Carbon Credits for City Trees

Urban forests are increasingly recognized as critical green infrastructure, delivering health, equity, and environmental benefits right where people live, work, and play.

Urban areas also have the highest rates of tree canopy decline (Nowak & Greenfield, 2018). Every year, US urban areas lose 36 million trees as a result of growing urbanization, pervasive lack of funding for planting and maintenance, and invasive pests and disease.

Urban forests are also inequitably distributed, with marginalized communities having the lowest tree canopy - and the least access to the benefits provided by these trees.

Carbon crediting expands funding for planting and preservation projects by providing a pathway for private sector dollars to fund the growth, protection, and maintenance of city forests.

"Carbon crediting is a tool to do more conservation, protect more land, and better steward forests long-term."

The multi-decade commitments to maintenance and monitoring ensure high-quality projects that deliver the promised benefits to communities.

A carbon credit represents one metric ton of carbon dioxide (or greenhouse gas equivalent) that is stored or prevented from being emitted.

Urban forest carbon credits also represent more than just carbon – they include a bevy of other ecosystem co-benefits, from rainfall interception and air quality improvements to energy savings.

Urban forest carbon credits are issued by City Forest Credits (CFC). Established in 2015, CFC is a national nonprofit carbon registry that serves one sector of carbon - the carbon stored in trees and forests in metropolitan areas in the US.

The City Forest Credits Standard is endorsed by the  International Carbon Reduction and Offset Accreditation (ICROA) .

In collaboration with a national stakeholder group of scientists and experts, CFC developed two protocols for urban forestry:

• 40- or 100-year  Tree Preservation Protocol 
• 26-year  Tree Planting (Afforestation and Reforestation) Protocol  

The  CFC website  has more information on the Protocols and members of the national drafting group.

There have been over 55 registered urban forest carbon projects in the US to date, representing more than 490,000 metric tons of carbon stored over the project lifetimes, and an estimated $213 million in avoided costs from stormwater management, energy savings, and air quality improvements over 50 years. These projects have been led largely by local governments, conservation districts, and nonprofits.

Check out the  CFC Carbon Registry  for more information.

Urban forest carbon projects stand squarely at the intersection of local climate action, community and social impacts, and environmental benefits.

Learn more below to find out if your tree planting or preservation project is a good fit for carbon crediting.

All carbon projects must be located within an urban area as defined below.

Urban growth is projected to add close to 100 million acres of urban land to the United States by 2060. Much of that growth comes at the expense of natural areas and tree canopy – a 2018 study from the US Forest Service found that about 40% of new urban impervious cover (such as roads and buildings) came from areas that previously had trees.

From Chattanooga to Pittsburgh, land trusts across the country are leveraging carbon crediting to protect urban forests. 

"This program is a really important piece of the puzzle for us to not just purchase the site but to ensure there are long-term resources to take care of and protect it"

To find out if your organization could be eligible for a Preservation Project, follow the slide show below.

Urban regions are seeing the greatest tree canopy loss of any area in the contiguous United States. Municipalities and nonprofits can leverage urban forest carbon credits as a finance tool to plant and maintain trees.

"The City of Highland Park is proud to be a leader in carefully managing and growing our award-winning urban tree canopy in support of our carbon-limiting sustainability initiatives. Our partnership with City Forest Credits has provided an effective strategy in support of these goals."

There are three types of planting designs for a planting project. Each type has its own method for carbon quantification and requirements for sampling and growth assessment at Years 4, 6, 14, and 26.

The Single Tree planting design is appropriate for street tree plantings, with trees planted in a dispersed fashion. The trees should be planted in general about 16.5 feet apart.

This method requires sampling the growth and survival of individual trees at four key timepoints throughout the 26-year project duration.

The Clustered planting design is for projects that aim to create canopy in a park-like setting. Trees are planted at least 16.5 feet apart in a relatively contiguous fashion.

