Mast Reforestation
Burying carbon to restore forests
I don’t know if it’s just me but a large chunk of my schooling seemed to be dedicated to terrifying me and my fellow pupils about multiple climate emergencies. Whether it was the hole in the Ozone layer, littering, CO2 or deforestation, I remember many lessons and projects dedicated to the cause. Particularly deforestation - there was some stat about an area the size of a football pitch being cut down in the Amazon Rainforest every day or week or something (forgive me but I left school in 2002).
One thing they don’t tell you in school (and something that spurred me to write this newsletter) is that there are people and companies working on adding trees, not just cutting them down. Which brings me on to Mast Reforestation.
What do they do?
Mast is basically 3 companies in one, building a vertically integrated reforestation behemoth. The first part is Silvaseed, a 130 year old seed nursery which is the largest seed supplier in the Western US (can’t reforest without seeds). Part two is Cal Forest Nurseries which supplies the majority of trees for California’s reforestation and the final part is Mast Reforestation’s biomass burial and reforestation operations. Mast’s work originally began as DroneSeed, which involved aerial seeding using drones. Today, Mast’s operations are centered on traditional reforestation practices, financed through its innovations in biomass burial carbon removal projects..
Check out Droneseed here being used by Mr Beast amongst others to help plant 20 millions trees:
Mast focuses on restoring forest that has been damaged by fire. Quick sidenote here - it’s not just hot, dry countries where wildfires are an issue. The area burned by wildfires in the UK is already at an annual record.
When a forest has burned (something we’re sadly seeing more and more of lately), the biggest problems for the landowner is actually disposing of the dead, burned trees. Without intervention, these dead trees are most often burned to reduce future fire risks or left to decompose (releasing carbon over time). Mast buries the trees underground in an oxygen-less tomb (think The Mummy but without the curse), removing that carbon from the atmospheric cycle.
Because these trees will not decay for at least 100 years (Mast has sensors that keep check and has endowed a foundation to make repairs if any are needed), Mast generates carbon credits, which they can then sell to fund reforestation. This represents a completely new approach to financing reforestation. This is also a big opportunity for carbon buyers who need carbon removal credits today, who want to support the restoration of ecosystems lost to wildfire, and who no longer have to wait for the forest to grow enough to generate credits.
Here’s a genuinely heartwarming video about the work that Mast did to reforest an area in Montana.
OK, OK, Planting more trees - I get it. But what’s the actual process and how do they make money?
With the reforestation efforts, Mast amasses copious carbon credits. Companies buy those credits to offset their carbon emissions and Mast will take a margin. If you run a large company you can go to Mast’s website and choose between numerous projects that are up and running already and see how much Co2 is being sequestered.
OK amazing, and what about if I’m the landowner?
Why I’m so glad you asked. I have this perfectly comprehensible and not at all slightly complex graphic to show you. Cutting to the chase, Mast not only helps landowners who’ve been devastated by wildfires rebuild their forest, they also help them get paid. What fucking legends!
OK so who’s the person that is reforesting the world?
CEO & Founder Grant Canary and I do love nominative determinism but not sure I can get there on Canary = birds = nature = trees. It’s a maaaaaybe at best. Anyway, this is not a new pursuit for Grant. If you want anybody rebuilding your forests, it is this guy. His first ever job was selling renewable energy solutions in 2004! Do you know how expensive solar was in 2004?!? And then in 2006 he was pitching carbon sequestration projects to JP Morgan. 2006 - During Dubya’s presidency. Do you have any idea how long ago that is in our current hyper-sped up ‘years happen in weeks’ timeline?
Don’t just take my word for it - some of the smartest investors in the world are betting on Grant and Mast. They’ve raised over $130m in capital from top tier investors and climate specialists like 776, Calm Ventures, Social Capital and Climate Capital.
In the words of Grant himself, they are speeding up the reforestation of our planet: “It would take three to five years to do a reforestation project. We can get this done in six to 12 months.”
Amazing! How can I get involved?
Careers at Mast - https://www.mastreforest.com/careers
Want to buy some trees/seeds - https://www.mastreforest.com/buy#purchase
Help your company remove carbon - https://www.mastreforest.com/contact
Follow on X - https://x.com/mastreforest