Blue Forest is an Environmental Partner of 1% for the Planet
SACRAMENTO, CA, Sept. 27, 2022 – Blue Forest is excited to share that we are an Environmental Partner of 1% for the Planet, an alliance of more than 5,700 business and individual members that give back to support environmental organizations.
“As a 501(c)(3) nonprofit, partnering with foundations and donors has been key to Blue Forest’s success developing and deploying innovative financial solutions to one of the greatest land management challenges of our time–catastrophic wildfire,” says Zach Knight, CEO and co-founder of Blue Forest. “We are hopeful that the 1% for the Planet network will play a central role in our work to reduce the risk of catastrophic wildfire, restore forests and watersheds, and create resilient landscapes.”
As an Environmental Partner, Blue Forest is eligible to receive donations from 1% for the Planet business and individual members, placing them among a diverse, global network of environmental organizations. 1% for the Planet members fuel this Environmental Partner network through their annual contributions. Partnership with 1% for the Planet greatly expands the potential pool of funding to which Blue Forest can look for support.
“We know our Environmental Partners play a critical role in solving the many challenges facing our planet, and our core work is to grow the support that enables these nonprofits to accomplish even more,” says Kate Williams, CEO of 1% for the Planet.
Blue Forest contributes to a healthier planet through their flagship financial product, the Forest Resilience Bond (FRB). The FRB deploys private blended capital structures to finance ecological restoration projects on private and public lands that reduce the risk of catastrophic wildfire and enhance landscape resilience. Once the capital is deployed, beneficiaries of the project repay investors over time based on one or more of the many co-benefits of ecological restoration, including: reduced wildfire risk and associated benefits of reduced and avoided CO2 emissions, protected water quality, increased water quantity, increased hydropower generation, and job creation.
Blue Forest currently partners with existing 1% for the Planet Environmental Partners, including World Resources Institute, Bonneville Environmental Foundation, The Freshwater Trust, National Forest Foundation (NFF), Central Sierra Resiliency Fund, and Sustainable Northwest. The Forest Resilience Bond adds capacity to partners by providing the upfront capital needed to implement large-scale restoration projects, removing the limiting constraints of available operating capital common for projects funded by reimbursable state and federal grants.
“Forest Resilience Bond financing provides the financial flexibility to accelerate the pace and scale of restoration treatments at a time when this work is needed most,” says Marcus Selig, Vice President of Field Programs for the National Forest Foundation. “This flexibility enables NFF as the implementation partner on these projects to add organizational capacity and eliminates the constraints of operating capital intrinsic to traditional grant funded projects.”
“The Forest Resilience Bond, developed by Blue Forest, enables our corporate partners to participate in supporting large collaborative forest restoration projects that have numerous positive environmental and social benefits, while meeting corporate water and other environmental stewardship goals.” says Sara Hoversten, Director, Business for Water Stewardship at Bonneville Environmental Foundation.
Blue Forest’s work on the Tahoe National Forest and across the Western United States supports a broader effort by the USDA Forest Service to bring new resources to forest management. “Public-private partnership models, like the FRB, that leverage private investment for public good are integral to the paradigm shift needed to address the risk of catastrophic wildfire across the West,” said Meryl Harrell, USDA Deputy Under Secretary for Natural Resources and Environment. Blue Forest is a strategic partner to the USDA Forest Service, supporting the Wildfire Crisis Strategy to increase the pace and scale of forest restoration to address the risk of catastrophic wildfire. Among multiple high priority projects across the Western United States, Blue Forest is launching or has already launched multiple FRBs on two of the ten initial landscapes being funded under the Wildfire Crisis Strategy: the Central Washington Initiative and the North Yuba Landscape.
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About 1% for the Planet
1% for the Planet is a global organization that exists to ensure our planet and future generations thrive. We inspire businesses and individuals to support environmental nonprofits through membership and everyday actions. We make environmental giving easy and effective through partnership advising, impact storytelling and third-party certification.
Started in 2002 by Yvon Chouinard, founder of Patagonia, and Craig Mathews, founder of Blue Ribbon Flies, our business members and individual members have given hundreds of millions of dollars to our approved nonprofit partners to date. Today, 1% for the Planet’s global network consists of thousands of businesses, individuals and environmental nonprofits working toward a better future for all.
Look for our logo to purchase for the planet, learn more and join at onepercentfortheplanet.org.
About Blue Forest
Blue Forest is a nonprofit organization committed to creating sustainable financial solutions to pressing environmental challenges. Blue Forest’s principal financial product, the Forest Resilience Bond (FRB), deploys private capital to finance forest restoration projects that reduce the risk of catastrophic wildfire. Blue Forest developed the FRB in partnership with the World Resources Institute, and works closely with the USDA Forest Service and a host of NGO and academic partners that provide research, evaluation, and implementation expertise.