While more public funding sources have emerged recently for conservation finance, particularly around working farms, landowners with means and motivation remain a staple of the private conservation process. These landowners are largely white, and their properties most often located in rural and suburban areas. The distribution of conserved land and...
Huge corporations have promised to zero out their carbon impact, so prices for natural carbon sinks should see upward pressure starting now. Three forest carbon finance specialists thrash out three paths to success, navigating standards and science and the occasional drag that comes with creating a marketplace in the midst...
(Courtesy Ghana Forestry Commission.) Can this soil nourish entrepreneurs as well as crops?
In Ghana, fertile forests have attracted poaching and razing. Now they're attracting a coalition that aims to restore forests and empower female farmers. Leaders aim for the restoration of 200,000 hectares of off-reserve savannah forests and woodlands by placing them under Community Resource Management Areas (CREMA). These target 100,000 hectares...
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The Taos Land Trust's Youth Conservation Corps poses before working to revive an acequela, tackle invasive species, restore wetlands and sustainably grow food. Attention to community needs and priorities drives this workplan. (Courtesy the Taos Land Trust.)
Traditionally, the conservation movement has fought to protect land, air and water, but it has not served all communities equally. Recognizing the interconnections between injustice done to the most vulnerable communities and the environment clarifies how access to a healthy environment relates to public health, food security, community vitality, education...
the southeast corner of Georgia, bisected by Interstate 95, sits the county of Camden. One side of the county features a complex coastline highlighted by the winding East River and Satilla Rivers and their tributaries. The Cumberland barrier island sits atop these river mouths dampening the wave action from the...
The Washington Farmland Trust, which crafted the Conservation Note, provided this image.
How does a farmer with no desire to keep growing crops become a catalyst for financial value and land preservation? The Washington Farmland Trust worked with a farmer at the end of his career to craft a financial package that would keep his land from developers, sustain ecosystem services, and...
Three new case studies from preservation advocates Wildland and Woodlands show how collaborations to preserve land in New England pay off in employment, tax revenue, and housing investment. In each process, local leaders with heft in capital, policy and community trust worked together to craft an outdoor-focused strategy that encouraged...
(Courtesy Mark Conlin/Alamy, via the NRDC website.)
*It should be noted that with the ongoing COVID-19 crisis, many conservation banks along with other conservation projects are facing uncertain futures because the pandemic has put a stress on current and future funding. For many years, conservationists, landowners, and developers have met at crossroads when handling cases of endangered...
The NRCS says it can help foster wide and deep conservation impacts by giving partners more latitude. (Photo courtesy NRCS.)
Kari Cohen, Branch Chief at USDA’s Natural Resources Conservation Service (NRCS), oversees regional partnerships. Kari explained the Alternative Funding Arrangement (AFA) provision of the Regional Conservation Partnership Program, which will invest up to $50 million in fiscal year 2020. The first cohort of up to 15 projects this fall will...
We are pleased to announce the launch of a new series called the
Network Toolkit. This series of articles focuses on individual tools practitioners can use. Our goal is to span the range of comfort levels our readers have – from simple to challenging.
This article by Eve Boyce and Marcy Lyman is part of the
Network Toolkit, a resource designed for professionals who want to learn or communicate about the industry. In an increasing number of communities across the country, utilities are working with conservation groups to ensure the ecosystem services...
This article by Nathalie Woolworth and Hazel Wong is part of the
Network Toolkit, a resource designed for professionals who want to learn or communicate about the industry. Ballot measures, also known as initiatives or propositions, are instruments of direct democracy that allow voters to directly shape public...
This article by Maria Martinez is part of the
Network Toolkit, a resource designed for professionals who want to learn or communicate about the industry. State revolving funds (SRFs) have been used for decades as a source of low-cost financing for a variety of water-infrastructure projects.
