 |
|
|
************************************************************************** |
E-WIRE PRESS RELEASE E-WIRE PRESS RELEASE E-WIRE PRESS RELEASE |
************************************************************************** |
|
FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE |
Carbon Sequestration Through Reforestation: ESI Plants 15 Million Trees |
|
ATLANTA, GEORGIA, Mar. 28 -/E-Wire/--
Environmental Synergy, Inc. (ESI), an Atlanta-based environmental services company, has this month planted its 15 millionth tree in the Lower Mississippi River Valley under a mission to restore bottomland hardwood habitat and remove carbon dioxide from the atmosphere.
|
Carbon sequestration through reforestation is one of several strategies to which industrial companies are turning in an effort to reduce the accumulation of carbon dioxide in the atmosphere which has been linked to global climate change. Healthy, growing, new forests are highly effective at naturally removing carbon dioxide and sequestering it as carbon in forest biomass.
|
ESI's reforestation program, implemented on behalf of companies and organizations like Dynegy Inc., American Electric Power (AEP), ChevronTexaco, the UtiliTree Carbon Company, Prima Klima (a German non-governmental organization), and Future Forests (a U.K.-based organization), has restored 55,000 acres to forest over the past three years. ESI designs and implements both the planting regime and the long-term carbon monitoring program -- the former in cooperation with various federal and state conservation agencies that will serve as beneficiaries and stewards of the reforested sites, and the latter with Winrock International, a nonprofit organization recognized for its work in carbon sequestration science.
|
While the Bush administration's new global climate change initiative does not call for mandatory measures to reduce or offset emissions that are believed to contribute to global warming, many companies are undertaking such measures on a voluntary basis. The U.S. Department of Energy, through its Voluntary Reporting of Greenhouse Gases Program, provides companies the opportunity to establish a public record of emissions reductions or sequestration achievements in a national database.
|
"AEP has been planting trees for decades as part of its surface mining reclamation and land stewardship practice,' said Gary Kaster, AEP Eco-Assets Manager. "Since the mid-1990s, as concerns about climate change have risen, AEP has been involved in reforestation and forest preservation projects to capture and store carbon to offset emissions of carbon dioxide. These are voluntary efforts with an eye to using the verified tons of sequestered carbon to comply with emission limits under a future carbon cap program.'
|
ESI concentrates its reforestation initiatives in the Lower Mississippi River Valley (LMRV), an alluvial plain stretching from Illinois to Louisiana. The LMRV has suffered severe habitat destruction over the past 50 years, losing 80 percent of its original 22 million acres of bottomland hardwood ecosystems to intense but often marginally successful agricultural development.
|
Sam Hamilton, Southeast Regional Director for the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service, believes, "Carbon sequestration through reforestation offers the greatest opportunity of our lifetime to restore biodiversity back to the Lower Mississippi River Valley. Restoring bottomland hardwood habitat will help endangered species, declining populations of Neo-tropical migratory songbirds and resident wildlife.'
|
The LMRV plays a critical role as stopover and replenishing grounds for songbirds migrating between their winter homes across the Gulf of Mexico and their summer habitats throughout North America. Because much of the remaining forested area is fragmented rather than in large blocks, many bird and wildlife species have either disappeared from the region or experienced significant declines. Reforesting to native tree species will stabilize and ultimately restore wildlife populations such as the Louisiana Black Bear and Florida Panther, both federally protected species. "In addition to habitat restoration and carbon sequestration benefits, there are other collateral benefits to reforestation,' Hamilton added. "Soil conservation, enhanced water quality, improved recreational opportunity and reduction in the Hypoxia zone of the Gulf of Mexico are all positive outcomes of this reforestation program.'
|
ESI CEO, Dr. Joe Wisniewski, agreed: "We see this work as a win-win situation for industry, government, the local environment and global climate.'
|
************************************************************************** |
To Transmit Your News Over E-Wire, visit http://www.ewire.com or
call 1-800-343-9013. E-Wire Is Broadcast To Millions Of Readers Worldwide |
************************************************************************** |
|
|
|
|
