Our webinar on Nature Based Solutions to Climate Change was held successfully on March 30, 2021. It proved to be an informative program that inspired us to take practical actions, with the focus on reversative agriculture and adaptations riverfront communities can take to address the risk of flooding. Each speaker presented clear and useful information, as well as answering multiple questions from our 75 attendees. This webinar was listed with the Bard College World Wide Teach-in on Climate Change and Justice on that day, which was viewed by over 30,000 people around the globe.
Speakers included:
Lyndsey Cooper, Climate Outreach Specialist, NYS DEC Hudson River Estuary Program and the Cornell University Water Resources Institute discussed the following;
• Mitigation: reducing emissions of or stabilizing the levels of heat-trapping greenhouse gases; Reducing magnitude of climate change; has global effects.
• Adaptation: Adjusting to the current and future effects of climate change; Reducing our vulnerability to climate change; has local effects.
Lyndsey then focused on how municipalities can develop and implement the Climate-adaptive Design Program, providing tools to address: green infrastructure; living shorelines; wetlands; and ecologically enhanced bulkheads and revetments.
Participating Cornell Cooperative Extensions serve municipalities across 6 counties, assisting them to complete actions, including: culvert management; plans; flood guides; resilience into comprehensive planning, and more. Last year municipalities implemented 21 adaptation actions, as a result of which 12 municipalities were awarded with certification assistance. “The municipal government invests in ‘living shorelines’, which restore natural features that protect against floods and ‘floodable’ waterfront parks that can hold flood water.”
Interested municipalities can submit a letter of interest to Lyndsey.cooper@dec.ny.gov by 5:00pm Monday May 2.
Click to view Lyndsey’s slides!
Heather Eckardt, Manager, Scenic Hudson’s Northeast Carbon Alliance Project, presented an overview of the carbon cycle. She explained that Regenerative Agriculture is a holistic approach to farming that:
• Enriches soil
• Promotes biodiversity
• Restores ecosystems
NECA research farms are working together to: share their data and research on a common GIS platform; and determine best practices for enhancing biodiversity, soil health and carbon sequestration. On a positive note, Heather notes that NY Governor Kathy Hochul signed the Soil Health and Climate Resiliency Act at the end of 2021. NECA’s policy working group is also setting priorities for the 2023 Farm Bill.
Click to View Heather’s slides!
Aaron Ristow, Director, American Farmland Trust’s Genesee River Demonstration Farm Network and NYS Rented Lands Conservation Incentives Program, presented numerous examples of how farmers in that region have taken regenerative measures, resulting in improved outcomes.
Aaron discussed how planting cover crops significantly reduced damage from rain storms. This combined with refraining from tilling, contributed to reduced soil and water runoff. Regenerative agricultural techniques used on the farms involved in American Farmland Trust projects also increased relative soil organic carbon concentrations.
Planting green, by turning a cash crop into a living cover crop, resulted in: extending the cover crop growing season; producing additional biomass which builds organic matter; suppressed late-season weeds; provides additional nitrogen for a cash crop; and drier fields to facilitate earlier planting and manure application.
We also learned that soil stores 2-3x more CO2 than the atmosphere and 2-5x more than vegetation.
Mohonk Consultations is a not-for-profit based at Ulster County’s Mohonk Mountain House, which offers programs to foster a greater awareness of the interrelationship of all life on earth and inspire and nurture the development of sustainable initiatives. Programs include conferences, forums, awards, and publications centered on the Hudson Valley and attuned to global and national perspectives.
This free webinar will be on Zoom and requires registration at https://bit.ly/3MtK2uz.
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Visit Mohonk-Consultations.org/donation