Apple to Invest in Mangrove Forest Restoration Project in Colombia

[MacRumors]

Apple has announced it will invest in a mangrove tree restoration project for a 27,000-acre forest in Colombia, as part of a broader effort by the company to achieve carbon neutrality (via Fast Company).

Apple VP of environment, policy, and social initiatives Lisa Jackson gave details of the investment at the Global Climate Action Summit in San Francisco, but stopped short of disclosing how much cash Apple intends to earmark for the project, which is being undertaken in partnership with the non-profit Conservation International.

Image via Fast Company​

"These forests are critical because they're one of nature's most important tools in the battle against climate change - they can absorb and store up to ten times more carbon than a terrestrial forest," Jackson told the audience.

The project will involve tree-planting in degraded areas of the Colombian forest and tree preservation, which should help capture an estimated one million metric tons of CO2 emissions over its lifetime. Projections over the first two years indicate 17,000 metric tons in reduced emissions.

That's the same amount of emissions generated by the cars that will update Apple Maps over the next decade, making the program carbon neutral for the company, notes Fast Company.

According to M. Sanjayan, CEO of Conservation International, mangrove trees are excellent absorbers of carbon and are able to store carbon dioxide in their leaves and branches, as well as siphon off the gas into surrounding soil and sediment through vast underwater root systems.

Mangrove trees "have the densest carbon storage of any habitat on Earth," said Sanjayan. "If you want to actually change the thermostat of the world in your lifetime, then ending the destruction of mangroves and restoring them is one of the biggest things you can do."

Conservation International has calculated how much "blue carbon" the trees sequester underwater, which will allow the project to quantify the trees' ability to act as "carbon sponges".

"By investing, [Apple] opened the door for others to also think about blue carbon as a viable way to sequester carbon and reduce emissions globally," said Sanjayan.

Back in 2015, Apple partnered with the Conservation Fund to acquire over 36,000 acres of working forest in Maine and California, ensuring the maintenance of the forests and preserving the supply of raw materials for paper. Later that year, Apple committed to protecting one million acres of forest in China.

Underlining its environmental commitments, Apple announced in April that its global facilities, including retail stores, offices, data centers, and more, are powered with 100 percent clean energy.

Article Link: Apple to Invest in Mangrove Forest Restoration Project in Colombia

 

[bugout]

You spelled Colombia wrong.

 

[brinary001]

Colombia*

 

[designbooth]

You spelled Colombia wrong.

All the way through too!

 

[timmyh]

You spelled Colombia wrong.

Argh. I'll never learn.

Thanks, corrected.

 

[tennisproha]

Go Apple! This looks like a thoughtful initiative so I’m thankful to Apple for doing it. However, we have a lot more to do to limit climate change and not enough time left to do it. Please pressure your politicians to act.

 

[Mr. Retrofire]

The truth about Conservation International:
http://www.wrongkindofgreen.org/category/organizations/conservation-international/

Thanks MR for this greenwash article!

 

[RightMACatU]

Best Apple news I've heard in months as it doesn't speak of profit, greed and any type of capitalism XS, pun intended

 

[beanbaguk]

Really great news. Colombia is my second home (my mother being Colombian helps), so I'm genuinely very thankful to Apple for this. Nice news to end the week

 

[AlexGraphicD]

Go Apple! This looks like a thoughtful initiative so I’m thankful to Apple for doing it. However, we have a lot more to do to limit climate change and not enough time left to do it. Please pressure your politicians to act.

Climate change is being used a distraction from the real issue that is the pollution of land, water and air from industrial waste, human activities, dead zones in the oceans, deforestation etc.

Livestock is responsible for the biggest contributions to toxic emissions and degradation of land but the supposedly “caring-sensitive” likes of Tim Cook and progressive politicians cry about climate change and are capitalizing and profiting on speeches about climate change, but few of them would be willing to go full plant based diet or do jntitatoves against meat industry. What a joke.

