Helping To Restore Mississippi River Basin’s Wetland Ecosystem
Dailycsr.com – 17 September 2020 – DOW partnered with “Restore the Earth Foundation” in attempt to breathe new life and to restore forests, “the world’s oldest and most powerful carbon capture technology”.
DOW showed its support towards “Official Carbon Partnership with the International Olympic Committee”, in short IOC, by planting four hundred acres of “native bald cypress trees in the Pointe-au-Chenes Wildlife Management Area”. This forms part of an initiative to assist the Mississippi River Basin to be restored.
The Mississippi River Basin is also called the Amazon of America and happened to be one of the “largest watersheds” existing on Earth. However, this river basin is facing threat of critical ecosystem degradation besides being a victim of destructions caused by human as well as industrial development, while the “major weather events” also contribute in the same.
As much as eighty percent of the “wetland loss” occurs in the Mississippi River Basin, mainly in Louisiana. DOW’s presence in Louisiana is significant as it operates from four major sites, namely “St. Charles, Plaquemine, Grand Bayou and Greensburg”. In November 2019, some of DOW employees volunteered in tree planting sessions whereby launching the collaboration.
By collaborating with “Restore the Earth Foundation”, DOW has accelerated the process of adopting to “nature-based solutions” for wetland ecosystem in the U.S. besides focusing on “carbon reduction, improved water quality, enhanced wildlife habitat and increased social and economic value”. According to DOW:
“It also challenges current accounting of stacked benefits associated with nature based solutions – work that aligns with our pioneering 2025 “Valuing Nature” Goal. The goal aims to deliver $1 billion in business value from projects that are good for business and better for ecosystems”.
Restoring forest could prove vital in curbing the impact of climate change as it will enhance carbon capture. Here are some the benefits of the project, as mentioned by DOW:
DOW showed its support towards “Official Carbon Partnership with the International Olympic Committee”, in short IOC, by planting four hundred acres of “native bald cypress trees in the Pointe-au-Chenes Wildlife Management Area”. This forms part of an initiative to assist the Mississippi River Basin to be restored.
The Mississippi River Basin is also called the Amazon of America and happened to be one of the “largest watersheds” existing on Earth. However, this river basin is facing threat of critical ecosystem degradation besides being a victim of destructions caused by human as well as industrial development, while the “major weather events” also contribute in the same.
As much as eighty percent of the “wetland loss” occurs in the Mississippi River Basin, mainly in Louisiana. DOW’s presence in Louisiana is significant as it operates from four major sites, namely “St. Charles, Plaquemine, Grand Bayou and Greensburg”. In November 2019, some of DOW employees volunteered in tree planting sessions whereby launching the collaboration.
By collaborating with “Restore the Earth Foundation”, DOW has accelerated the process of adopting to “nature-based solutions” for wetland ecosystem in the U.S. besides focusing on “carbon reduction, improved water quality, enhanced wildlife habitat and increased social and economic value”. According to DOW:
“It also challenges current accounting of stacked benefits associated with nature based solutions – work that aligns with our pioneering 2025 “Valuing Nature” Goal. The goal aims to deliver $1 billion in business value from projects that are good for business and better for ecosystems”.
Restoring forest could prove vital in curbing the impact of climate change as it will enhance carbon capture. Here are some the benefits of the project, as mentioned by DOW:
- “Significant carbon savings: This private-public collaboration is projected to generate an estimated 80,000 metric tons of carbon dioxide emissions reductions over a 40-year period.
- “Improved ecological benefits: In addition to carbon reduction benefits, the reforestation project also is expected to improve water quality and enhance wildlife habitats of this biologically diverse ecosystem.
- “Storm protection to residents: The Pointe-aux-Chenes Wildlife Management Area is the largest remaining land mass that could protect coastal communities from the open waters of the Gulf of Mexico. Restoration of the cypress forest will help serve as a line of defense to help protect more than 200,000 residents from future storms through enhanced buffering capacity and surge absorption functions of healthy coastal forests and wetlands inside levee protection systems”.
This partnership shows the way for future “society and business” collaboration wherein both benefit from valuing nature. The “Cypress Reforestation Social Return on Investment Report” as well as the “EcoMetrics Model” of Restore the Earth Foundation, estimate that the above mentioned project could generate “$22 million in environmental, social and economic value in the region”.
In the words of the Director of Circular Economy Marker as well as the Director of Global Technology and Sustainability for “Dow Olympic & Sports Solutions”, Dr. Nicoletta Piccolrovazzi:
“Climate change is a real threat to civilization. Backed by the Dow-IOC Official Carbon Partnership, our collaboration with Restore the Earth goes beyond business as usual, serving as a uniting force to help accelerate adoption of ‘green infrastructure’ in operations around the globe.”
More information can be availed, in the 2019 Sustainability Report of DOW, which can be accessed by clicking on the link mentioned below:
https://corporate.dow.com/en-us/science-and-sustainability/reporting/sustainability-report-2019/
References:
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