Haíɫzaqv territory. Photo by Emilee Gilpin

Funding is available in coastal communities for carbon management

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Funding is available for community members interested in a flexible UBC online Forest Carbon Management program.

While carbon is a part of our everyday lives and carbon projects are becoming increasingly commonplace in the natural resources sector, it remains a mystery to many. What is forest carbon? How is it stored, transformed, measured, monitored and sold in a growing market?

The online micro-certificate Forest Carbon Management (FCM) offered by UBC will teach students about carbon accounting, carbon data, carbon projects and the carbon market.

Dustin Edgars from Masset, Haida Gwaii, and Dave Gummeson of Bailey Environmental Consulting fix a test tube they’ll send to the depths of the ocean to sample sediment for blue carbon. Photo by Emilee Gilpin.

Course details

The FCM program requires that 4 courses be taken, each taking 2 weeks of study time. With a total of approximately 60 hours of instruction, courses may be completed in different sessions, over a two-year time period. The program is offered in 2 sessions each year, one in the Fall (October – December) and one in the Winter/Spring (February/April). Students may register and complete all courses in one session or spread out the courses (in order of prerequisite requirements) over a 2-year time frame.

 

Funding available

This program is applicable for the StrongerBC Future Skills Grant, which is open to British Columbians aged 19 years or older – regardless of financial need – and covers up to $3,500 per person for eligible short-term skills training at public post-secondary institutions. Click here to apply for funding.

Members of Coastal First Nations or the Nanwakolas Council Society who have been accepted in the progam, but were unable to obtain a StrongerBC Future Skills Grant, may contact us by September 30, 2023, at gbccc@coastalfirstnations.ca. (The Great Bear Carbon Credit Limited Partnership and the Nanwakolas Offset Limited Partnership may provide financial assistance.)

Why take the FCM program?

There is a surge of demand for working professionals who understand and know how to assess and monitor forest carbon, administer carbon projects and navigate the evolving landscapes of relevant markets. The FCM program aims to offer science-based, practical, hands-on training for professionals, including those currently working or those seeking to gain additional skills.

According to UBC Forestry’s course description, the program is applicable to a wide range of potential applicants who “are working in or will go on to work in natural resource management positions in government, non-government organizations, the private sector, and industry.” Applications are open to a broad range of natural resource professionals who want to learn “how to assess and monitor forest carbon, establish and administer carbon projects, and navigate the evolving landscape of relevant markets.”