News
TerraCarbon completes 2,600+ acre tree planting for The Conservation Fund’s Go Zero® program and the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service
February 2011
TerraCarbon has completed a 2,606 acre planting at the Upper Ouachita National Wildlife Refuge on behalf of donors to The Conservation Fund’s Go Zero program and the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service. The Go Zero program works with companies and individuals to reduce and offset greenhouse gas emissions by planting native trees in protected parks and wildlife refuges nationwide.
Working closely with the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service and The Conservation Fund, TerraCarbon was responsible for site assessment, site planning, and planting, and will also provide post-planting and carbon project support.
The Upper Ouachita National Wildlife Refuge is located in northeastern Louisiana, and was established in 1978 to conserve wetlands and manage for migratory birds. The refuge is bisected by the Ouachita (pronounced washitaw) River, which flows into the Black River and eventually into the Mississippi River.
The project involved planting more than 800,000 tree seedlings, including bald cypress and bottomland oaks, in an area that will be converted back to its natural state as a forested wetland. The planting will improve flood control and water quality for communities downstream (New York Times article), and contribute to climate change mitigation by removing an estimated 800,000 tons of carbon dioxide from the atmosphere over the life of the project.
“Go Zero donors are providing critical, private capital that will help address two of the most extraordinary environmental challenges of our time, climate change and habitat loss,” said The Conservation Fund’s Go Zero director, Jena Meredith. “We are proud to work with the skilled team at TerraCarbon as they help to address climate change and restore important wildlife habitat on behalf of the National Wildlife Refuge System and the American people”.
For more information on The Conservation Fund and Go Zero, visit their website.
Click here to see photo of the planting.
Click here to see photo of the planting.
View the project site on Google Earth by flying to 32°51’10.96” N 92°01’56.62” W.
