Overview

As climate change impacts intensify around the world, nature-based carbon sequestration and storage are essential tools to addressing the climate crisis. In fact, research has shown that cost-effective natural climate solutions in the U.S. have the potential to absorb 21% of our current net annual greenhouse gas emissions. The question remains, however, where to focus conservation in order to maximize climate benefits. The Conservation Carbon Map can help answer that question and more.

The Conservation Carbon Map is an innovative tool that helps users answer three key questions:

1. Where are existing forest carbon stocks and areas with high annual carbon sequestration rates?
2. What and where are the threats to these carbon-rich landscapes from development, insects and disease, and wildfire risk?
3. Where can climate conservation also provide multiple co-benefits by protecting drinking water supplies, rare ecosystems, and important habitat cores?

This tool summarizes these data at the state, county, and watershed scale as well as for approximately 3 million parcels across the U.S that are larger than 100 acres. Click the mapping application below to get started exploring these data.