Signup for our Newsletter
Receive our latest updates by signing up for our newsletter!
Greenbelt is using the latest climate data to evaluate land conservation projects. We use mapping technology to guide strategic investments in climate resilient parcels and to work with municipalities and partners to inform open space planning.
In 2019, Greenbelt completed an ambitious project to identify and prioritize land parcels throughout Essex County for the ability to absorb floodwater, protect drinking water, cool hot urban areas, and support biodiversity in a warming climate, as well as protect habitat and agriculture. In addition to incorporating the results into our own land conservation practices, we also work with municipal partners to produce maps for open space, municipal vulnerability, and master plans.
This work is generously funded by the Land Trust Alliance, Mass Office of Coastal Zone Management, New England Biolabs Foundation, and the Towards Sustainability Foundation.
Kamon Farm in Ipswich is a new public reservation, with beautiful hayfields and wooded trails, but its secret value is inland flood mitigation and drinking water supply protection. Kamon Farm’s wooded wetlands capture, store, and filter rainwater and snowmelt, allowing it to infiltrate into the ground, and be held on the land rather than running off into streets and homes and causing flood damage.
Artichoke River Woods in West Newbury protects a vital drinking water resource for the City of Newburyport and the Town of West Newbury. By maintaining the forest cover, as opposed to clearing the land and replacing it with homes, lawns and roadways, the land will continue to provide community-wide benefit through drinking water protection.
By keeping Gloucester’s Backshore undeveloped, we help to mitigate the effects of storm events – allowing places where storm surge can come and go with limited impacts to infrastructure.
A webinar was hosted by Greenbelt for municipal and land trust employees and volunteers interested in climate resiliency and conservation planning.
We shared the results of our analysis work to prioritize parcels for flood mitigation, urban cooling, natural resilience, and drinking water and discussed how the results can be used for planning and grant funding opportunities.
