Actions For Individuals and Landowners
Plant Meadows: Wildflowers and native grasses provide excellent habitat for insects and birds. Converting lawns to meadows has the added benefit of creating attractive landscapes that reduce maintenance requirements.
Plant and Manage Gardens for Habitat and Carbon Sequestration: Use pollinator plants in gardens to support bees and other insects. Add organic amendments such as compost, manure and crop residues to increase soil carbon and improve soil biology; reduce or eliminate tillage to reduce carbon loss.
Infiltrate Rainwater: Rain gardens, vegetated buffer strips, retention basins, and infiltration catch basins facilitate stormwater infiltration that reduces runoff and increases groundwater reservoirs feeding wetlands and small streams in periods of drought. Such groundwater reserves also provide cool water to help sustain cold water species. Rain gardens and vegetated buffers infiltrate water and provide plantings that increase ecological value and sequester carbon.
Control Invasives: As existing plant species become less well adapted to changing conditions, invasives may be increasingly able to move in to replace them and take over areas. Identify and control invasives, the non-native plants that displace native plants or have the ability to create monocultures.
Manage Forests for Habitat and Carbon Sequestration: Promote forests that have a diversity of tree species, ample tree regeneration of future-adapted species, vigorous trees of various sizes and ages, a variety of tree arrangements, and an appropriate amount of deadwood gives forests a complex structure and helps them withstand and recover from stressors. These practices also improve soil health and increase soil carbon sequestration. When forests need to be harvested, careful adherence to excellent forestry practices, such as those utilizing alternative, less intensive forest management systems and those utilizing Continuous Cover Forestry (CCF) can reduce the loss of carbon and maintain ecologically healthy forests.
Consider Personal Lifestyle Changes
Download NRWA's Climate Impact Action List for Individuals and Landowners (PDF).
An Example: Eating Less Meat Benefits Our Climate
Reducetarianism is the practice of eating less meat. The concept is appealing because not everyone is able or willing to follow a completely vegetarian diet. Reducetarians improve their health, save the lives of animals, and help mitigate climate change. Here are some reasons to consider adopting this practice in your life:
- Every minute, the land equivalent of 7 football fields is cleared to make room for animal agriculture.
- Cows produce 150 billion gallons of methane (a powerful greenhouse gas) per day.
- Transitioning to more plant-based diets could reduce the global mortality rate by 6-10%.
- Producing one pound of beef requires over 1,800 gallons of water.
Courtesy of the Reducetarian Foundation: http://www.reducetarian.org
Actions for Conservation Groups
Educate people about issues and mitigation strategies: Many people associate climate change with increased storms and sea level rise, not the types of impacts that are taking place right now in the Nashua River watershed. Educating the public about the changes that are taking place and the mitigation strategies that are available is therefore a critical, immediate need.
Determine Opportunities to create Ecological Reserves and Connections: Develop comprehensive plans to protect important ecological areas within the watershed. Ecosystems are complex and vulnerable to damage by human activity and climate change. Connect and expand large conservation areas in order to allow plant and animal communities to migrate or adapt. Connections among protected areas expand their significance.
Protect and Manage Forests for habitat and sequestration: Promote forests that have a diversity of tree species, ample tree regeneration of future-adapted species, vigorous trees of various sizes and ages, a variety of tree arrangements, and an appropriate amount of deadwood to give forests a complex structure and helps them withstand and recover from stressors. These practices also improve soil health and increase soil carbon sequestration. When forests need to be harvested, careful adherence to excellent forestry practices, such as those utilizing alternative, less intensive forest management systems and those utilizing Continuous Cover Forestry (CCF) can reduce the loss of carbon and maintain ecologically healthy forests.
Coordinate Land Protection and Management with conservation groups and towns: Municipalities and conservation groups can work across town boundaries on ecological strategies and habitat protection. By sharing plans, larger and more effective protected areas can be created.
Prepare Baseline Documentation of Ecologic Resources: Develop baseline documentation of existing conditions in order to understand and plan for the changes that are taking place within our watershed.
Download NRWA's Climate Impact Action List for Conservation Groups (PDF).
