Stihl has supported the organization Fairventures Worldwide with funding, equipment, and expertise since 2017. Now, that partnership is expanded by a project in Uganda and on Borneo where Fairventures will store 120 000 tons of CO2 (carbon) on behalf of Stihl by planting trees in the coming years.
Stihl expands partnership with Fairventures
Fairventures Worldwide is based in Stuttgart, Germany, and helps small farmers in the tropics cultivate degraded and deforested rainforest areas with local tree species and various crops. This is done by building relationships, empowering farmers, distributing seedlings, establishing responsible value chains, and monitoring the impact.
This so-called agroforestry provides short- and medium-term sources of income from crop and timber harvest, without destroying the rainforest or creating more monoculture plantations.
280.000 seedlings in the first phase
Fairventures has designated areas in Uganda and Borneo for the purpose of storing carbon emissions for Stihl up to 2024. By the end of October 2022, some 270.000 seedlings had been planted on an area of 139 hectares in Uganda. The seedlings were bred in local nurseries and were of fast-growing species like musizi, which are ready for harvest after 10 years. This timber can be used for timber construction. 291 small farmers are being supported by these newly cultivated areas in Uganda.
Breeding of the Stihl-seedlings for Borneo is underway. Between January and June this year, approx. 60.000 seedlings will be planted on an area of 75 hectares in cooperation with local 100 farmers.
120.000 tons of carbon will be stored
This forestry project alone will store approx. 120.000 carbon and prevent it from coming out into the atmosphere. Apart from that the timber that will be harvested in about 10 years will be used for plywood that can be used instead of wood from high-value trees. The low weight of the timber opens new possibilities to develop new types of engineered wood for construction.
Monitoring through an app
To monitor the project and record the location of every single tree, an app is used. The app, known as TREEO, keeps track of growth and how much carbon is stored. It delivers data that helps optimize planting activities and provides targeted advice and support to small farmers. And not least, Stihl can follow the plants, where they are located, and how much carbon is stored.
Read the press release from Stihl here.
Photo: Fairventures Worldwide
Carbon storage – the eternal topic
We have written a lot about carbon storage here at nordicwoodjournal.com. It seems to be a theme that cannot be discussed enough. For many, it’s a solution to climate change and for others, there is money to be made on carbon storage. The forestry business seems to agree that carbon storage should be displayed as a benefit of forestry. Keep the business going as usual.
Stihl is active in the markets where this planting project takes place. So, to store carbon there may be logic. On the other hand, Stihl has its seat and main production in Germany which is far away from Uganda and Borneo. Wouldn’t it be better to store carbon closer to where the pollution is?
Critics will say that carbon emission is a global problem and therefore it doesn’t matter where the carbon is stored as long as it is stored. The problem is to be sure that the planting actually takes place. In Stihl’s case, it seems that they have solved that problem with an app.
We wrote about a Swedish forest owner who sold carbon storage to a company located within one hour drive from the forest in question. In that case, the buyer wanted to go to the storage site every now and then, and even take customers there to show that the forest actually existed. They don’t need an app, just a car and time.
Well, no matter how it’s done the carbon storage business is interesting and it will be exciting to see how it develops.
