Published On: 11.21.23 | 

By: Alabama News Center Staff

Bezos Earth Fund adds to its commitment to help restore wild landscapes, including longleaf pines in Alabama

The sun rises on a longleaf pine forest in Alabama's Wiregrass region. Officials recently celebrated 15 years of a multipronged effort to expand the important longleaf ecosystem across its historical range. (contributed)

The latest award benefits the Longleaf Landscape Stewardship Fund, which is also supported by Alabama Power and Southern Company.     

The Bezos Earth Fund has committed a third $30 million award to the National Fish and Wildlife Foundation (NFWF) to speed recovery of two imperiled natural landscapes: longleaf pine forests across the Southeast, and Northern great plains grasslands.

The grant was announced at the 15-year celebration of America’s Longleaf Restoration Initiative hosted by the U.S. Department of Agriculture, Department of Defense and Department of the Interior.

It’s the Earth Fund’s third award to NFWF and the second to focus exclusively on the longleaf and Northern great plains landscapes. The 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 forest and 600,000 acres of Northern great plains grasslands.

Alabama Power and parent Southern Company are among the longtime supporters of the Longleaf Landscape Stewardship Fund, which is helping restore longleaf habitat across the Southeast, including in Alabama.

The Earth Fund contributions will accelerate progress towards two broad landscape goals: to restore 8 million acres of longleaf and 6 million acres of Northern great plains grasslands by 2030. The two landscapes are home to some of the planet’s most biodiverse and threatened ecosystems.

According to NFWF and many other experts, longleaf pine forests rival tropical rainforests in terms of biodiversity. But in the United States, these forests have been reduced to 5% of their historical range, which stretches from Virginia through Alabama to Texas and Florida.

Grasslands, such as the Northern great plains, are among the world’s most endangered and least protected ecosystems and are home to some of the most endangered and fastest declining species in North America, NFWF officials said in a news release.

“Longleaf pine forests and the grasslands of the Northern great plains are national treasures. Not only are these ecosystems vital for the economic and cultural wellbeing of local communities, but they are also places that can have globally significant impact in terms of nature protection and carbon sequestration. The Bezos Earth Fund is thrilled to continue our partnership with NFWF and coalitions of local partners working to protect and restore these precious ecosystems,” said Cristián Samper, managing director and leader for Nature Solutions at the Bezos Earth Fund.

A longleaf forest on Alabama Power land near Lake Mitchell. (Dennis Washington / Alabama News Center)

“We are extremely gratified to receive continued landscape-level funding for longleaf and Northern great plains restoration priorities,” said Jeff Trandahl, NFWF executive director and CEO. “We want to recognize the strong and ongoing commitment from the Bezos Earth Fund in supporting the people and wildlife dependent on these threatened ecosystems. This kind of commitment is remarkable, and so vital in building community capacity to succeed.”

The Bezos Earth Fund was created by a commitment of $10 billion from Amazon and Blue Origin founder Jeff Bezos in 2020 to be disbursed as grants to address climate and nature within the current decade.

Chartered by Congress in 1984, NFWF has become one of the nation’s largest private conservation grant makers, funding more than 21,600 projects that have generated an estimated conservation impact of $8.1 billion.

In 2022, the NFWF-Bezos Earth Fund partnership resulted in 51 conservation projects supporting forest and grassland habitat restoration and protection using voluntary conservation easements in the Northern great plains and longleaf pine ecosystems. The projects are working in 15 states including Alabama, as well as in Saskatchewan and Alberta, Canada. NFWF officials said the projects have generated more than $90 million in conservation impact across these landscapes.

NFWF/Bezos Earth Fund Conserve Longleaf Pine Forest (2023) – Full Length from NFWF on Vimeo.

In all, the Earth Fund contributions to NFWF and its grantees are expected to result in the sequestration of up to 8 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.

Alabama Power has long been involved in efforts to preserve and expand longleaf pine habitat in Alabama, including on company-owned and -managed property. The company also has long been involved in efforts to protect and expand the population of red-cockaded woodpeckers and other bird species in the state.

A tiny red-cockaded woodpecker, carefully captured from a longleaf pine forest near Alabama Power’s Lake Mitchell, sports colorful bands that help conservation officials track the birds. The Alabama Department of Conservation and Natural Resources and U.S. Fish & Wildlife Service work with Alabama Power to monitor the red-cockaded woodpecker population on company land. (Justin Averette / Alabama News Center)

NFWF officials said they are planning in early December to issue a request for proposals for grant funding for longleaf restoration projects in Alabama and across the longleaf’s historic range. Learn more about NFWF’s Longleaf Landscape Stewardship Fund here.

To learn more about Alabama Power’s ongoing environmental stewardship efforts, click here. To learn more about the 15-year celebration of America’s Longleaf Restoration Initiative, click here.