TreeFolks’ Central Texas Floodplain Reforestation Program is an expansion of the Travis County Floodplain Reforestation Program pilot, now serving the six counties of Travis, Bastrop, Williamson, Caldwell, Hays, and Burnet. This program is a partnership between TreeFolks, the City of Austin Office of Sustainability, City of Austin Watershed Protection Department, Texas Parks and Wildlife and the Guadalupe-Blanco River Trust. The program, operated by TreeFolks, restores healthy forest buffers of local rivers and streams across Central Texas, to improve air and water quality, promote regional cooling, mitigate floodwaters and create wildlife habitat.

Through this project, TreeFolks planted 59,907 trees between November 2021 and February 2022 on 40.15 acres within 16 public and privately owned properties. Carbon+ Credits generated from this project will be sold to local businesses and the City of Austin to help meet the city’s carbon neutrality goals. Using funds allocated for carbon offsets to purchase local credits from these riparian plantings keeps the City of Austin’s investments localized while addressing global climate change.

Check out the 2019 and 2021 project pages for the Travis County Reforestation Program pages for additional information.

Total Credits Issued: 407

• 2022: 407 credits

Total Credits Sold: 407

• 2023: 407 credits

Total Credits Retired: 407

• 2023: 407 credits

Total Credits Cancelled: 0

Total Credits Available for Purchase: 0

Co-Benefits

Trees planted as part of this project will provide ecosystem services, also known as co-benefits, when they reach 25 years old. The co-benefits represent a savings (avoided costs) of $18,020.20 per year when the trees reach age 25, and $450,505 over the next 25 to 50 years.

• Rain interception (stormwater management) – 4,448.5 m3/year, $11,635.48 per year
• Air quality – 1.0371 tons/year, $2,513.54 per year
• Energy use – cooling (electricity) – 47,551 kWh/year, $3,609.12 per year
• Energy use – heating (natural gas) – 25,220 kBtu/year, $262.05 per year

Social Impacts

The 17 United Nations Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs) are an urgent call for action and global partnership among all countries, representing key benchmarks for creating a better world and environment for everyone. Well-designed and managed urban forests make significant contributions to the environmental sustainability, economic viability and livability of cities.

The main SDGs for this project are described below, with more detailed information in the Project Design Document.

The Central Texas Floodplain Reforestation Project plants forest buffers along degraded creeks, streams and rivers on public and private land to enhance regional cooling, sequester CO2, mitigate flooding effects from storm water runoff, improve infiltration rates, improve air and water quality, and create critical wildlife habitat. The new trees will provide shade along waterways that are currently lacking tree canopy, and rebalance the ecosystem.

TreeFolks selects native trees appropriate to the Central Texas climate zone and creates detailed planting plans for each specific site, according to their eco-region and further differentiates planting areas by upland and wetland areas to ensure trees are planted in their appropriate zones. This not only helps ensure the survival of the trees, but also takes into account the warming climate.

Planting native trees, along with encouraging landowners to plant native grasses and wildflower mixes, contribute to improving soil health on floodplain properties. Livestock must be fenced out of planting areas, which reduces soil compaction and allows vegetation to recover. Wildflowers and trees contribute food resources for pollinators and restores wildlife corridors along and within creeks and streams.