Climate and Conservation: Site Prioritization in the North Carolina Coastal Plains

Abstract

Land trusts are typically focused on preserving land for the purposes of recreation, education, and biodiversity. Recently, however, many land trusts have begun to see their rationale extending beyond these traditional goals to include using land for different kinds of social benefits. Working with the North Carolina Coastal Land Trust, my project designed a geospatial method of analysis to optimize site prioritization for traditional conservation values as well as climate adaptation and mitigation. More specifically, I developed a method of ranking and selecting parcels for NCCLT based on their capacity to promote biodiversity, reduce flooding (through the restoration of headwater wetlands), and sequester carbon (through forestation and wetland restoration). I applied this method to two watersheds in eastern North Carolina, the Upper Cashie and the Waccamaw, and provided a ranked list of properties recommended for conservation.