Enviva launches $5 million forest conservation fund

Enviva Holdings LP, the world’s largest producer of wood pellets, recently announced it is establishing the Enviva Forest Conservation Fund, a $5 million, 10-year program designed to protect tens of thousands of acres of bottomland forests in northeast North Carolina and southeast Virginia.

The Enviva Forest Conservation Fund, administered by the U.S. Endowment for Forestry and Communities, will award matching-fund grants to nonprofit organizations to permanently protect ecologically sensitive areas and conserve working forests. The $5 million Enviva Forest Conservation Fund will focus on the Virginia-North Carolina coastal plain, an area that is home to three wood pellet production facilities and a deep-water marine terminal owned by Enviva.

“With the launch of the Enviva Forest Conservation Fund, Enviva will work with leading conservation organizations to identify areas of special concern and provide grants to permanently conserve thousands of acres of this forestland,” said John Keppler, Chairman and CEO of Enviva. “Enviva has always believed there are special places in the forest that should remain so. For instance, we have never harvested nor have we accepted wood from old growth forests.”

“Although we are small—in 2014 our entire industry accounted for less than one-tenth of 1 percent of America’s forest inventory—as a young company in a new field, we want to be known for always doing the right thing,” Keppler added. “We are deeply committed to keeping America’s working forests healthy and growing, and protecting our forests for our families and future generations. That’s what the Enviva Forest Conservation Fund is all about.”

Read the full piece at BiomassMagazine.com