Conservation IS climate action — and it can benefit people, nature, and wildlife. By protecting, restoring, and sustainably managing America’s lands and waters, we can capture and store carbon while also supporting climate resilience, promoting biodiversity, and mitigating risk for disasters like floods and wildfires.
Importantly, conservation initiatives can help advance environmental equity and justice, whether that’s through efforts to improve access to nature or indigenous leadership on Natural Climate Solutions. Both public and private lands have important roles to play. By conserving our public lands, and working with private landowners to sustainably manage grasslands, farms, and forests, we can benefit our climate — and rural communities, too.
Preston Keres © USDA
Bold conservation of America’s forests, grasslands, wetlands, farms, and ranches is needed to combat climate change. U.S. Nature4Climate’s Conservation IS Climate Action campaign is highlighting conservation success stories that illustrate how conservation action is climate action.
Read more »Dudley Edmondson © TNC
In western Minnesota, John Reed and his son Jake are growing a family legacy of conservation on their ranchland. Protecting their land and managing it with grass-fed, Angus cattle keep the prairie in good shape and their operation financially stable.
Read more »Shana Edberg © Hispanic Access Foundation
Protecting and restoring natural areas that are close to cities and communities of color can help create equitable access to nature while providing climate benefits.
Read more »Alan W. Eckert © TNC
The Nature Conservancy and a broad network of stakeholders formed the Rio Grande Water Fund (RGWF) to work cooperatively to reduce the risk of megafires, protect precious water supplies and build resilience against climate change threats.
Read more »Scientists with The Nature Conservancy and Clark University in Massachusetts have worked together to create a forest carbon analysis and online mapping tool that shows the potential of forests across the continental US to capture and store climate-changing carbon emissions for years to come, even on lands as small as one-quarter of an acre.
Read more »Alex Jackson © The Trust for Public Land
Cities around the United States are addressing equity issues by listening at the local level, and the Trust for Public Land is helping communities plan for urban green spaces that provide numerous social, environmental, and climate benefits. One such example of urban conservation has taken place in the middle of west Atlanta’s historic Vine City neighborhood.
Read more »Scott Hotaling
The Pine Mountain Wildlands Corridor project is a great example of science-driven and community-minded conservation. The project serves as a natural climate solution that mitigates both local and regional climate threats while providing additional environmental, social, and economic benefits.
Read more »Quinn Lowrey
Forward-thinking forest restoration from tribes and companies helps to ensure whitebark pine can provide benefits to people and wildlife well into the future.
Read more »Kumar L Goodwine-Kennedy © Geechee Sea Island Coalition
The South Atlantic Salt Marsh Initiative brings together federal, state, and local governments, military officials, and community leaders who recognize the habitat’s ability to help protect shorelines against flooding and storm surge. The initiative aims to conserve about a million acres of marsh stretching from North Carolina to north Florida.
Read more »Ami Vitale
Sagebrush ecosystems play an important role in the nation’s climate future. Because of the unique challenges of scale, ownership, and threats on the range, we need solutions that work for people, wildlife, and the climate together.
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