Abstract
Corporate marketing departments use trees and forests for advertising and public relations (PR). Trees and forests constitute a tangible symbol of the environment, reinforced by the growing awareness of the role that trees play in preventing climate change. Although the carbon sequestration function of trees is valued in monetary terms, its derivative services to marketing, CSR or HR departments are not (‘greening the image’). We focus on voluntary carbon offsets and other tree-planting activities undertaken by companies, aiming to demonstrate that the value of these derivative services of trees should be considered in monetary terms. Based on a small survey and an analysis of financial data for 10 tree-planting projects in Poland, we estimate this value at USD 7.42 per tree. This value depends on external circumstances, such as the current interest in climate change and ways to prevent it.
Highlights
The value of forests is often perceived through the lens of goods and services that forests provide
We assume that managers are rational economic agents and, having an opportunity to invest in different projects, they make their decisions based on an expected return on investment (ROI) of all projects under consideration
Eight companies declared the intrinsic value of environmental protection as a reason for their tree-planting activities
Summary
The value of forests is often perceived through the lens of goods and services that forests provide (cf. [1,2]). Examples of goods include timber and non-timber forest products, such as mushroom, fruits and other edible plants, medicine, game animals and rubber Apart from these direct benefits, forests provide services such as carbon sequestration, water retention, erosion prevention, Sustainability 2011, 3 recreation opportunities etc. As trees constitute one of the most tangible symbols of nature, companies tend to present themselves as friendly toward trees (not harming trees, hugging trees)―expecting the addressees to make a connection: “a tree-friendly company must be a nature-friendly company” [21] The latter is exploited by PR, CSR and HR departments, getting involved in tree planting, either within voluntary carbon offsets or within tree-planting corporate events (e.g., [24,25,26,27]). Some companies take good care of their green surroundings, improving the visual attractiveness of their sites and adjacent areas
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