Financing forest health with our newest conservation partners

Just the gist

Short on time? Here’s what you need to know for this update:

• 🌲 Growing into the future with new forest resilience projects — Our project partner is expanding their conservation horizons nationally and internationally with a strategic five-year roadmap, starting strong with a brand new project in Washington, United States.
• 🏆 Strengthening reputation and gaining investments — As our project partner relies on conservation finance, a strong reputation is critical for obtaining funding. Let's celebrate their new certification, industry recognition, and recent $25 million investment.
• 🫶 Helping Indigenous communities access critical funding — A holistic approach to conservation can bridge the gap between Indigenous wisdom and conventional forestry practices. Our partner is committed to building meaningful relationships with land stewards in the regions where they work.
• 👋 Greetings from our project partner — Supporting projects like Forest resilience against wildfires encourages climate resilience for ecosystems and communities. Learn more in the welcome letter from our project partner's CEO.

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Growing into the future with new forest resilience projects

As climate change intensifies, the frequency and severity of wildfires have dramatically increased, threatening ecosystems that are crucial sources of water, carbon storage, and biodiversity.

Blue Forest, our partner for Forest resilience against wildfires, utilizes partnerships to protect over 160,000 acres in Tahoe National Forest, Rogue River-Siskiyou National Forest, and Eldorado National Forest through restoration and risk reduction initiatives.

Recently, Blue Forest published their five-year strategic plan to scale their efforts to reduce wildfire risk and protect ecosystems, with the following strategic pillars:

• Organizational capacity building
• Ecosystem restoration financing
• Science to advance ecosystem and community resilience
• Culture of empowerment

Blue Forest's primary metric for success is the number of Forest Resilience Bonds (FRBs) they secure between now and 2029. Each FRB represents a conservation finance agreement between beneficiaries of the conservation work—such as private landowners, utility companies, or state governments—and the implementation partner carrying out the on-the-ground conservation work. You can learn more here.

Blue Forest is already tracking well, having just launched the Upper Wenatchee I FRB in Washington, United States. Our partners are working with the Yakama Nation and Confederated Tribes of the Colville Reservation to restore 15,000 acres of aquatic area and protect 5,200 acres with forest management. Another FRB is expected to be signed by the end of September.

In addition to these confirmed projects, more than 25 initiatives are in various stages of exploration, design, and development across the Western United States and internationally in other countries such as Honduras and Peru.

Strengthening reputation and unlocking investments

As Blue Forest expands their partnership network nationally and internationally, solidifying their reputation will become an important lever for progressing relationships. Recently, Blue Forest obtained the COIN (California Organized Investment Network) certification and was named as a Laureate for the Keeling Curve Prize.

These achievements help to strengthen their position as leaders in sustainable conservation finance and increase their access to funding opportunities, such as the recent $25 million investment from California IBank into the California Wildfire Innovation Fund—managed by Blue Forest.

“Catastrophic wildfires are one of the most devastating manifestations of climate change in California,” said IBank Executive Director Scott Wu. “We are excited to announce this Climate Catalyst Fund commitment, providing the public investment needed to accelerate projects and promote innovation in wildfire threat reduction, while building key partnerships with private capital to promote the state’s goals.”

Helping Indigenous communities access critical funding

A crucial aspect of Blue Forest's strategic plan is their commitment to empowering Indigenous communities. They aim to support Native American tribes in implementing sustainable forest management practices by bridging the gap between conservation finance and Indigenous land stewardship. This will foster a more inclusive and effective approach to ecosystem protection and restoration.

Our project’s Indigenous partnerships manager, Saraya Hamidi, joined the Affiliated Tribes of Northwest Indians National Tribal Leaders Climate Change Summit in April this year to share her journey in the field through a discussion entitled “Empowering Tribal Youth in Climate Action.”

The following month, Blue Forest played a critical role in helping the Modoc Nation secure a $3.2 million grant for land acquisition and restoration in the Klamath Basin, an important area for ecological and cultural preservation. During this process, Blue Forest connected the community to a small grant for preparation and contributed a letter of support to the application.

The Native Cultures Fund also secured $10,000 for Blue Forest’s Indigenous science partner to fund traditional ecological knowledge workshops, crucial for educating and empowering Native and BIPOC youth.

These supportive and collaborative efforts are not only about conservation but also about creating lasting, inclusive practices that honor and elevate Tribal knowledge and leadership in forest and watershed restoration. Indigenous and local communities rely on forests for their livelihoods and cultural practices. Partnering with the original stewards of these lands is crucial for a resilient and equitable future.

Greetings from our project partner

Blue Forest is the project partner for Wren's newest conservation initiative, Forest resilience against wildfires, which restores and protects forests, watersheds, ecosystems, and communities in the Western United States. Here is a personal thank you from Blue Forest's CEO.

Dear Wren,

Greetings from Blue Forest CEO, Zach Knight.

We are thrilled to be included in The Wren Classic Portfolio, and to have your support for our work at Blue Forest. Blue Forest is a conservation finance non-profit founded in 2015 that is focused on advancing ecosystem restoration to reduce the risk of catastrophic wildfire through scientific research, financial innovation, and collaborative partnerships. Since 2018, Blue Forest has managed investor capital through its flagship financial product, the Forest Resilience Bond (FRB), which deploys private capital to finance forest restoration projects. More recently, Blue Forest established Blue Forest Asset Management (BFAM), an investment management platform connecting investors to compelling, mission-aligned opportunities in a broader set of asset classes beyond FRB projects. BFAM’s first investment strategy, the California Wildfire Innovation Fund (CWIF), provides flexible financing to companies and projects leading forest restoration and wildfire mitigation work across California.

Our FRB projects span the Western United States, and to date, have restored over 18,000 acres of forest, deployed over $13 million in capital for restoration projects, and protected over 60,000 acre-feet of water supply. FRB financing enables our implementation partners to access capital faster, at no cost, and to increase the pace and scale of landscape-scale restoration; and CWIF investments are supporting the development of a sustainable, community-based restoration economy.

Funding through the Wren Classic Portfolio leverages best in class science to ensure the development of projects with deep ecosystem benefits, as well as support our project development team to build and strengthen on-the-ground forest collaboratives and partnerships that expand and last beyond the direct impact of our FRBs. Funding through The Wren Classic Portfolio also supports our Tribal partnerships team to build meaningful relationships with Native Nations and Indigenous communities across the regions where we work, as well as our Finance team to ensure the development of robust and sustainable financial products.

On behalf of the Blue Forest team, we would like to express our sincere gratitude for your support, and look forward to continuing to enable climate resilience for ecosystems and communities.

Sincerely,
Zach Knight Blue Forest CEO

That's all for this update! As always, thank you for your support.
— the Wren team 🧡