Land and Climate Catalyst Planning Grants

The 2024 Land and Climate Grant Program, a collaborative effort by the Open Space Institute and the Land Trust Alliance, is designed to integrate climate change considerations into land protection and management. This initiative aligns with both organizations' missions to conserve and steward land by building the capacity of land trusts and other groups. The program's core objective is to foster climate-informed land conservation, stewardship, policy, and communications, directly supporting the broader strategic priorities of enhancing environmental resilience and mitigating climate impacts. The program targets land trusts, other land-conserving groups, 501(c)(3) not-for-profit organizations, and state or federally recognized Tribes. The primary impact goal is to develop and implement plans that address critical climate-related issues such as habitat resilience, carbon mitigation, renewable energy siting, and community adaptation to climate impacts like storms, flooding, drought, fire, or extreme heat. This focus aims to create a tangible difference in how land is protected and managed in the face of a changing climate. The program prioritizes several key areas, including the development of land protection plans that incorporate climate science into strategic conservation, management plans that integrate climate adaptation and mitigation strategies, comprehensive climate communication strategies, and renewable energy siting plans. Preference is given to accredited land trusts and organizations committed to pursuing accreditation, particularly for Land Trust Alliance grants. For Open Space Institute grants, applications from Northern New England (Vermont, New Hampshire, Maine) and the Delaware River Watershed (portions of New York, New Jersey, Pennsylvania, Delaware) are favored, with a focus on projects that integrate forest carbon and/or mitigation of flood hazards. Expected outcomes include the creation of new or revised strategic conservation plans, updated land stewardship and management plans, robust climate communication strategies, and well-defined policies for renewable energy siting on conservation lands. The grants, ranging from $100,000 to $500,000, will support projects with a duration of one year, with all projects expected to commence in 2024 and conclude by December 1, 2025. The funding can cover various costs, including staff time, travel, graphic design, printing, mailing, indirect costs, and project consultants, ensuring comprehensive support for the development and implementation of these vital climate-resilient initiatives.