RENO — International company ECO2 Forests announced Tuesday morning that it will plant about 2,000 acres of kiri trees per year for the next seven years in northern Nevada.

Collie Christensen, chief executive officer for ECO2, which is based out of Sacramento, Calif. and has an office in Queensland, Austrailia, said the company wants to begin planting trees in the next five to six weeks.

“The reason we are doing this in northern Nevada is that this tree likes tropical weather,” Christensen said. “It needs 300 days of sunlight a year and, second, it needs water.”

ECO2 makes its money through the generation and sale of carbon credits and lumber, according to its Web site. It is a publicly traded international forestation company focused on reforestation of previously damaged and deforested land and the saving of existing threatened forests.

Christensen said the trees will be planted in the Winnemucca Ranch area, north of Spanish Springs. He added that the company received the land from a family that owns the water rights, so the project should not have to secure additional rights.

“We have more than 1 million acres dedicated to projects around the world, but we wanted to focus on something close to home,” Christensen said.

The kiri tree, which has its roots in Asian history, was brought to the United States in the 1800s because seeds from the tree were used as packing material in shipments form Asia.

According to Christensen, ECO2 chose the kiri tree because it is sustainable and works well with a long tree reforestation project.

“It’s pretty unique to watch this tree grow,” Christensen said. “In a number of days it goes from a sapling to 6 to 9 feet tall.”

Another unique characteristic of the kiri tree is that when the tree is cut down, it can regenerate itself from the stump, which other trees, such as the pine, cannot do. Christensen said the kiri tree is used for its wood to make furniture, building materials and one company even uses it to make surfboards.

In addition to what Christensen described as a hearty wood for material needs, the kiri tree helps the environment by reducing carbon in the atmosphere.

“It has leafs the size of elephant ears,” Christensen said. “It doesn’t have sap so termites don’t like it and it’s stronger than balsa wood.

“You plant it, and it sequesters carbon dioxide, which creates carbon credits,” Christensen added. “And this makes a much better ethanol fuel than corn. If we ever grow too much, we can always fall back into bio-fuel.”

The carbon credits, which are bought by corporations to offset the effects of their carbon emissions, created more than $190 billion in worldwide revenue in 2009. Carbon credit created in the United States can be sold internationally, Christensen said.

No stranger to doing business in northern Nevada, Christensen said that his connection to the area is partially the reason for returning to the region.

“I’m not new to Reno, I started Cellular One here in the ’80s and did some development work in the ’90s,” Christensen said. “We have partnered with a long-time family here in Reno.

“We have to focus on carbon credits and doing something good for the environment,” Christensen said. “As a developer, someone who built shopping centers and buildings in the past, LED certification is important,” Christensen added. “We’ve borrowed this saying from the American Indians: ‘We don’t inherit the land, we borrow it from our children.’

“One of these trees on average sequesters two and a half tons of carbon dioxide out of the air,” Christensen said. “That equates to two and a half carbon credits.”

The land on which the tree will be planted, in the Smoke Creek area, will also accommodate a mill and nursery that Christensen said will require employees to work there.

“We are looking at employing about 300 people,” Christensen said. “We don’t just cut the tree down and sell it in round lumber, we’ll have a mill up there. There will also be a nursery.”

As part of the project, ECO2 will begin planting 2,000 acres of trees in 10-by-20 acre plots. In four years the trees will be thinned out to create 20-by-20 acre plots and in seven years a main harvest will occur, after which the tree will begin to regenerate themselves from the stumps.

In the next seven years, ECO2 hopes to plant 14,000 acres of kiri trees in northern Nevada. Christensen said the company also plans on planting more projects in Nevada and is looking for the land to do so.

For more information about ECO2, the kiri tree and to watch a short informational video about the project, visit www.eco2forests.com.