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Today's interview is with Isabella Akker, Senior Director, Restoration Finance Innovation, American Forests.
What is American Forests?
What is American Forests, and can you share more about your mission?
Isabella Akker - American Forests is the nation’s oldest conservation non-profit; this year will mark our 150th anniversary. Across those many decades, we've supported breakthrough policies for reforestation like the REPLANT Act, built some of the longest standing public-private partnerships to reforest the U.S., and continue using science and resilient forestry techniques to restore ecosystems.
We tackle climate change, biodiversity loss, water security, tree equity and green infrastructure in urban areas, and the wildfire crisis. We work in close partnership with federal and state agencies to holistically address the growing backlog and prevent permanent deforestation through strategic interventions at all points of the reforestation supply chain, from seed collection to monitoring and maintaining reforested areas after planting. Our Tree Equity team focuses on improving tree cover in cities, especially in less affluent neighborhoods, to make sure that they stay cooler in summer and lower their flooding risks.
Combating Climate Change
What makes forests one of the most effective tools for combating climate change?
Isabella Akker - I think we need a diverse set of solutions for tackling climate change, and within that set, forests are incredibly helpful because they support both climate mitigation and adaptation. Intact forests store carbon in tree trunks, branches, and roots, as well as in soils, and growing trees help remove additional carbon. Forests also help reduce flooding risk and help maintain precipitation: as a counterexample, in the past five years, deforested parts of the Amazon rainforest have experienced severe droughts, leading to bigger fires and even more deforestation--not to mention big blackouts due to insufficient hydropower generation.
For many of us, it's easy to think of forests as nice-to-have places to spend time outdoors, when in reality they are connected to so many other systems and services, from drinking water to electricity to timber to the air we breathe to the medicines we take. Because of these interconnections, if we lose our forests, the world literally won't be livable anymore, regardless of the level of greenhouse gases in the atmosphere.
Innovations
Restoration finance is a rapidly evolving field — what’s one of the most exciting innovations you’ve seen in funding forest restoration?
Isabella Akker - Here's an uncommon opinion: I think water will be the next carbon. Water markets aren't nearly as robust as the voluntary credit market, but I think the consequences of water stress and poor water quality are much more visceral to both companies and individuals than carbon. Compared to water use, carbon emissions can feel both abstract and less tied to a business's core operations if the company's greenhouse gas emissions aren't regulated as part of a compliance market.
Tree Equity
What does the concept of "Tree Equity" mean, and how does American Forests bring it to life in communities?
Isabella Akker - Tree equity is simpler than it sounds: it's the idea that everyone should have access to the benefits provided by trees, no matter where they live. We think of trees as critical infrastructure that improve our quality of life, much like streets and internet cables. Trees help cool neighborhoods, which reduces heat-related illnesses and air conditioning costs. They purify water and soak up air pollution. They also generate wealth and employment from related career opportunities. We partner with cities like Boston, Detroit, and Phoenix to transform vacant lots, reduce heat in hard-hit neighborhoods, lower flood risks, and train youth in urban forestry careers. We also created an online tool called the Tree Equity Score, which helps city and state planners ensure that neighborhoods have enough trees in the places where they are most needed.
Advice
What advice would you give to companies looking to invest in reforestation as part of their ESG strategy?
Isabella Akker - Regardless of whether a company has an ESG strategy, it often makes good business sense for a company to invest in reforestation. We're seeing interest from companies across diverse industries, ranging from water and electric utilities to data center, textile, and beverage companies.
Some are investing in reforestation to ensure that they're able to maintain critical water supplies for their operations or for downstream users. Other companies want to make sure that certain types of ecosystems continue to thrive (such as forests with white oak for whisky barrels or black walnut for furniture). Still others value the reduced flood risk to their facilities, or view restored habitats as a potential source of future pharmaceutical and food ingredients. The key in all cases is to find a trusted partner that can plant the right trees in the most-needed places, while ensuring that those trees survive and thrive in a changing climate.
Prioritization
With climate change accelerating, how do you prioritize which forests or ecosystems to restore first?
Isabella Akker - We always focus on the ecosystems that are most degraded and therefore least likely to recover on their own. This can look like restoring lands around former mines, lands destroyed by severe wildfire or hurricanes, or areas that had been developed for agriculture but are no longer able to sustain it. Within that subset, we prioritize areas that would offer strong biodiversity, water, and other benefits if restored.
Inspiration
What inspired you to pursue a career in restoration finance, and what motivates you most in your role at American Forests?
Isabella Akker - As someone who loves hiking and exploring outdoors, the idea of leaving the earth better for future generations resonates deeply. I realized that the best way for me to contribute to habitat restoration professionally would be to apply my learnings from international development and clean energy to help channel private finance to restoration. These other sectors had to figure out how to finance projects and companies that others saw as risky, even if they were beneficial to society as a whole. We face a similar challenge with restoration and adaptation, but it's also an exciting opportunity for innovation.
Impactful Policy
What policy changes at the state or federal level would most accelerate forest restoration finance in the U.S.?
Isabella Akker - Here are a few ideas that could be effective at either state or federal levels, in the U.S. and beyond.
Long term, I believe that the most helpful policies would be those that help nature to be financed like infrastructure, especially by establishing contracted (and ideally regulated) income streams for the benefits from restoring or conserving forests, oyster banks, and other natural infrastructure. For example, if a water utility builds a dam or large water cisterns to collect water within its service territory, there is an established process for the utility to recoup those building costs from ratepayers. But if the water utility wants to pay to replant forests that are within its territory, there is no standard way for them to do so. Some utilities like Denver Water have been pioneering ways to do this even without a policy framework, because it still makes business sense: they save money on water filtration and have a more dependable water supply. You can argue that carbon markets are meant to do this exact thing; however, there are very few policies and geographies requiring polluters to pay for high-quality carbon credits, and as a result, carbon markets haven’t been sufficient to finance restoration at the scale needed in the U.S. (Our reforestation backlog on public and Tribal lands alone is about 17 million acres, and all reforestation carbon projects in the U.S. combined have not reached even close to a million acres.)
The second type of policy change would be to incentivize insurers to help reduce the climate risks they are underwriting: insurers can help cover losses after a climate event, but don't have easy ways to prevent or lessen vulnerability to climate shocks, and therefore can't capture the savings from investments to reduce vulnerability. Although it might sound radical, it wouldn't be that different from policies enabling electric utilities to capture savings from energy efficiency.
Finally, it would be great to see more diverse funding streams at the state level for public lands conservation and restoration, so that states and federal agencies could move away from solely extraction-based funding sources for forest conservation, management, and restoration. This can look like channeling funds from airport passenger fees, scenic road tolls, or parcel taxes.
Support
What’s the most effective way for everyday people to support American Forests’ mission?
Isabella Akker - If you love this nation's forests, we'd appreciate your donation, big or small, to keep our restoration projects going. You can also join a volunteer tree planting event at a city near you, and show love to our articles and videos.
Into the Future
Looking ahead to 2025, what critical challenges will the adaptation sector need to address?
Isabella Akker - Much like during the prior Trump administration, I see the next four years as an opportunity for more localized approaches to adaptation policy, led by states, municipalities, and the private sector. Many areas have increasingly relied on FEMA and state-backed insurers to recover after climate shocks like Hurricane Helene, but I don't think we can afford to rely solely on the generosity of these institutions anymore. We will need to start assuming that even "safe havens" face some level of risk, and need to start planning and adapting ahead of time. It will require political will, a lot of creativity, and courage, but I hope we are up for the challenge.
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