This method requires tracking change in tree canopy over the planting area, not individual tree survival.

The Area Reforestation planting design is for projects whose goal is to create a forest ecosystem. Trees are planted close together (< 16.5 feet apart, but often much closer) over areas of at least 10 acres. Higher tree mortality is expected.

This method requires tracking change in tree canopy over the planting area, not individual tree survival.

To find out if your organization could be eligible for a planting project, follow the slide show below.

  Planting (Afforestation) Protocol Summary  

 Planting Project - Process Overview 

  Preservation Protocol Summary  

 Preservation Project - Process Overview 

The CFC Standard, Protocols, and more resources are available  on the CFC website .

What size trees can be planted?

Tree sizes can include seedlings up to landscape-sized trees.

Where can the trees be planted or preserved?

Preservation projects may take place on public or private property. Any entity such as a city, county, land trust, or other organization can lead a preservation project.

Tree planting projects are best suited for public property or private property owned by large landowners (e.g., school or corporate campuses, churches, or homeowners of properties greater than 1 acre).

What is the allowable tree mortality rate for a planting project?

City Forest Credits applies a standard 20% mortality deduction if you are planting trees using the single tree planting design, or a 30% uncertainty deduction if you are planting trees under the clustered planting design. There is no up-front mortality deduction under the area reforestation planting design.

Can trees that were planted in prior years be enrolled in a carbon project? If so, what type of documentation is needed to enroll those trees?

You can enroll trees that were planted up to three years (36 months) prior to the planting date of the last tree you intend to include in the project. Documentation needs to include tree planting data, including GPS points and a spreadsheet with species information (common name and scientific name), as well as location information (address, latitude/longitude), and date planted.

If you'd like to enroll the trees you've planted or preserved in a carbon project, but need more time (for example, to aggregate smaller plantings into a three-year project, or to close on a property acquisition), you can sign a Notice of Intent to document your intention of enrolling the trees in a future carbon project.

If the trees die, does the money earned from the sale of the carbon credits need to be paid back?

If trees die due to storm, fire, unforeseen pest infestation or other so-called acts of god, you are not responsible.

In planting projects, if the mortality deduction applied to your project is 20%, and if you lose more than 20% of your trees due to your own intentional actions or gross negligence, then you have to pay back credits you've received or forego credits that you would be entitled to receive. 

In preservation projects, if you lose more than about 10% of trees due to your own intentional actions or gross negligence, then you have to pay back credits you've received or forego credits that you would be entitled to receive.

Does a tree maintenance plan need to be in place?

Yes. We encourage you to think of the carbon revenues as contributing to your maintenance budget. 

Can an organization/entity continue to enroll the tree planting projects year after year?

Yes, you can enroll tree planting projects every year. Or you can enroll trees planted over a three-year period once every three years. If you follow a three-year plan, then all trees planted in that three-year period will be credited as a project.

What is the cadence of reporting and what does that entail?

For Preservation projects, you need to file a monitoring report every three years for the 40-year project duration that shows imaging of your project area and describes any significant changes in the site.

For Planting projects, you need to file a monitoring report once a year for the 26-year project duration. The report describes any significant change in the project.

How do I sell my credits?

CFC issues credits to you. You can sell those credits in whatever way and to whomever you choose. The payment from the buyer goes directly to you. You must pay the CFC fees, which are about 10% of the gross carbon revenue.

You are responsible for finding a buyer. Consider reaching out to local companies in your area to see if they would be interested - many companies are looking to invest their social impact or carbon dollars in local projects.

You may also work with one of the many national carbon brokers in the voluntary carbon market.

Another option is to join a national aggregation with other urban forest carbon projects. In 2021, 13 projects from around the U.S. aggregated their credits into one package and sold them all efficiently to one buyer. O

Interested in starting a carbon project?

Reach out to City Forest Credits at  info@cityforestcredits.org , or learn more at  our website .