The National Fish and Wildlife Foundation (NFWF) has announced a $30 million grant from the Bezos Earth Fund to accelerate the recovery of two imperiled landscapes: longleaf pine forests and Northern Great Plains grasslands. 

The award, the Earth Fund’s third to NFWF and the second focused exclusively on the longleaf and Northern Great Plains landscapes, was announced at the 15-year celebration of America’s Longleaf Restoration Initiative. Funding will support an estimated 30 local groups via NFWF’s Longleaf Landscape Stewardship Fund and the Northern Great Plains Program to restore and maintain 200,000 acres of longleaf pine forests and 600,000 acres of Northern Great Plains grasslands. Taken together, these activities will sequester up to eight million metric tons of CO₂ equivalent by 2055 and support recovery of 10 at-risk species, including the red-cocked woodpecker and black-footed ferret. These efforts will accelerate progress toward broader landscape goals to restore eight million acres of longleaf forests and six million acres of Northern Great Plains grasslands by 2030.

“Longleaf pine forests and the grasslands of the Northern Great Plains are national treasures,” said Bezos Earth Fund managing director and leader for nature solutions Cristián Samper. “Not only are these ecosystems vital for the economic and cultural well-being of local communities, but they are also places that can have globally significant impact in terms of nature protection and carbon sequestration.”

(Photo credit: Getty Images/Bullpen AI)