Enviva Holdings, LP (Enviva), the world’s largest producer of industrial wood pellets has published its 2021 Implementation Plans, a detailed proposal of goals and initiatives designed to continue to deliver on the company’s commitment to responsible and sustainable wood sourcing.
Enviva operates pursuant to its global Responsible Sourcing Policy (RSP) – its standing environmental pledge that ensures the company’s wood is sourced according to its strict environmental standards.
Consistent with previous years, the 2021 Implementation Plans define its set of measurable goals for this year in three sections: sustainable forestry standards, verification and transparency, and conservation leadership across the US Southeast, where the company owns and operates wood pellet production plants.
The pellets are exported to the UK, mainland Europe, and Japan, enabling power utilities to replace coal with renewable fuel and to reduce their lifecycle carbon footprint by more than 85 percent.
In 2020, Enviva partnered with GoChain to conduct a pilot program designed to enhance the traceability of its pellets using blockchain technology.
Given the pilot’s success, this year Enviva will continue to work with GoChain and other partners to develop a technology solution that integrates with Enviva’s existing systems and processes.
Promote wildlife and Longleaf Pine
In 2020, Enviva also made tangible commitments to forest protection and restoration of sensitive ecosystems via partnerships with conservation organizations such as The Longleaf Alliance and the Forests Stewards Guild.
As part of its work with The Forest Stewards Guild to promote wildlife-oriented forestry in bottomland hardwood forests, Enviva plans to assist landowners in coastal North and South Carolina to undertake bottomland hardwood restoration in their forests, with the goal of certifying their forestland and writing sustainable forest management (SFM) plans for them in the process.
The Forest Stewards Guild – a national organization focused on forestry education, training, policy analysis, research, and advocacy – has been working with Enviva on helping to ensure sustainable bottomland sourcing since 2016, and has been instrumental in providing constructive input on how the company can continue to improve its sourcing from these sensitive forests.
Enviva will continue to strengthen its existing partnership with The Longleaf Alliance to actively seek longleaf restoration through its wood sourcing on private and public lands across the US Southeast.
In 2021, one of the goals of the partnership is to restore 3 500 acres of longleaf pine through restoration-oriented sourcing. Longleaf forests are one of the most important and biologically diverse ecosystems in the US Southeast, and because many such forests need thinning, appropriate biomass removals are a critical step in the longleaf restoration process and for wildlife habitat improvement.
Expand HCV protection
When Enviva launched its enhanced RSP over two years ago, it committed to expanding high conservation value (HCV) protections through the HCV Resource Network approach – a unique three-step methodology that helps protect HCVs, often referenced as a tool for achieving several UN Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs).
To its knowledge, Enviva is the only wood product consumer company in the US Southeast that implements the approach for all of its primary feedstock.
Last year, Enviva laid the groundwork to support the HCV process expansion and is now ready to implement it. The expanded HCV program includes inspecting tracts for imperiled species and ecological communities.
If the occurrence of an imperiled species or ecological community is found, Enviva will work with the landowner and supplier to implement management and harvest practices that are consistent with the conservation of the element occurrence.
As per its HCV policy, the company will only source from such tracts if an agreement is reached to help conserve the element occurrence.
