Carbon 101: What is a carbon credit?​

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• Through the process of photosynthesis, trees utilize sunlight, water, and carbon dioxide (CO2) to create oxygen and sugar as they grow. During this process, CO2 is stored as carbon and can be defined as carbon sequestration.

• Forests are an essential part of the global carbon cycle and absorb approximately 30% of annual greenhouse gas (GHG) emissions and hold more carbon than is contained in the atmosphere. Keeping the carbon already in forests out of the atmosphere and enabling forests to take more carbon dioxide out of the atmosphere, are important parts of the strategy to combat climate change.

• Carbon credits or Verified Carbon Units (VCUs) are created when activities that would normally generate a carbon source (e.g., harvesting) are reduced or halted to produce a carbon sink, which stores sequestered carbon within the tree for the remaining life of the tree.

• 1 VCU is approximately the equivalent to 1 metric tonne of CO2 sequestered within a tree.

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Nature-based Carbon Solutions​

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• All forest carbon projects must demonstrate additionality to be eligible for creating carbon credits. Carbon projects are additional when activities initiated exclusively through the carbon project are beyond common practice standard operations. Deferring harvest in the carbon initiative area demonstrates Mosaic’s additionality and generates carbon credits accordingly.

• Mosaic’s nature-based carbon initiative consists of charismatic features truly unique to BigCoast Forest, such as:

  • Key drinking watersheds

  • Group project opportunities

  • Socially sensitive harvest areas

  • United Nations Sustainable Development Goals

  • Old forest retention