Innovative urban forestry initiatives for

corporate fundingKarishmaa Pai

Email: karishmaapai@gmail.com

Phone: +65 9298 8035

India/Singapore

Urban Forests in Mumbai

Borders the NW Western Ghats,

an ecological hotspot with

1,800 endemic and 325 globally

threatened species

1 National Park (Sanjay Gandhi):

faces threats from poaching,

fires, urban encroachment

related conflicts

Mumbai has less than 16%

green cover for a population that

is 20 million

Financing Urban Forests

Corporate Social

Responsibility

Tax deferralsConservation

easements

Carbon and water quality

credits / offsets

Green investments / endowments

Corporate lending

FSC / PEFC

Diversify investment

portfolio

Projects in the Pacific Northwest

Clackamas County – Urban Lumber Pilot Project

City + corporate + public + private

Cluster, street tree and highway plantation

High value tree species

Biomimicry for urban design

Cross Laminated Timber (CLT) and carbon capture

2 million board feet removed in Portland from urban areas yearly

Mark McPherson – Carbon Credits for Urban Forestry

Climate change resilient species

Roll urban carbon into large-scale forest carbon

Peri-urban and emerging city green belt + green pockets

1 tree can absorb 0.024 tonnes of CO² / year

1 x 40 yr. old tree can sequester 1 tonne of carbon

25.6 million tonnes of

carbon valued at

$2 billion is sequestered

(estimated) in US urban

forests

Poplar or P-family Fixing Plantation on Brownfields

Soil remediation

Low property value but high central value

Plan Vivo certification or credits on clusters of <1 acre

PEFC or FSC certification for larger forest areas or afforestation

Tualatin Clean Water Services – Riparian Planting

Thermal stream control and quality mitigation

Cost savings of $150 million (compared to refrigerator cooling)

Sanitary Sewer Dollars

Portland saves $58 million or 40% of traditional sewage repair costs / year

0

10

20

30

40

50

60

70

Inspection andAdmin

Tree Maintenance Tree Planting

8

25

2

35

40

15

PER

CEN

TAG

E (%

)

Urban Forest Cost Breakdown

$4-6

$4-20

$0.5-4

Projects in the Pacific Northwest

Role of the Community

Volunteer and grassroots action Citizen science Community monitoring

Role of Trusts + Funds

Negotiation and land acquisition

Management and efficient distribution of CSR funds

Safeguarding and monitoring corporate investments

Design + Technology

Biomimicry e.g. tree vaults Architectural and landscape design Zoning Storm water filtration and recycling

Urban Forestry FeasibilityTools of Assessment

iTree

iNaturalist

USFS Carbon calculators

Carbon protocols e.g. ACR

LiDAR

Health benefit savings

Application to India For Profit Conservation

Long-term investment and sustainability for high-value

forestsForest Legacy Construction excise

tax

Demand-side

market

Native species

Priority or highly threatened areas (HCVFs)

Urban heat island

Carbon sequestration

Return on Investment (ROI)

Dust and storm water