Permanent protection for Afognak Island’s Sitka spruce forests
Afognak, the second-largest island on the Kodiak Archipelago off Alaskas southern coast, is home to wildlife such as the huge Kodiak brown bear and many fish, including rainbow trout, Arctic char, and five species of Pacific salmon. However evidence of a pervasive timber industry scars Afognak, marring its otherwise pristine wilderness landscape.
mitigated on average annually throughout the projects 30 year crediting
managed for conservation in perpetuity, through use of federal and state conservation easements
On North Afognak Island, 40 miles from Kodiak City, the Afognak Forest Carbon project area comprises 8,219 acres of low elevation, coastal temperate rainforests. The project prevents carbon emissions by protecting these forests from logging in the baseline scenario. From 2005-2009 the American Land Conservancy (ALC) and the Rocky Mountain Elk Foundation (RMEF) acquired the project properties previously managed for timber production for conservation in perpetuity. 15% of productive land in the area, subjected to clear-cut logging since the 1980s, had been left to regenerate naturally, with little success. The remaining unlogged areas remain covered by native, old-growth 200-year-old Sitka Spruce forests, lakes, wetlands and small streams.
The Afognak Forest Carbon project enhances biodiversity, water, and all attributes of the local environment by retaining and protecting the existing forest as an intact, fully-functioning ecosystem. Project management is also low impact, focusing on salvage, restoration and preventative management on small areas annually. Moreover, while the project has a 30-year crediting period, its ancient forests will be protected forever.
