Environmental Leader

Walt Disney Corp., by donating about $7 million to various conservation programs, aims to offset a portion of its emissions. Some are calling the move by Disney the biggest single corporate investment in forest carbon offsets to date.

The move is part of Disney’s effort to use “high quality offsets” to attain a net-zero emissions status, reports Reuters.

The offsets are directed at:

• the Tayna and Kisimba-Ikobo Community Reserves in eastern Democratic Republic of Congo, where 3 million tons of CO2 will be mitigated over 20 years;
• the Alta Mayo conservation project in Peru, which aims to protect 740,000 acres of forests and prevent 900,000 tons of CO2 over the five-year span of the agreement;
• reforestation in the U.S. Lower Mississippi Delta, where more than 2,000 acres of former forestland will be replanted; and,
• forest management efforts in North California, where new forestry management practices are being developed to preserve the Redwood forests in Mendocino County.

The two foreign offset projects, worth $4 million, are in conjunction with Conservation International.

The Mississippi project will receive $2 million, directed through the Nature Conservancy, while the California project, through the Conservation Fund, will get $1 million.

Peter Seligmann, chairman of Conservation International, in an AP article, said Disney’s donations represent “the largest single corporate contribution ever made to reduce (greenhouse) emissions from deforestation.”