Carver Community Forestry Offset Program
Project Description & Co-benefits
In 2017, the VCU Office of Sustainability, the Richmond Tree Stewards, and the Carver Area Civic Improvement League entered a partnership to launch the Carver Community Forestry Offset Program – a pilot program to explore the viability of generating carbon offsets through tree planting in Richmond, Virginia.
Located in Carver, a historic neighborhood adjacent to the VCU Monroe Park Campus, the program is designed to meet university and community identified needs. The Carver Area Civic Improvement League sees the pilot program as an important piece of achieving its mission to make Carver a better place to live, work, and visit. For VCU, this is the university’s first foray into carbon offsets and another step towards achieving climate neutrality by 2050.
The pilot program has included three major components:
Conducting a baseline inventory of existing street trees and empty tree wells in Carver
Planting 62 new trees in the neighborhood with the help of 120 volunteers
Implementing a tree maintenance program to prevent project reversal and provide learning opportunities for students.
Richmond Tree Stewards demonstrate tree planting for volunteers.
Volunteers planting trees in the Carver neighborhood.
Creates opportunities to collaborate with community members
Increases shade and erosion control
Increases urban wildlife habitat
Project co–benefits
Student Involvement
Students have participated in several aspects of the project including conducting the baseline tree inventory, identifying locations to plant new trees in Carver, completing the Richmond Tree Steward training course, and watering and maintaining project trees.
Student learns pruning techniques during the Richmond Tree Steward Training Course.
Student measures DBH height during a street tree inventory.
Project Organizer
Wyatt Carpenter, Sustainability Projects and Program Coordinator
Active (2017–Present)
Project Status
Offset Network
Offset Registry or Program
Duke Carbon Offsets Initiative – Urban Forestry Carbon Offset Protocol V2.2, Innovative Project Pathway
PROTOCOL APPLIED
N/A
Cost Per Offsets ($ Per MTCO2E)
While not verified, the project has the potential to generate 100 offset credits over the life of the project.
Number of Total Offsets
Website
Virginia Commonwealth University (VCU), is the first school to complete the Project Plan document to initialize a carbon offset project. VCU then underwent Project Plan Review, and had members of the Peer Review Committee evaluate and provide comments on the Project Plan.