[ Massachusetts ] Harvard Forest ‘s “Wildlands and Woodlands” proposal to conserve roughly half of Massachusetts as protected lands has received a boost from a new report detailing seven strategies to finance the ambitious proposal. The report emerged from an April conference of 40 conservation finance experts from across the nation, …Those experts recommended funding forest protection through a mix of conventional financing tools, such as bonds and tax incentives, and innovative mechanisms such as payments for ecosystem services and regulatory reform to facilitate smart growth. “It would, in effect, reverse the recent deforestation trend that’s occurring in Massachusetts and much of the Eastern U.S. and ensure the continuing provision of clean air and clean water from natural systems at a much more reasonable cost than serving these needs with human-engineered systems.”

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