The Coca-Cola Company, purveyor of one of the world’s most iconic brands and one of the South’s most deeply-rooted companies, has joined with Dogwood Alliance, Staples and other partners to take part in the Carbon Canopy project. Through this innovative new project, some of the largest companies in the US that purchase paper and other wood products from South’s forests are beginning to help finance forest protection and restoration on the ground in the region.

“Coca-Cola is actively working on greening its paper packaging, and wants to reduce its carbon footprint,” says Danna Smith, Dogwood Alliance’s executive director. “Because they’re headquartered right here the South and source a good bit of paper packaging from the region, joining the Carbon Canopy makes perfect sense. Through its participation in the Carbon Canopy, Coca-Cola, along with other corporate partners, is helping to fund Southern forest conservation on the front end while reducing carbon emissions on the back end.”

Conservation Forestry, a nationwide forestland investor with 270,000 acres in the Southern Appalachian and Cumberland Plateau region, also recently joined the Carbon Canopy.

“Conservation Forestry holds a large swath of land within the Carbon Canopy’s pilot project area,” says Smith. “Through their participation, along with the Forest Land Group, we now have two of the region’s largest forest landowners on board.”

“The more landowners who can supply the Carbon Canopy’s partners — from Domtar and Columbia Forest Products to Staples, Coca-Cola and The Home Depot — with products originating from forests where management practices are certified as meeting rigorous environmental standards, the better. This gives us the complete market chain, from forest to manufacturer to consumer, all committing to real and verified forest protection, restoration and conservation and supporting the Carbon Canopy project.”