Conservation and Restoration Prioritization for the Cape Fear River Basin: Social and Environmental Justice Considerations

Abstract

The Cape Fear River Basin (CFRB) is one main focus of conservation and restoration objectives of The Nature Conservancy (TNC)’s North Carolina Chapter. As part of the Sustainable Rivers Program, strategies are developed to conserve and restore freshwater resources in the watershed, including identifying parcel-level priorities. Efforts to date have emphasized natural science-based objectives, and there is a need to incorporate more social considerations and understand how people could be affected. This project builds on previous results and investigates factors that could indicate potential benefits and disproportionate impacts of conservation and restoration practices on socioeconomically and racially marginalized communities. By synthesizing variables from multiple data sources and using geospatial analysis, the project identifies potential communities within different footprints of top-prioritized parcels. The findings will help distinguish areas to exercise caution and develop recommendations for TNC’s future practices.