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United States of America
Project Highlights + Forest Conservation: Conserves 21,000 acres in Louisiana, Arkansas, and Mississippi. + Carbon Sequestration: Mitigates climate impact through certified management.
Protectors of the Plains
The Bottomland Forests of the Louisiana Plains are forested, alluvial wetlands occupying broad floodplain areas that flank large river systems. These forests are found throughout Louisiana in all parishes but are the predominant natural community type of the Mississippi River Alluvial Plain.
They are extremely productive areas due in part to periodic flood-transported and deposited particulate and dissolved organic matter and nutrients. In general, forested floodplain habitats are mixtures of broadleaf deciduous, needleleaf deciduous, and evergreen trees and shrubs.
Bottomland hardwoods serve a critical role in the watershed by reducing the risk and severity of flooding to downstream communities by providing areas to store floodwater. In addition, these wetlands improve water quality by filtering and flushing nutrients, processing organic wastes, and reducing sediment before it reaches open water.
Providing Benefits to Wildlife, Migratory Birds, and Communities
This region contains rich delta soils which support agricultural and timber harvest economies. Aggressive harvesting is common practice. After harvest, these forests often do not remain in hardwood species and are either planted with pine or converted to pasture.
Black bears, alligators, snapping turtles, songbirds, aquatic life, and a range of game species rely on the availability of forests, wetlands, and rivers in this region for survival.
Significantly, the land within the Louisiana Plains Project includes the Mississippi Flyway, a major corridor for migratory birds. The widespread loss of forests and wetlands to agriculture in this region has reduced bird populations.
As they decline, the insects that birds eat and the plants they pollinate and propagate are also affected, destabilizing an ecosystem much larger than that of just the Mississippi Alluvial Plain. ACR:848 pushes against these habitat challenges while also improving water quality, mitigating floodwaters, and extending benefits far beyond the project’s borders.
Agricultural nutrients, fertilizer, and sediment are filtered by the 1,027 acres of streamside land protected within this project. Water from these streams and rivers eventually flow into the Mississippi River and then into the Gulf of Mexico. As rain encounters the tree canopy in these forests it takes longer to reach the ground, and once it does the roots help absorb the rainfall and reduce the risk of flooding to downstream communities.
By choosing a path other than “business-as-usual” for their forests, the landowners in ACR:848 embrace an alternative to relying solely on timber harvests or agriculture for revenue. They also have an opportunity to create a land legacy that makes a difference to wildlife, diminishing migratory bird populations, and to their communities. The high-quality carbon credits created and sold through this project make all that possible.