By 2050, the oceans could have more plastic than fish. A garbage patch off the coast of Hawaii. By 2050, plastic in the oceans will outweigh fish, predicts a report from the Ellen MacArthur Foundation, in partnership with the World Economic Forum.
Here are some stats that back my statement above.

https://www.pressconnects.com/story...riculture-dairy-farms-clean-water/1031631002/

“Animal agriculture is responsible for 18 percent of greenhouse gas emissions, more than the combined exhaust from all transportation. ”
http://www.fao.org/docrep/010/a0701e/a0701e00.HTM

“Livestock and their byproducts account for at least 32,000 million tons of carbon dioxide (CO2) per year, or 51% of all worldwide greenhouse gas emissions. Goodland, R Anhang, J. “Livestock and Climate Change: What if the key actors in climate change were pigs, chickens and cows?”

https://gelr.org/2015/10/23/a-leadi...ve-on-it-georgetown-environmental-law-review/
«
Livestock is responsible for 65% of all human-related emissions of nitrous oxide – a greenhouse gas with 296 times the global warming potential of carbon dioxide, and which stays in the atmosphere for 150 years.»

https://www.eia.gov/environment/emissions/ghg_report/ghg_nitrous.cfm

«Emissions for agriculture projected to increase 80% by 2050.»
http://academic.regis.edu/MFRANCO/Seminar in Biology research Literature/Papers/GobalDiets.pdf

For more stats
http://www.cowspiracy.com/facts/

 

[Mascots]

The truth about Conservation International:
http://www.wrongkindofgreen.org/category/organizations/conservation-international/

Thanks MR for this greenwash article!

Your beef is that Exxon donated to them as well? Or that companies that donate to them aren't obligated to curb their emissions?

I honestly don't see how any investment back into Earth isn't a positive for it - whether through credit or by reduced emissions - given the amount of damage happening to it at any given moment.

We need rapid change, soon. We've got to start somewhere and if money from those who are doing the damage can be used to help work against it in any capacity, that means one less dollar for them to use to hurt the earth, too.

 

[unobtainium]

Climate change is being used a distraction

Please don’t be ignorant.

Nobody is claiming climate change is the only environmental crisis facing our planet, but if rapid climate change occurs, it will compound all the issues you mention and render them moot. It’s true that the biosphere is currently under an enormous amount of stress, but rapid climate change will make it impossible for already stressed ecosystems to adapt or adjust.

 

[H3LL5P4WN]

Please don’t be ignorant.

Nobody is claiming climate change is the only environmental crisis facing our planet, but if rapid climate change occurs, it will compound all the issues you mention and render them moot. It’s true that the biosphere is currently under an enormous amount of stress, but rapid climate change will make it impossible for already stressed ecosystems to adapt or adjust.

You beat me to it.

Back to the original article, it's projects like this and the fact that Apple set aside time in the presentation to highlight the steps they're taking and the progress they've made, that make me happy to support them.

 

[5105973]

Apple has absolutely nothing to do with livestock. They’re just trying to mitigate the damage done by their mapping project. Which is more than most companies are doing. And I think they chose a clever way to do so.

 

[mrow]

Climate change is being used a distraction from the real issue that is the pollution of land, water and air from industrial waste, human activities, dead zones in the oceans, deforestation etc.

Livestock is responsible for the biggest contributions to toxic emissions and degradation of land but the supposedly “caring-sensitive” likes of Tim Cook and progressive politicians cry about climate change and are capitalizing and profiting on speeches about climate change, but few of them would be willing to go full plant based diet or do jntitatoves against meat industry. What a joke.

