Apple has announced the launch of a new sustainable forest management project, investing in the restoration and protection of thousands of acres of coastal redwood forest in California. This initiative focuses on the long-term restoration and sustainable management of the Gualala River Forest in Mendocino County, a significant area of coastal redwood forestland that supports numerous wildlife species and economically benefits communities across California’s northern coast.
The project is being launched in collaboration with the U.S.-based nonprofit, The Conservation Fund, which acquires at-risk forests and other landscapes to protect them from degradation. Under this partnership, The Conservation Fund will continue sustainably managing the forest, and Apple will obtain the carbon credits generated by the forest’s growth over time.
This forest project is part of Apple’s Restore Fund initiative. Established in 2021 by Apple, alongside Conservation International and Goldman Sachs, the Restore Fund was created to encourage investment in ecosystem protection and restoration, as well as to scale natural carbon removal solutions. The initiative was expanded in 2023 with a $200 million fund managed by Climate Asset Management, aimed at supporting carbon removal projects, and further extended in 2025 with direct investments from Apple in nature-based projects in the U.S. and Latin America, with contributions from Apple suppliers TSMC and Murata. To date, Apple has invested in two dozen conservation and regenerative agriculture projects across six continents through the Restore Fund.
According to Apple, these investments are part of the company’s ambition to achieve carbon neutrality across its footprint by 2030. This includes a target to reduce global emissions by 75% from 2015 levels and to utilise credits from high-quality carbon removal projects, prioritising nature-based solutions, to offset remaining emissions. Apple has already surpassed a 60% emissions reduction on its path to the 2030 goal, with the company and its suppliers aiming to remove 9.6 million metric tons of carbon from the atmosphere annually through carbon removal projects by 2030.
Lisa Jackson, Apple’s Vice President of Environment, Policy, and Social Initiatives, stated, “Forests are one of the most powerful technologies we have for removing carbon from the atmosphere. Our global investments in nature are leveraging that technology while supporting communities, stimulating local economies, and enhancing biodiversity in ecosystems around the world.”
