Climate tech firm Mast Reforestation, the newly-established parent company of DroneSeed, announced on March 7 it has acquired California-based Cal Forest Nurseries, which supplies the majority of seedlings used for reforestation in the state.
Mast restores forests after large-scale fires with projects that generate CO2 removal credits. With the acquisition of Cal Forest, Mast aims to overcome a significant challenge to scaling reforestation: the insufficient supply of tree seeds and seedlings.
An average of 7 million acres of forest burn every year, compared to 2 million acres before the 1990s, statistics from the National Interagency Fire Center show. This difference of 5 million acres is equivalent to the size of New Jersey. Climate change-caused hotter fires also impede the forests’ ability to naturally regenerate as they destroy seeds that would otherwise survive less severe fires.
Relevant: ‘DroneSeed’s Mission Is To Make Reforestation Scalable’ – Jonathan Loevner, VP of Carbon Markets
Pacific Northwest’s largest container reforestation nursery Cal Forest Nurseries has clients ranging from timber company Sierra Pacific Industries to the U.S. Bureau of Land Management (BLM) and the U.S. Forest Service (USFS).
Back in the summer of 2021, Mast acquired Silvaseed and has since increased its seed supply more than three times.
“We’re excited and humbled to bring Cal Forest Nurseries–a revered institution in the world of forestry–into the Mast family,” said Grant Canary, Mast founder and CEO.
Clients of Mast’s Henry Creek reforestation project from 2022 include Shopify, TIME CO2, and Carbon Title. By the end of last year, Mast sold all CO2 credits generated from the project on voluntary carbon markets.
Read more: Wildfires In Europe Released Six Billion Tons Of CO2 Emissions This Summer