By 2050, the oceans could have more plastic than fish. A garbage patch off the coast of Hawaii. By 2050, plastic in the oceans will outweigh fish, predicts a report from the Ellen MacArthur Foundation, in partnership with the World Economic Forum.
Here are some stats that back my statement above.

https://www.pressconnects.com/story...riculture-dairy-farms-clean-water/1031631002/

“Animal agriculture is responsible for 18 percent of greenhouse gas emissions, more than the combined exhaust from all transportation. ”
http://www.fao.org/docrep/010/a0701e/a0701e00.HTM

“Livestock and their byproducts account for at least 32,000 million tons of carbon dioxide (CO2) per year, or 51% of all worldwide greenhouse gas emissions. Goodland, R Anhang, J. “Livestock and Climate Change: What if the key actors in climate change were pigs, chickens and cows?”

https://gelr.org/2015/10/23/a-leadi...ve-on-it-georgetown-environmental-law-review/
«
Livestock is responsible for 65% of all human-related emissions of nitrous oxide – a greenhouse gas with 296 times the global warming potential of carbon dioxide, and which stays in the atmosphere for 150 years.»

https://www.eia.gov/environment/emissions/ghg_report/ghg_nitrous.cfm

«Emissions for agriculture projected to increase 80% by 2050.»
http://academic.regis.edu/MFRANCO/Seminar in Biology research Literature/Papers/GobalDiets.pdf

For more stats
http://www.cowspiracy.com/facts/

For a lot of people, switching to a plant based diet is a very big change and not something done easily. People with a non plant based diet can still do a part to help though. My wife and I recently started eating one vegan meal a week. If everyone made that change of eating just one vegan meal a week it could make a huge difference.

 

[radiology]

The cartels thank Apple for that!

 

[supercoolmanchu]

More eco distractions for the company that’s having trouble focusing on its own announced products.

Hint to Tim Cook: Maybe you should have hired more Mac hardware engineers before the ecology and political mystics?

FYI to Tim Cook: I’m wearing my Apple Watch to throw all my recylcables in the regular trash, and the regular trash in the recycling. Feels great and does wonders after with the Breathe app.

In protest we should all pledge to hinder the green movement, until Apple patches the gaping holes in the Mac product line. It’s time to set our tuna nets to 11 and clear cut our way back to real desktop computers.

That Apple Leadership page is also starting to get that middle age spread. Time to put the company on a diet and get rid of the extra fat the executive layer has gained in the last couple years.

 

[AlexGraphicD]

Please don’t be ignorant.

Nobody is claiming climate change is the only environmental crisis facing our planet, but if rapid climate change occurs, it will compound all the issues you mention and render them moot. It’s true that the biosphere is currently under an enormous amount of stress, but rapid climate change will make it impossible for already stressed ecosystems to adapt or adjust.

Say what? All that politicians, mainstream media and world organizations keep mentioning is solely the empty word “Climate Change”. How will it compound all the issues I mention and render them moot exactly, if it happens?
For God’s sake we are witnessing extreme cold days around the world during hot periods I don’t have to post links for that.

Why not focus and change our wasteful and damaging ways of polluting the environment with toxic waste?? Pollution is affecting the present and our future right here right now and is very serious. I don’t understand why we focus on climate change instead of the real present pollution.

For a lot of people, switching to a plant based diet is a very big change and not something done easily. People with a non plant based diet can still do a part to help though. My wife and I recently started eating one vegan meal a week. If everyone made that change of eating just one vegan meal a week it could make a huge difference.

Actually it is more easier than ever. Plant based burgers, pizzas and sausages are almost indistinguishable from the real thing in looks and taste and the market is abundant from these alternative meat products.
One vegan meal a week is good, but ultimately going full vegan is benefiting not only the environment but your health too.

 

[5105973]

I live in an agricultural reserve. Growing crops is bad for the environment, too. Agricultural runoff is causing unhealthy conditions for our oceans and other bodies of water.

I have tried going to a vegetarian diet because I love animals and have been involved in animal rescue for over 20 years. I got sick as heck because I already have many dietary restrictions from autoimmune disease. And the soy in the meat substitutes was aggravating a seizure disorder. Heck there were things like oxalates in too many vegetables and gluten in grains that were causing me issues.

