Link Logistics, the Blackstone company that owns more warehouses and logistics centers than any other in the U.S., has committed nearly $4.8 million to help conserve more than 200,000 acres of forests.
New York City-based Link pledged the money late last month to the American Forest Foundation, or AFF, and The Nature Conservancy, or TNC, to support family landowners through the Family Forest Carbon Program.
Link, which owns, has interests in, or has under development 554 million square feet of logistics space, is the first real estate company to participate in the program that promotes sustainable forest management and works to prevent deforestation and development of forest lands, Link said.
The financial commitment is expected to enable the creation of carbon removal offsets to support forest conservation projects designed to remove carbon from the environment through the FFCP, Link said.
TNC and AFF plan to use the funds to provide resources to family landowners who would be expected to help implement improved management practices on more than 200,000 acres of forests.
"Really excited about this," Link CEO Luke Petherbridge said in a LinkedIn post. "We are working with the American Forest Foundation and The Nature Conservancy to empower family forest owners, invest in carbon offsets and combat climate change."
The program would offset approximately 250,000 tons of greenhouse gases over a five-year period and create a source of income for families who participate in it, Link said.