StarNewsOnline.com -- Apple Inc. has teamed up with a nonprofit
environmental group to purchase more than 3,600 acres of forest in
Brunswick County. The computer giant intends to harvest the timber in a
sustainable manner and use it in product packaging.
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Located near Winnabow in central Brunswick County, the land is
adjacent to the 16,176-acre Green Swamp Preserve that's managed by The
Nature Conservancy. The partnership, which
also purchased more than 32,000 acres in Maine's Reed Forest, is a part
of new initiative by Apple to assist in maintaining the nation's working
forests. Apple funded
the purchase of the land, which was acquired and will be managed by The
Conservation Fund. The company declined to disclose how much it paid for
the land. Located near
Winnabow in central Brunswick County, the land is adjacent to the
16,176-acre Green Swamp Preserve that's managed by The Nature
Conservancy. The close
proximity to the preserve is why the tract was selected out of a pool of
candidates, said Brian Dangler, the director of The Conversation Fund's
working forest fund. “The
land was chosen based on calculations from a production forestry
perspective and the conservation of important natural attributes, like
the Green Swamp Preserve,” he said. “It is very important from a
perspective of carnivorous plants because it produces a development
buffer, which will make sure the Green Swamp Preserve, which is a
national natural landmark, is protected.” Dangler said the land boasts a mix of loblolly pines and natural hardwoods. Apple
plans to harvest the pulp for use in the production of packaging for
its electronics products, including iPhones, iPads, iPods and Apple TVs.
Dangler said the first step
in the harvesting process will be the implementation of a comprehensive
forest management plan, which will take into account the historical and
natural characteristics of the area as well as the characteristics of
the soil and the age of the surrounding trees. “We are growing as much as or even more than we are harvesting,” he said. As
of now, there is no plan as to when trees will be harvested. When they
are, Dangler said the trees will be sent to local saw and paper mills –
all within trucking distance. Apple
has said the combined amount of paper fiber from the Brunswick and
Maine forests will be equivalent to nearly half of the virgin fiber that
went into producing all of the company's packaging in 2014. A
request for comment from Apple about the initiative was directed to a
op-ed piece posted Thursday to the publishing website Medium, written by
representatives from both Apple and The Conservation Fund. The post
called for other companies to follow Apple's lead in joining with the
environmental group to evaluate and reduce their “forest footprint.” “We
have a short window to get this right,” the post read. “If we don't
protect this crucial part of our ecosystem now, we may never be able to
put the pieces back together.” Dangler
said The Conservation Fund, which is based in Arlington, Va., operates
as a “nexus between business and the environment” and is committed to
protecting land and water nationwide along with economic development
interests.
