Late last year, The Nature Conservancy and collaborators from around the world published an article in the Proceedings of National Academy of Sciences that highlighted the critical value of 'natural climate solutions'—conservation,  restoration, and improved land management actions that increase carbon storage and/or avoid greenhouse gas emissions across global forests, wetlands, grasslands, and agricultural lands. In particular, the study found that cost-effective natural climate solutions can account for more than one-third of the emissions reductions needed to achieve the goals established in the Paris Climate Agreement—a full 30% more than previously estimated ( read overview of the findings ).

As the world’s population increasingly concentrates in urban areas, and as these urban areas expand into surrounding landscapes, a growing awareness is emerging around the benefits—to human and ecological communities alike—of proactive efforts  to integrate nature into urban areas. A recent opinion piece in Ensia calls attention to the need for our cities of the future to create more space for wildlife, and sets out five basic principles for moving us in that direction. Furthermore, The Nature Conservancy last month released a new vision for weaving nature back into urban areas. Finally, a Sierra Magazine article highlights the massive investments underway in Los Angeles to restore the city’s eponymous river—and the thorny issues that can arise when such investments intersect with urban social challenges around equity and gentrification. 

The Gullah Geechee are descendants of Central and West Africans who were enslaved and trafficked across the Atlantic Ocean to the Lowcountry of the southeastern United States to work on rice plantations. Though originating from different ethnic and social groups, over time the intense interactions on the new continent forged a new creole language and a unique culture that still draws upon their African heritage. As Heather Hodges, Executive Director of the Gullah Geechee Cultural Heritage Corridor writes, "The Gullah Geechee can only be understood in connection to their relationship to the land of the Lowcountry, rice cultivation, and their coastal history and heritage." This Perspectives piece underscores the many values that our landscapes hold, and pushes us to reflect on how landscape conservation can serve to bridge across these values.