By: Landon Woods[i]
For folks in agriculture or resource management, it is all too common to hear that we are responsible for environmental damage, including the effects of climate change.[ii] Farmers and foresters have long been traditional environmentalists’ boogeymen, but it simply does not have to be that way.[iii]
No, in fact, agriculturalists are some of our planet’s original conservationists.[iv] As a result, they have a unique opportunity to lead the effort to not only stop climate change in its tracks but reverse it through natural climate solutions.[v] That sounds like a lot of jargon, but essentially, natural climate solutions are techniques and strategies that help nature sequester more carbon from our atmosphere.[vi] For example, we all learned that trees “breathe” carbon dioxide and release oxygen through photosynthesis in elementary school.[vii] Well, on a large scale, this natural process has the potential to put us on the path to net-zero.[viii]
Although they sound straightforward, these solutions are not inconsequential.[ix] According to the National Academy of the Sciences, natural climate solutions could help us get 37% to our 2030 emissions reductions goals.[x] Sure, planting trees will not solve climate change single-handedly, but getting more than one-third toward a goal is more than significant.[xi]
So, what do these solutions look like in practice? The simplest visualization, of course, is planting trees and proper forest management, but that is only one part of the natural climate solutions bucket.[xii] Included too are sustainable farming practices such as cover crops, reduced tillage and no-till farming, and other regenerative agriculture.[xiii] These strategies have been featured in documentaries such as Kiss the Ground and demonstrate the impact folks who work on the land can have on our planet.[xiv]
In Kentucky, agriculture accounts for 13 million acres of land, divided among more than 76,000 farms.[xv] If each of these farms employed sustainable or regenerative practices, the climate impact would be huge.[xvi] For livestock producers, something as simple as adding seaweed to cattle rations can help reduce methane emissions, and employing rotational grazing practices helps achieve better forage management.[xvii]
Agriculture is not the only way landowners can contribute to the fight against climate change.[xviii] While planting trees and restoring other systems like grasslands are considered “green carbon” solutions, there are also “blue carbon solutions.”[xix] Blue carbon refers to the capability of maritime ecosystems to store carbon in plants like seaweed and mangroves.[xx] We do not even know the full scope of blue carbon yet, but scientists believe the potential could be massive.[xxi] For example, in Florida, the Everglades’ mangrove forests, if appropriately stewarded, can sequester the equivalent of “19.9 to 24.1 million homes’ energy use for one year.”[xxii]
The best part? All of the solutions have secondary and tertiary benefits.[xxiii] For example, more trees, regardless of the effect on climate change, are a net benefit.[xxiv] They contribute to cooler temperatures on the ground, and there is even evidence that trees provide mental health benefits.[xxv] Regenerative agricultural practices are not only good for the soil, but they can increase yields and profits for farmers.[xxvi]
The fight against climate change is complex and will require various strategies, but we must not forget the critical role nature can play.[xxvii]
[i] Landon Woods is the Southern Regional Coordinator at the American Conservation Coalition and Master of Agribusiness candidate who grew up in the 4-H program raising livestock.
[ii] Climate Change, Econ. Res. Serv. U.S. Dep’t Agric., https://www.ers.usda.gov/topics/natural-resources-environment/climate-change/#:~:text=Agriculture%20and%20forestry%20together%20are,largest%20contributor%20to%20climate%20change (last visited Feb. 28, 2022) [https://perma.cc/R2F2-TFHF].
[iii] 12 Historic American Environmentalists who Made our Wilderness All-Start Draft, Wilderness Soc’y (Sept. 11, 2013), https://www.wilderness.org/articles/blog/12-historic-american-environmentalists-who-made-our-wilderness-all-star-draft [https://perma.cc/8FXL-8JFF].; Cory Lunde, Farmers: The Original Environmentalists, Western Growers (Mar. 23, 2020), https://www.wga.com/magazine/2020/03/23/farmers-original-environmentalists [https://perma.cc/8ELF-A2EY].
[iv] Lunde, supra note iii.
[v] Brie Mazurek, 10 Ways Farmers Can Fight Climate Change, Cultivating a Healthy Food Sys. (Sept. 23, 2021), https://cuesa.org/article/10-ways-farmers-can-fight-climate-change [https://perma.cc/NDE2-6BDT].
[vi] Natural Climate Solutions, Nature Conservancy, https://www.nature.org/en-us/what-we-do/our-insights/perspectives/natural-climate-solutions/ (last visited Feb. 11, 2021) [https://perma.cc/MWF2-N8ZE].
