Initiative: Research

A 2022 report from Highstead in Redding, CT, explores how New England’s forests are important climate solutions and explores five pathways to increase forests’ impact. New England’s forests are an underrated asset in the fight against climate change, already sequestering the equivalent of 14 percent of carbon emissions across the six states and capable of much more. Through five complementary strategies, forests could sequester 21 percent of carbon emissions while also enhancing critical co-benefits such as cleaner air and water, greater recreational opportunities, and jobs.

New research from Harvard Forest and published in "Environmental Research Letters" shows striking disparities in the distribution of conserved land across multiple dimensions of social marginalization in New England - and creates a tool to help address them. But Harvard Forest authors Lucy Lee and Jonathan Thompson - with colleagues Neenah Estrella-Luna of Boston, and Kate Sims and Margot Lurie ('21) of Amherst College - didn't stop at identifying the problems. They also created tools that will be part of the solution.