are being introduced.
In the 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. Through targeted planting and natural regeneration, a new forest generation is being established. Newly introduced tree species include, for example, coastal fir, supplemented with deciduous species such as red oak, downy birch, chestnut, pedunculate oak, and lime.
We are pleased about this milestone and thank you for the successful collaboration so far!
"For companies investing in certified climate protection projects as part of their climate strategy, one thing is particularly important: tangible projects based on a robust, transparent, and scientific method. Our successfully completed public consultation and the external expert review as part of the accreditation process under the forest climate standard confirmed this. This allows us to support companies and create the necessary transparency for the market." - Leos Paul Bloch, Head of Business Development and Sourcing at Pina Earth
Numerous dialogues with various stakeholder groups along the entire value chain, both from forestry practice and the CO2 market, preceded the publication. Expert opinions on our technology were also prepared, and the results were assessed by the forest climate standard's technical committee. All these steps not only help to further develop and continuously improve the forest transformation method but also ensure the quality of the method and external transparency.
Specifically, three public webinars, a public consultation, several stakeholder workshops, technical committee meetings, and forest climate council conferences have been conducted so far:
.jpg)
"The past few months have been very valuable for us. With the first two pilot projects for the forest transformation method under the forest climate standard, we have not only made history but also experienced the benefits of the digital certification platform. The processing of all certification steps, from preparing project information to uploading all relevant evidence, auditor feedback, and answering queries, to the final PDD including the validation report, went smoothly and quickly. We look forward to the next pilot projects and further collaboration with eva!" - Ronja Wolf, Head of Project Development at Pina Earth
Feedback from individual projects continues to be consolidated, and individual indicators are adjusted as necessary. Once the method 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 after incorporating the feedback and adopting the final version, the goal remains to be a 'learning standard.' The forest transformation method will continuously evolve with new scientific findings and practical experiences. The current version of the standard can be viewed at the following link: https://version.waldklimastandard.de/
Would you like to learn more about developing a forest transformation project with Pina Earth, which climate protection projects we already have in our portfolio in Germany, or how our method works in detail?
Feel free to contact us at team@pina.earth.
To stay up to date, follow us on LinkedIn (Pina Earth, eva foundation) or subscribe to the forest climate standard newsletter (https://waldklimastandard.de/newsletter/).