Mitigation refers to reducing heat-trapping greenhouse gas emissions and stabilizing the levels of greenhouse gases in the atmosphere. Mitigation efforts can be as large as a national strategy to reduce carbon dioxide and methane gas emissions, or as small as a habitat restoration project in your local community.
One approach to mitigation is through biological carbon sequestration: the process in which carbon dioxide from the atmosphere is taken up by plants and stored as carbon. Restoring or improving forests, wetlands, and native prairies not only plays a role in sequestering carbon, but it also improves habitat and directly benefits native plants, fish, and wildlife. In many cases, efforts to restore or conserve these ecosystems have cascading effects such as cleaner water, better resilience to wildfire, flooding, and storms, and increased natural habitat space for wildlife and people to enjoy.
We’re committed to mitigating the effects of by:
Developing expertise in biological carbon sequestration — storing greenhouse gases in plants (biomass), while also creating or restoring priority native plants, fish and wildlife habitats — and fostering efforts to sequester carbon on the lands we manage.
Facilitating carbon sequestration through habitat conservation at the international level. By working with international partners to help reduce deforestation rates in key areas, such as tropical forests, we aim to help preserve areas rich in rare and unique plants and wildlife that also serve as “carbon sinks” (natural areas that remove more carbon from the atmosphere than they put back into it).
Reducing our carbon footprint by retrofitting our facilities with energy-efficient equipment and infrastructure and increasing the number of electric vehicles in our fleet.
Informing stakeholders on conservation issues related to energy development and energy policy and helping facilitate renewable energy development in a manner that avoids or minimizes significant impacts to sensitive fish, wildlife, and plant species.
Restoring degraded lands and conserving protected lands using nature-based solutions to increase the various services provided by the natural world, like air and water purification and storing carbon.