Actions for Businesses
Create Permeable Surfaces including Rain Gardens: Permeable pavements, rain gardens, vegetated buffer strips, retention basins, and infiltration catch basins facilitate stormwater infiltration that reduces runoff and increases groundwater reservoirs that feed wetlands and small streams in periods of drought. Such groundwater reserves also provide cool water to help sustain cold water species. Rain gardens and vegetated buffers infiltrate water and provide plantings that increase ecological value and sequester carbon.
Landscape with Native Grasses, Pollinator Plants, and Trees: Trees sequester and store carbon, moderate temperatures and provide critical habitat, and they enhance the visual landscape. If trees must be removed due to disease, aging, or other requirements, plant new trees.
Educate Employees about Local Climate Impacts and Mitigation Opportunities: Encourage employees to look at NRWA Climate Impact website and to take appropriate actions.
Set Goals to Become a More Climate Resilient and Sustainable Business: Take a look at your business and see if there are ways to reduce your water and energy usage, improve your recycling to reduce waste, or prepare a plan to protect your business from a climate disaster, like flooding. View the Devens Climate Action Toolkit for Businesses, from the Devens Enterprise Commission, for many ideas on how your business can become more resilient and help your community become more sustainable.
Download NRWA's Climate Impact Action List for Businesses (PDF).
Actions for Municipalities
Evaluate Storm-related Infrastructure and upgrade as needed: Evaluate the ability of existing infrastructure to accommodate predicted future flows. Contact NRWA to obtain data and for assistance with evaluations.
Establish Ecology-Based Municipal Open Space Plans: Often municipal open space plans are oriented more toward recreational and visual values than ecological values. Critical ecology-based mitigation strategies are also needed. The concept of ecology-based municipal open space plans can be introduced and implemented.
Require Infiltration Catch Basins, Rain Gardens, and Stormwater Retention: Rain gardens, vegetated buffer strips, retention basins, and infiltration catch basins facilitate stormwater infiltration that reduces runoff and increases groundwater reservoirs that feed wetlands and small streams in periods of drought. Such groundwater reserves also provide cool water to help sustain cold water species. Rain gardens and vegetated buffers infiltrate water and provide plantings that increase ecological value and sequester carbon.
Join the Municipal Vulnerability Program (MVP): Massachusetts municipal officials can assure that their communities participate in the Massachusetts Municipal Vulnerability Preparedness Program, which provides grant funding for preparing and implementing mitigation strategies to address climate impacts.
Manage Town-owned Forests for habitat and carbon sequestration and storage: Manage forests for: a diversity of tree species, ample tree regeneration of future-adapted species, vigorous trees of various sizes and ages, a variety of tree arrangements, and an appropriate amount of deadwood to give forests a complex structure and help them withstand and recover from stressors (i.e. – increased rainfall, flooding, drought conditions during the growing season, invasive plants – trees – insects – invertebrates – diseases).
Protect Ecologically Valuable Properties: Develop comprehensive plans to conserve and protect important ecological areas within the watershed. Ecosystems are complex and vulnerable to damage by human activity and climate change. Connect and expand large conservation areas in order to allow plant and animal communities to migrate or adapt. Connections among protected areas expand their significance.
Download NRWA's Climate Impact Action List for Municipalities (PDF).
Mitigation and Adaptation Strategy References
Protect and Manage Forests
Moomaw, WR, Masino, SA and Faison, EK. 2019. Intact Forests in the United States: Proforestation Mitigates Climate Change and Serves the Greatest Good. Front. For. Glob. Change 2:27.: https://www.frontiersin.org/articles/10.3389/ffgc.2019.00027/full
Protect Massachusetts and New England Forests. Photo essay revealing state sponsored forest destruction in Massachusetts, by Chris Matera, PE. Massachusetts Forest Watch: http://www.maforests.org/
Chris Matera, J. William Stubblefield and Barthold Bouricius, “MASSACHUSETTS STATE PUBLIC FORESTS A Status Update: State Sponsored Forest Destruction Continuing and Increasing and the Need for Genuine Protection” (2020). Massachusetts Forest Watch: www.maforests.org/DFW.pdf.
“Five Reasons That the Earth’s Climate Depends on Forests: Statement from Scientist Signatories” (2019). Climate and Land Use Alliance: http://www.climateandlandusealliance.org/scientists-statement/.