It would be lovely if vegans would stop assuming that what works for them can be applied to everyone and even nicer if they would stop getting in my face about it. Not that you are, but I know people in my life who do.

The best I can do is cut down meat consumption. That leaves me very little I can eat. Perhaps if industry stopped overloading fish with toxins I could make a go of it as a pescatarian, but we aren’t there yet.

I can’t go vegan, but I do pick up trash when I go out on my walks. I clean up quite an impressive amount and see interesting things while I’m at it. It’s a good feeling knowing at least what I picked up won’t end up in the storm water system and go out to sea.

 

[unobtainium]

How will it compound all the issues I mention and render them moot exactly

After an ice age, plants and animals and ecosystems have to move and shift as the climate warms. They generally have to move great distances to adapt. It’s very disruptive and many species go extinct during the “rapid” warming phase after an ice age, which occurs over hundreds of thousands of years. Our current rate of warming is about 10x faster than after an ice age. I say those other issues are “moot” because, if this isn’t stopped, a massive percentage of species will simply go extinct. They can’t adapt that quickly, especially when our ecosystems are already so fragmented and depleted.

By the way, for anyone who’s interested in these sorts of things — there’s a non-zero chance that rapid climate change caused by industrialization is the “great filter” that accounts for the Fermi paradox. We should be doing much, much more.

 

[CarlJ]

More eco distractions for the company that’s having trouble focusing on its own announced products.

Or you could, you know, just skip over the articles that aren't on topics that interest you. You are going out of your way to read a site that dedicated to reporting every story they can find about Apple.

FYI to Tim Cook: I’m wearing my Apple Watch to throw all my recylcables in the regular trash, and the regular trash in the recycling. Feels great and does wonders after with the Breathe app.

In protest we should all pledge to hinder the green movement, until Apple patches the gaping holes in the Mac product line. It’s time to set our tuna nets to 11 and clear cut our way back to real desktop computers.

Please stop actively trying to be a horrible person. You look awfully petulant and childish throwing your toys out of the pram. Not everything in the world is about whether your phone/computer has this button or that button. Apple is focused on making good products. As a minuscule side project they're doing a tiny bit to help the planet. Stop trying to hold the planet hostage until you get your new shiny toy.

 

[timborama]

If Apple would build their products to last longer that would have a greater net benefit to the environment than any of these “so called” green initiatives.

 

[CarlJ]

They’re just trying to mitigate the damage done by their mapping project.

What damage? Please explain.

 

[mrow]

Say what? All that politicians, mainstream media and world organizations keep mentioning is solely the empty word “Climate Change”. How will it compound all the issues I mention and render them moot exactly, if it happens?
For God’s sake we are witnessing extreme cold days around the world during hot periods I don’t have to post links for that.

Why not focus and change our wasteful and damaging ways of polluting the environment with toxic waste?? Pollution is affecting the present and our future right here right now and is very serious. I don’t understand why we focus on climate change instead of the real present pollution.



Actually it is more easier than ever. Plant based burgers, pizzas and sausages are almost indistinguishable from the real thing in looks and taste and the market is abundant from these alternative meat products.
One vegan meal a week is good, but ultimately going full vegan is benefiting not only the environment but your health too.

Absolutely. This week we had Beyond Meat burgers with Daiya cheddar and you honestly couldn’t tell any difference. I agree full vegan would be better but you can’t expect Joe Sixpack in Ohio who has been eating steaks twice a week his whole life to make a complete switch the plant based over night. My wife and I are lucky in that we live in NYC where there are lots of world class vegan options for restaurants as well as grocery stores that carry a wide variety of groceries.

Our issue is most of the meat we consume is seafood and there is no substitute that comes close to a good piece of salmon or shrimp, for instance.

 

[5105973]

What damage? Please explain.

It’s in the article. They say they want to cancel out the carbon damage from the mapping. Or do I thought when I read it this morning with the preorder “hangover”. Groggy.