Chestnut Carbon and Funga Partner to Supercharge Forest Restoration and Carbon Capture

The climate crisis is bigger than any one solution could ever solve. That’s why collaboration isn’t just an option—it’s essential. In that spirit, we’re excited to announce Chestnut Carbon and Funga are joining forces to accelerate and amplify carbon storage in forests, creating a new model for partnership in the carbon removal space.

“Chestnut is blazing a new trail for forest regeneration within the US. Through this partnership Funga can accelerate Chestnut’s impact, while ensuring fungal biodiversity is at the forefront of this new model for forest restoration” — Colin Averill, Founder and CEO, Funga

About Chestnut Carbon

Chestnut Carbon develops nature-based carbon removal solutions that restore and conserve U.S. forests for the long-term. Using a proprietary, technology-enabled approach, Chestnut Carbon restores land parcels to vibrant forests populated with diverse, native tree species—maximizing the lands' ecological value. These new forests provide many environmental benefits, including enhanced regional water quality, improved air quality and support for wildlife populations. The company adheres closely to Forest Stewardship Council® (FSC) requirements for healthy and sustainable forest management and is the first U.S.-based project verified through FSC's Verified Impact program for Biodiversity Conservation.

Since its founding in 2022, Chestnut has planted over 17,000,000 trees on over 30,000 acres in the Southeastern U.S. as part of its afforestation project, as well as enrolled over 175,000 acres of privately-owned forestland in its improved forest management conservation program. Chestnut works with leading companies to offset emissions and achieve their carbon reduction goals.

About Funga

Funga reintroduces a healthy, biodiverse soil microbiome to tree seedlings, restoring the soil of forestlands degraded by past agricultural practices. By replenishing native soil microbes, Funga is reconnecting trees to vital underground fungal partners, which provide additional nutrients and resources. This not only improves forest growth and health but also substantially increases the amount of carbon the forest can store. Key partners have allowed Funga to scale its work quickly, including with PRT, North America’s largest supplier of forestry seedlings. This partnership ensures a reliable supply of high-quality trees and the infrastructure needed to inoculate seedlings at scale. To date, Funga has enrolled 28,000 acres in their enhanced sequestration carbon project, and the first credits have already been sold to Netflix.

How Our Partnership Works

Funga’s inoculations serve as a vital enhancement when establishing new forests, as Chestnut is doing. By planting seedlings with a healthy, restored microbiome, trees are enabled to grow to their full potential. This allows the ecosystem to regenerate sooner and accelerates the rate at which carbon is stored. Funga’s integration is especially crucial for degraded lands with overworked soil, which is exclusively where Chestnut operates its afforestation projects.

This upcoming pine planting season, Chestnut will plant over 300,000 Funga-inoculated trees across their project sites in the Southeast. These seedlings will already harbor a healthy, biodiverse microbiome, which will be an invaluable advantage on land that has been degraded by agriculture. By integrating Funga's innovative soil restoration with Chestnut's holistic forest restoration, we’re creating a more powerful, synergistic approach to ecosystem renewal. This project is just the beginning, and we look forward to scaling our combined efforts to restore even more land in future planting seasons.

“Funga has proven to be an exceptional partner in Chestnut’s mission to restore native, biodiverse forests. Their innovative focus on rebuilding the soil microbiome aligns seamlessly with our ecological goals, resulting in enhanced tree growth and increased carbon sequestration” — Sarah Ford, Chief Forestry Officer, Chestnut Carbon

The Future is Collaborative

This collaboration demonstrates that climate solutions don't have to compete; they can instead amplify one another. By combining Chestnut’s expansive afforestation strategy with Funga’s growth-amplifying soil restoration, we hope this partnership will serve as an exciting example of what nature-based solutions can achieve. Together, we are maximizing our positive environmental impact by capturing more carbon and creating healthier, more vibrant forests.