PFT featured in 1% for the Planet annual report

Pacific Forest Trust is proud to be a non-profit partner of 1% for the Planet, a global movement inspiring businesses and individuals to support environmental solutions through annual membership and everyday actions. This year, PFT was featured in their annual report for our groundbreaking climate work and our longstanding partnership with Harney & Sons Fine Teas.

Highlights from the report:

“The Pacific Forest Trust has been a valued nonprofit partner of 1% for the Planet since the early days when we reached out about our climate work related to forest conservation and stewardship,” explains PFT co-founder and president, Laurie Wayburn. “Many nonprofits do not have anywhere near the reach of 1% for the Planet or its members, so this partnership of messages and messengers working together is highly symbiotic.”

Wayburn credits 1% for the Planet with establishing the connection between Harney & Sons and PFT. “In 2006, we were very involved in the first climate legislation in California, which acknowledged that climate change was real. We needed to get ready to deal with it and set out ways for people to learn the inventory and accounting metrics. PFT was able to get forests included in that bill, initiating the carbon offsets program,” she relates.

Shortly thereafter, Michael Harney, Vice President of Harney & Sons, saw PFT’s work featured on the 1% for the Planet website and contacted the nonprofit, sharing his passion for the outdoors and commitment to addressing climate change…. Harney agreed with PFT’s stance and decided to support their work. Fast forward, and the two have partnered on various initiatives to address the linked issues of climate change and land and water conservation. For instance, they have looked at synergies between forest management for climate and the subsequent benefits for water, as well as fire’s role in ensuring healthy forests, especially in the West. “A very large majority–some 90 percent—of wildfires are started by people,” notes Wayburn. “We talk about managing forests or managing the landscapes, but what we actually need to do is manage us.”

Wayburn reflects, “Mike is a fabulous sounding board for us. He has a wonderful ability to see our work from a different, broader perspective and help us translate it for more audiences. Often, it’s easy to get centered in our particular worlds. And while we all share our climate—and the worlds of tea and water and forests are obviously related—he deals much more in the consumer arena and understands how people think that way. We tend to deal more in the science and management arena, so our partnership is very complementary.”

She laughs, “Michael gave us this wonderful quote: ‘Water is the mother of tea, and who doesn’t love their mother?'”

So, what’s next? “We’ve recently launched a new corporate collaboration called ‘Springs for Life,’ a ForestWater Alliance partnership program focused on protecting and restoring critical forest watersheds that provide life-sustaining water, something that Michael has helped us to think about.”

Read the full report here (PFT’s feature begins on page 8).

You, too, can partner with PFT. Please make a contribution today of any size to help us protect forests for their benefits to climate, wildlife, and water. Thank you!