Carbon Streaming Invests $15M in Mast for Post-Wildfire Reforestation
Carbon Streaming Corporation signed a project pipeline streaming agreement with Mast Reforestation for up to $15 million, plus another $2 million investment into Mast’s parent company.
The deal seeks to advance Mast’s pipeline of post-wildfire reforestation projects in the Western USA. Each project will have a separate stream agreement with Carbon Streaming.
Carbon Streaming is pioneering the use of streaming transactions to scale high-integrity carbon credit projects to accelerate global climate action. The streaming company now joins Mast’s existing investors, including Social Capital, TIME Ventures, DBL Partners, and Elemental Excelerator.
The carbon removal credits from the projects will be issued by the Climate Action Reserve’s (CAR) Climate Forward program.
Carbon Credits from The Streaming Deal
Carbon Streaming will make an upfront deposit under each agreement. In return, the company will receive up to 100% of the carbon credits produced by Mast Reforestation Projects. It will then make ongoing payments to Mast for every carbon credit sold.
The CAR’s program will issue the credits called Forecasted Mitigation Units which will sell at a premium price to typical ARR – Afforestation, Reforestation and Revegetation – credits. This is because of the conservation and biodiversity benefits the projects also bring and their good location.
Carbon Streaming expects the Mast Reforestation Projects to cover over 9,000 acres of land severely damaged by wildfires. Collectively, they can remove about 1 million tonnes of CO2 and generate a corresponding number of carbon credits – 1 million. Each credit represents one tonne of carbon removed.
The first project under the financing agreement is the Sheep Creek Reforestation Stream that can remove about 225,000 tonnes of CO2 equivalent. Carbon credits from this project are based on two planting phases and will be issued in 2025 and 2026, respectively.
The project covers a 2,700+ acre in Montana that was severely burned during the 2021 Harris Mountain Fire. The supply of seedlings from Mast will restore the area and Carbon Streaming financing will support its reforestation efforts.
Last year, Mast pre-sold all carbon credits from a similar creek project to corporate buyers like Shopify and Time CO2.
Under the terms of this first stream agreement, Carbon Streaming will pay Mast an initial amount of $0.54 million. Then additional stream payments of up to $3 million will follow as the Sheep Creek reaches key milestones such as site preparation and planting.
Carbon Streaming will also make ongoing delivery payments to Mast for each carbon credit sold under the project. The company expects financial payback after first issuance of the credits.
Impact of the Reforestation Projects
The rate and amount of damage of wildfires have been intensifying in recent years, costing billions of dollars and losing thousands of lives. It also takes decades for fauna and flora to recover from the damages of wildfire. Thus, post-wildfire restoration efforts of Mast are an important part of climate change mitigation.
Mast is a leading end-to-end reforestation company, combining proven reforestation practices with new technology to regrow healthy, resilient, climate-adapted forests. Its reforestation projects will bring positive impacts to wildlife and terrestrial as well as aquatic ecosystems.
Here’s how Mast’s reforestation project works:
The company invests heavily in biology, software, and hardware technologies to reduce costs and timelines needed to reforest post-wildfire areas. It is supporting these investments through innovative financing models like that of Carbon Streaming.
One of the major challenges in North American forestry is the source of seeds and the space to grow them. This is where Mast’s business model comes in, positioning itself as the biggest private seedbank in the American West. The company grows most of the seedlings used for reforestation in California.
Mast also provides various services ranging from seed collection and cultivation to traditional hand planting and ongoing site monitoring. Its reforestation projects support rural livelihoods while providing jobs across the project’s activities.
Remarking on the partnership, Mast Founder and CEO Grant Canary said:
“We are excited to collaborate with Carbon Streaming in this new partnership as it shares our unique vision for scaling reforestation and carbon removal solutions. This Pipeline Agreement is a scalable model that will help us get more trees in the ground, accelerating reforestation efforts in areas devastated by the rise in forest fires amplified by climate change.”
Carbon Streaming is also investing another $2 million into Mast’s parent company. It will be for adding key personnel, and continued investment into software, hardware, and field technology.
Mast Reforestation seeks to continue growing its pipeline of projects by looking for more partners that see the value in the high-quality carbon removal credits that its reforestation projects generate.
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