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Greenbelt is working to address coastal resilience on a number of fronts. We are evaluating the best strategies for addressing the long-term impacts of climate change, including sea level rise and heavier storms, and prioritizing “nature-based solutions”. Salt marshes play an important role in absorbing floodwater and protecting the coast from the huge power of waves. These natural features make protecting salt marshes an important climate strategy. Land conservation has emerged as an effective and cost efficient tool to help communities respond to climate change. As such, we are working to protect resilient parcels throughout Essex County. Additionally, we are working to raise awareness on climate related issues and partnering with other organizations to support their climate work.
During the conservation prioritization project we worked with municipal partners in Gloucester and Essex to conduct outreach on land conservation for flood storage, drinking water, and natural resilience by developing maps and using interactive online media platforms. The feedback we received from our municipal partners played an integral role in the development of our data. Click the buttons below to read the reports Greenbelt created.
To maximize efforts, Greenbelt partners with agencies and environmental organizations who are also actively working on climate change issues.
As our climate is rapidly changing and sea levels are rising, the Cox Reservation faces many threats; the worst being flooding. Erosion of transitional areas between wetlands and uplands, and damages to the salt marsh from storm surges are a few more examples of threats that the reservation now faces. Due to these recent climate impacts, it became clear that developing a climate based management plan for the property was crucial.
The impact of climate change, both now and in the future, has been the subject of many Greenbelt Film & Lecture series events, including the 2020-2021 series funded by the MA Office of Coastal Zone Mangement. Watch the video presentations from our archive.
