Nature’s Key Role

Protecting natural and working lands gives landscapes a chance to adapt to the changing climate and its impacts by:

• safeguarding against devastating floods
• protecting our drinking water supplies
• storing carbon in forests, wetlands, and grasslands

Story of Climate Resilience:  Standing Up to Hurricane Harvey

The 12,376-acre Sabine Ranch in southeast Texas protects wildlife habitat for hundreds of thousands of birds and lessens the impacts of storm surges on communities by slowing and retaining water. During Hurricane Harvey in 2017, the ranch absorbed roughly 12 billion gallons of water of the roughly nine trillion gallons that fell on the Houston area. The permanent protection of Sabine Ranch helps restore the dynamic natural ecosystem and safeguards communities.

Empowering Communities

Bouncing back from a flood, economic downturn, or a wildfire is difficult in the best of times, and it is even more challenging when local job opportunities are limited. We build community and economic resilience by providing access to capital for small businesses and groups that use natural resources responsibly, support for local food systems, and technical assistance for energy transition.

Story of Climate Resilience: Restoring a River and Helping a Marginalized Community Build Climate Strength


^{Photo credit: Olivia Jackson}

When severe storms hit, low-income communities and communities of color are often impacted the most because of inequitable distribution of public aid, discriminatory housing practices, zoning laws, and highway development that forced people of color to land that lacked natural barriers and led to declining environmental and socio-economic conditions within those neighborhoods.

Our Resourceful Communities program provides ongoing support to rural, socially- and economically distressed communities in North Carolina through grants, and strategic networking to explore strategies that ensure more inclusive and efficient hurricane recovery efforts. One grantee, the Coharie Tribe, completed a major restoration effort on the Coharie River to improve deteriorated water flow, which has noticeably lessened the impacts of flooding on streets, sidewalks and homes of many communities in Sampson County.

More Stories of Climate Resilience:

• Wildfires and People: What Can We Do Now?
• Growing a New Generation of Farmers
• Teens Use Their Voices to Become Environmental Advocates
• Greening Youth Plants Equitable Roots
• Houston’s Hurricane Recovery through Smart Green Infrastructure Investments
• Sabine Ranch: Adding To Texas' Land Legacy (video)