Both temperate and tropical forests are vital carbon sinks that require protection and restoration to maintain. Temperate forests can sequester nearly 28 gigatons of CO2e by 2050 if they are restored by protecting degraded lands and allowing them them to regenerate. Tropical forest restoration has the potential to sequester 85 gigatons, undoing the damage that extensive clearing and fragmentation has done. These forests store carbon in vegetation, soil, and trees and provides an important opportunity to mitigate climate change. 

Counterbalance supports projects that rigorously monitor and enforce land management to protect forests from illegal logging, reforest lands, and releasing land from agricultural use to naturally regenerate. All forest regrowth must be well protected to maintain long term carbon storage and elimination degradation. This project type supports forest restoration from Kenya to Brazil and is certified by the Verified Carbon Standard.

Restoration of forests also aids in the protection of watersheds, soil, and biodiversity. These projects allow species to resettle the lands and be protected from illegal logging, poaching, and wildlife trading.