[vii] Sammara Audi, Trees aren’t the Only Things That Produce Oxygen and Absorb CO2, Friends Urb. Forest (July 25, 2021), https://www.fuf.net/2021/07/trees-arent-the-only-things-that-produce-oxygen-and-absorb-co2/#:~:text=As%20we%20all%20know%20by,oxygen%20as%20a%20by%2Dproduct [https://perma.cc/R9EA-SBQX].
[viii] What are Nature-Based Solutions?, Net Zero Climate, https://netzeroclimate.org/innovation-for-net-zero/nature-based-solutions/ (last visited Mar. 15, 2021) [https://perma.cc/EVC8-GTXK].
[ix] Natural Climate Solutions, supra note vi.
[x]Id.
[xi] Id.
[xii] Id.
[xiii] Id.
[xiv] Id.; Kiss the Ground (Big Picture Ranch 2020).
[xv] Kentucky Agriculture, Farm Flavor, https://farmflavor.com/kentucky-agriculture/ (last visited Feb. 13, 2021) [https://perma.cc/2W64-9FA8].
[xvi] Emma Bryce, Feeding Cows Seaweed Could Reduce Their Methane Emissions, Anthropocene (June 21, 2019), https://www.anthropocenemagazine.org/2019/06/feeding-cows-seaweed-could-reduce-their-methane-emissions/?gclid=Cj0KCQiAxoiQBhCRARIsAPsvo-wS5nNxkwSpi9TZLArHtkKHV3Ds_3F2FFrQBRAq5B4SgVP4jSsyi68aAhI1EALw_wcB [https://perma.cc/4EPY-3RHW].; Rotational vs. Continuous Grazing, U. Ky. C. Agric., food & Env’t, https://grazer.ca.uky.edu/content/rotational-vs-continuous-grazing#:~:text=Rotational%20grazing%20is%20a%20system,to%20another%20section%20of%20pasture. [https://perma.cc/J4F8-XQQW].
[xvii] Id.
[xviii] Id.; See generally Green and Blue Carbon: Providing Solutions to the Climate Crisis, Extreme-E (Sept. 29, 2021), https://www.extreme-e.com/en/news/374_Green-and-blue-carbon-providing-solutions-to-the-climate-crisis [https://perma.cc/UF4S-72H3].
[xix] See generally Green and Blue Carbon: Providing Solutions to the Climate Crisis, supra note xviii.
[xx] Blue Carbon, Int’l Union for Conservation Nature, https://www.iucn.org/resources/issues-briefs/blue-carbon (last visited Feb. 28, 2022) [https://perma.cc/EXZ5-3DPG].
[xxi] See Id.
[xxii] The Everglades & Climate Change, Everglades Found., https://www.evergladesfoundation.org/climate-change (last visited Feb. 13, 2021) [https://perma.cc/VMW5-MXXZ].
[xxiii] Daniel O’Brien, Nature Climate Solution: A Win-Win Solution for Our Environment and Our Economy, Envtl. & Energy Study Inst. (May 7, 2021), https://www.eesi.org/briefings/view/050721natural [https://perma.cc/DE2X-H82R].; Health Benefits of Nature, Am. Soc’y Landscape Architects, https://www.asla.org/healthbenefitsofnature.aspx?gclid=Cj0KCQiAxoiQBhCRARIsAPsvo-zcF5iBZvlMyaJhXF9AV9PCDoMAZY0Fh3dxbC4TOVh6ebOITf9NcO0aAjjfEALw_wcB (last visited Feb. 28, 2022) [https://perma.cc/7V3H-A85B].
[xxiv] Id.
[xxv] Id.
[xxvi] Cortney Renton & Claire Lafave, Farmers on Frontline of the Regenerative Agric.Transition, Conservation Fin. Network (Apr. 15, 2020), https://conservationfinancenetwork.org/2020/04/15/farmers-on-the-frontlines-of-the-regenerative-agriculture-transition#:~:text=In%20fact%2C%20a%20recent%20study,crops%20and%20reducing%20costly%20inputs [https://perma.cc/WNX7-6QLT].
[xxvii] Responding to Climate Change, Nat’l Aeronautics & Space Admin., https://climate.nasa.gov/solutions/adaptation-mitigation/ (Mar. 15, 2021) [https://perma.cc/BU49-3E2T].; Natural Climate Solutions, supra note vi.