The program brings together several projects to secure carbon storage and ensure that over 160,000 hectares of forest throughout Switzerland are managed sustainably. This, in turn, protects the climate and preserves biodiversity in Swiss forests.

Project standard: ISO 14064-2

Detailed description

Throughout their lifetime, trees absorb carbon dioxide from the air and store it within their biomass, which means that local forests and woodlands play a significant role in climate protection in Switzerland. Sustainable forest management is essential, not only for climate protection, but also for preserving the functions of Switzerland’s forests in terms of timber, natural-hazard protection, and recreation.

A number of forest protection projects in Switzerland have set themselves the target of reducing timber use, or, in some cases, dispensing with it altogether so as to sequester carbon in the forest and remove it from the atmosphere for the foreseeable future. To this end, a programme has been put together that includes forests from different regions of Switzerland.

The program ensures that individual forest projects are designed in such a way as to achieve the desired carbon reduction while simultaneously preserving the ecological and societal functions of the forest, including its protective, commercial, and therapeutic aspects. This is accomplished through careful and appropriate management practices.

The program's approach aims to preserve and enhance the carbon storage capacity of forests through sustainable forest management practices. Within each project, the social, economic, and ecological benefits are inextricably linked.

While there are inevitably costs, commitments, and economic losses associated with the project activities, these are mitigated through the sale of carbon credits. Additional income generated in this way is ploughed directly back into forest management.

The income that the projects bring in can be used for activities that prevent soil erosion and preserve water resources, thus supporting the native biodiversity of Swiss forests and bolstering their protective function against natural hazards.

Social and economic benefits

• The projects are designed in such a way that, with appropriate management, they safeguard the forests’ carbon storage capacity as well as their protective, commercial and therapeutic functions.
• The programme enables forest owners and forest enterprises to adopt climate-smart methods of forest management.
• Moreover, the project maintains or improves the socioeconomic situation of all employees involved in forestry operations.

Environmental aspects

• Forests are managed sustainably, in a way that preserves their relevant ecological functions, including nature conservation, rejuvenation, protection against pests, biodiversity, recovery etc.
• The projects help to support the protection and preservation of natural habitats and biodiversity in Swiss forests, which in turn promotes the ecological stability and resilience of the ecosystem.
• The resulting increase in the wood stock allows more trees to grow older and thicker.