Our Science
We know that clearcuts degrade soil biodiversity, which impacts forest health.
When the soil microbiome is depleted, with fewer and fewer key fungal species in a given area, forest health can suffer.
Researchers have long known that the soil microbiome has an effect on overall forest health, and that a depleted microbiome slows forest regeneration.
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Peer reviewed research shows us that:
Rewilding soil microbiology accelerates forest regeneration, leading to faster growth and additional carbon sequestration.
When native, biodiverse communities of fungal microbes are reintroduced to the forest soil, forest health improves and growth can accelerate.
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There is no substitute for whole-microbiome restoration.
Single-species and low diversity inoculants have been on the market since the 1980s, and these “one size fits all” products have been proven ineffective many times. Funga leans into whole-soil-community restoration, first implemented using soil transplants—taking soil from an intact forest and using that soil as an inoculant when planting new trees. While we’ve modified this approach for scale, the core strategy of using wild communities of hundreds of microbial species remains the same. Our approach embraces the need for biodiverse communities that are tailored to the regions we work in.
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Which is why we’re restoring forest soil biodiversity.
We do this through:
Large scale bioprospecting (Collect data).
We visit hundreds of forests to collect soil samples and forest health information. We then sequence the DNA extracted from the soil samples to learn which microbes are present within each forest. Finally, we bring in additional information on climate, soils and other environmental factors that affect tree growth rates. Using machine learning we can combine all of this information, allowing us to identify native microbial communities that are strongly correlated with healthier, faster growing forests.
Test, and test again.
Once we’ve identified these promising fungal communities, we test them. We source microbial communities from forests identified by our data platform and inoculate seedlings within our experimental greenhouse. Inoculants that produce positive greenhouse results here advance to field trials, where they can be tested under real-world conditions. Inoculants that prove to have positive outcomes in the field are then used in our large-scale restoration projects.
Bring to scale.
Once we’ve thoroughly vetted our inoculants, we inoculate seedlings on a large scale (millions and millions!) within commercial tree nurseries. We do not use the same inoculant throughout. We’ve analyzed the geographic and environmental conditions of the intended destination for these seedlings, and we’ve matched inoculants to them accordingly.
Monitor over time.
We monitor our trials and restoration projects on an annual basis, comparing forest health outcomes in both inoculated areas and uninoculated control areas. This information is then fed back into our data platform to continue honing the accuracy of our inoculant/land pairings.
Restoring forest soils can accelerate tree growth, leading to more carbon stored in those forests.
All of our experiments and large scale projects are set up with experimental controls. Areas of uninoculated seedlings are also planted so we can compare performance of inoculated and business as usual scenarios. This is similar to how drug trials are run, regarded with a high degree of efficacy.
Wood volume is correlated with carbon storage. If we create 30% more wood, that is 30% more carbon stored.
Of that additional wood, approximately 40% will be stored as long-lived wood products, keeping carbon locked away for an average of 100 years. This is because Funga targets forests that are managed for “saw-log” timber. Trees that are grown to large enough size to become long-lived durable wood products (think boards and housing).
All of our carbon accounting is done using Verra’s VM0045 Improved Forest Management protocol. Before carbon credits are issued, all of our measurements are checked by 3rd party auditors, vetted and approved by Verra. Verra is one of the leading forest carbon credit registries.
Funga is a Member of:
