The American Forest Foundation said on Wednesday that Netflix has signed a 15-year agreement to buy verified carbon credits from its Fields & Forests project, a U.S. program that helps family landowners convert idle fields into forests.
Netflix Backs Afforestation Effort
The streaming giant’s investment will support the launch of the first 6,000 acres of the Fields & Forests initiative and fund its expansion across the U.S. South, AFF said.
The project is designed to provide rural landowners with additional revenue streams while advancing reforestation efforts to mitigate climate change.
“Netflix’s partnership shows what’s possible when business and nature come together,” John Ringer, senior director of project finance and environmental markets at AFF, said in a statement.
Financing Through Prepayments
Netflix provided early-stage capital through milestone prepayments, a model that ties upfront financing to specific targets, such as the number of acres enrolled.
This approach, AFF said, helps the project deliver technical resources and financial support to landowners who might otherwise be excluded from the voluntary carbon market because of high entry costs.
Under the program, AFF covers site preparation, tree planting and long-term technical assistance. Landowners also receive annual payments through 30-year contracts.
Growth Targets
So far, F&F has enrolled 2,500 acres of family-owned land, planting 1.4 million trees and committing $2 million in direct payments to landowners.
AFF aims to expand to 75,000 acres by 2032, generating an estimated 4.8 million carbon credits.
One Georgia landowner, Alisha Logue, said the project enabled her to preserve her family’s legacy. “This land is my only connection to my grandma. And I want it to provide for my daughter as she grows up,” she said in the AFF statement.
