Collaborative helping underserved farming communities flourish through sustainability

Small acreage and minority landowners have limited means of protecting and managing their natural resources as well as contributing to sustainability efforts that would create a brighter future for not only them, but also generations to come. However, grants and other resources are available to help underserved farming communities bridge the gap between funding and implementation of nature-based greenhouse gas reduction methods, and that is exactly what a new collaborative aims to achieve.

The Small Landowners Carbon Collaborative is a partnership between BCarbon, a nonprofit carbon registry and climate research center, Prairie View A&M University and U.S. Business Council for Sustainable Development. Representatives of these groups recently met at sites in East Texas to network and put momentum behind the initiative.

“Putting boots on the ground and meeting with landowners and members of this collaborative really put into perspective how important farmland, no matter how big or small, is to a sustainable future,” said Claude Griffin, USBCSD executive director. “We’re looking forward to seeing the positive results this collaborative can yield for small acreage and minority landowners in East Texas and for overall local sustainability efforts.”

Forests, soil and other natural resources can aid in carbon storage, making it critical that farmland is protected, healthy and resilient. As part of this initiative, the collaborative will help small acreage and minority landowners access and better understand complex carbon markets to diversify their finances and strengthen their operations over the long-term. In addition, the collaborative will help landowners introduce nature-based greenhouse gas reduction methods that will allow them to generate carbon credits (another potential stream of revenue) and contribute to local sustainability efforts.

While Prairie View A&M will leverage its Cooperative Extension Program network to perform outreach to landowners, USBCSD will tap into its network of industry stakeholders to develop a minority landowner program and, ultimately, help the collaborative reach its goals. And for its part, BCarbon, with the assistance from Prairie View A&M, will support the initial design of a business cooperative, or the grouping of small acreage and minority landowners, that is better positioned to participate in carbon markets and take advantage of carbon credit opportunities. The collaborative’s efforts are largely being supported by a Bia-Echo Foundation grant that was announced in July.