Nature Conservancy in Alabama makes major land purchase in Mobile-Tensaw Delta, ‘America’s Amazon’
The Nature Conservancy is working to protect the land, water and wildlife of the Mobile-Tensaw Delta, a hotbed of biodiversity. (Hunter Nichols)
The deal protects 8,000 acres in one of the most biodiverse regions in the nation.
Almost 250 years ago, before the Declaration of Independence pronounced the creation of the United States, artist and naturalist William Bartram sailed up the Tensaw and Tombigbee rivers from the port town of Mobile into a wild, watery delta – “the richest I ever saw.”
This week, the nonprofit The Nature Conservancy announced the purchase of nearly 8,000 acres in southwest Alabama in that very same delta where the Alabama and Tombigbee rivers come together.
The $18.2 million deal, the largest investment ever made by The Nature Conservancy in Alabama, protects and preserves a critical section of the Mobile-Tensaw Delta, considered one of the most ecologically diverse places on Earth.
“I fundamentally believe this is a treasure for the people of Alabama, and ultimately the nation,” Mitch Reid, The Nature Conservancy’s Alabama state director, told Alabama News Center.
“We want this to be part of the public landscape in Alabama,” Reid said, noting that the purchase is the first step in a long-term strategy to make the property available for public use, and part of an ongoing, multipronged effort to connect and protect biologically important lands from the Appalachian Mountains to the Gulf Coast.
The newly secured property is in Clarke County in an area known by biologists and conservationists as “The Land Between the Rivers.” The reference goes back to Bartram, who explored the region in 1775. It was during his journey, according to the Encyclopedia of Alabama, that Bartram first saw and sketched an evening primrose, which he described as “the most brilliant shew (show) of any yet known to exist.”
“As for the trees …” Bartram wrote following his trip up the Tombigbee, past its confluence with the Alabama River, “… I shall forbear to describe them, because it would be incredible; let it suffice to mention that the Cypress, Ash, Platanus, Populus, Liquidambar, and others, are by far the tallest, straightest, and every way the most enormous that I have seen or heard of. And as proof of the extraordinary fertility of the soil, the reeds or canes (Arundo gigantea) grow here thirty or forty feet high, and as thick as a man’s arm, or three or four inches in diameter…”
What Bartram marveled at 250 years ago remains an extraordinary place, “one of the last estuaries of its kind on the Gulf Coast,” Reid said. He said the Mobile-Tensaw Delta has more turtle species than anywhere else on the planet. Behind it in turtle diversity: the famed Mekong Delta in Vietnam and, after that, the Amazon.
Indeed, many pushing for greater protections of the Mobile-Tensaw Delta have given it another name: “America’s Amazon.”
The Mobile-Tensaw Delta is a watery world of towering trees and an enormous array of wildlife. (Hunter Nichols)
Reid said the Mobile-Tensaw Delta is where two-thirds of Alabama’s water systems meet, with the banks of the Alabama and Tombigbee rivers roughly forming the boundaries of Clarke County. “It’s that dynamic system coming together that makes it such a hotbed of life.” It’s also what makes the area, which he called the “capstone” of the delta, so important to protect, Reid said.
The extraordinary biodiversity of the region helped persuade major donors to join together with The Nature Conservancy to complete the land purchase. They include the Holdfast Collective, the grant-making arm the apparel brand Patagonia; its $5.2 million gift is its largest to date to any nonprofit.
“We are fortunate that we were able to partner with the Holdfast Collective to realize this vision,” Reid said in a news release announcing the purchase. “Holdfast recognizes the global importance of this landscape and became a principal investor early on in this project. Without Holdfast, this project would not have been possible.”
Another $10 million toward the purchase came from an anonymous donor; $3 million more was committed to the project by The Nature Conservancy.
In addition to its biodiversity, the trees in the Mobile-Tensaw Delta, praised so highly by Bartram more than two centuries ago, can help in efforts to offset human-produced carbon emissions.
“The Mobile-Tensaw Delta represents one of the best high-yield opportunities for carbon capture projects in the U.S. outside of the Cumberland Plateau in the Appalachians,” The Nature Conservancy news release said. “With proper protection and management, the forests will continue to capture and store carbon, becoming part of Earth’s natural solutions to fight climate change.”
Over the last three decades, The Nature Conservancy has worked with partners to protect nearly 100,000 acres of the 200,000-acre Mobile-Tensaw Delta. Alabama Power is among the many supporters of The Nature Conservancy.
For more information about The Nature Conservancy’s ongoing initiatives in Alabama, click here.