Liz Kimbrough, “Record-high global tree cover loss driven by agriculture” (2020). MONGABAY: https://news.mongabay.com/2020/03/record-high-global-tree-cover-loss-driven-by-agriculture/.
Recordings of a recent speaker series hosted by Climate Action Now of Massachusetts and Save Massachusetts Forests:
- Protecting Massachusetts Forests: Part 1 - How Massachusetts Forests Help Save the Climate, Dr. William R. Moomaw
- Protecting Massachusetts Forests: Part 2 - Our Massachusetts Forests: To Cut or Not to Cut, Michael Kellett and Dr. Bill Stubblefield, May 19, 2020
- Protecting Massachusetts Forests: Part 3. Bioenergy and Forests, Dr. Mary S. Booth, June 9, 2020
- Protecting Massachusetts Forests: Part 4. Forests and Brain Health: Emerging Research, Dr. Susan A. Masino, June 16, 2020
Burned: Are Trees the New Coal? Documentary film produced by Alan Dater and Lisa Merton of Marlborough, VT: http://burnedthemovie.com/
https://environmentalevidencejournal.biomedcentral.com/articles/10.1186/s13750-018-0138-y
Woodlands and Wildlands Partnership: https://www.wildlandsandwoodlands.org/sites/default/files/Wildlands%20and%20Woodlands%20Science_HSHF30_June%2013_2014_0.pdf
MassWoods:
http://masswoods.org/sites/masswoods.net/files/Forest-Resiliency.pdf
Carbon Storage on MassWildlife Lands: https://www.mass.gov/service-details/carbon-storage-on-masswildlife-lands
Managing Our Forests...For Carbon Benefit: https://www.mass.gov/info-details/managing-our-forests-for-carbon-benefits
Forests: a Natural Solution for Climate Change - The Nature Conservancy Infographic: https://www.nature.org/content/dam/tnc/nature/en/photos/MAForestCarbonFactsheet.jpg
Valuing our Forests in a Changing Climate - Massachusetts Forest Forum Statement: http://web.massaudubon.org/site/DocServer/Forest_Forum_Climate_Forestry_Statement_FINAL.pdf?docID=10125&autologin=true
"Climate Change Atlas" provides information on how individual tree species will respond to climate change: https://www.fs.fed.us/nrs/atlas/
Forest types: "Changing Climate, Changing Forests: The Impacts of Climate Change on Forests of the Northeastern United States and Eastern Canada": https://www.fs.fed.us/nrs/pubs/gtr/gtr_nrs99.pdf
"Forest Management in a Changing Climate: How the Climate Affects Forests" Bulletin E-3221, July 2014 (Michigan): https://forestadaptation.org/sites/default/files/Michigan%20Climate%20and%20Forest%20Bulletins%206-16.pdf
USDA Forest Service Climate Change Resource Center (CCRC): https://www.fs.usda.gov/ccrc/
Protect and Enhance Floodplains, Wetlands and Small Streams
Nahlik, A.M. and M. S. Fennessy (2016) Carbon Storage in US Wetlands, Nature Communications, https://www.nature.com/articles/ncomms13835
Protect and Create Meadows, Gardens and Farms
Zomer, R.J., D.A. Bossio, R. Sommer and L.V. Verchot (2017). Global Sequestration Potential of Increased Organic Carbon in Cropland Soils. Nature. https://www.nature.com/articles/s41598-017-15794-8
Soil Health and Climate Change: https://www.climaterealityproject.org/content/right-under-your-feet-soil-health-and-climate-crisis
Protect Interconnected, Resilient Ecological Reserves
https://www.mass.gov/service-details/replace-a-culvert
Establish Ecology-Based Municipal Open Space Plans
https://www.mass.gov/municipal-vulnerability-preparedness-mvp-program
Create Backyard Habitat
Eiseltová, M., Pokorný, J., Hesslerová, P., Ripl, W. (2012): Evapotranspiration – A Driving Force in Landscape Sustainability. In. Irmak A. (ed.) Evapotranspiration - Remote Sensing and Modeling. InTech, pp. 305 – 328. ISBN 978-953-307-216-6, 514 str.
https://www.climatehubs.usda.gov/archive/northeast/360/Worcester.html
Page 4 of 22
