LandRise
A game-changing capacity development solution for accelerating land protection by land trusts.
The IIC, with several partnering organizations, is developing a capacity development program to help land trusts to increase the amount of land that is protected in the United States.
Land trusts have an essential role in meeting the United States' 30x30 goals (protection of 30 percent of U.S. lands and waters by 2030) because they work with private landowners to create conservation easements—voluntary agreements to conserve land in exchange for tax benefits. LandRise is a collaborative program that uses science and storytelling to increase the pace and scale of private land protection by supporting land trusts nationwide.Most land trusts don't have the resources needed to identify and prioritize lands. LandRise addresses that capacity gap by pairing land trusts with academic and professional volunteers to create products that drive strategy and engage and inspire private landowners to participate in land conservation. LandRise will help land trusts and landowners understand what needs to be protected and will educate the public on why land protection is important.
The Land Trust Landscape
It's not just about the quantity of land protected, it's about land quality and conservation equity. The impacts of private land conservation go beyond acres alone. In addition to meeting 30x30 acreage targets, private lands contribute to healthy communities and landscapes. Private protected lands provide benefits like improved water quality, biodiversity and habitat protection, enhanced connectivity, climate resilience, and improved agriculture productivity.
LandRise is designed to support the interests and voices of people who have been historically marginalized and excluded from decision-making and give them opportunities to engage in private land conservation. Protecting the right places demands good spatial analysis that identifies the most critical or threatened places based on sound data, science and shared input. LandRise supports land trusts with access to this information, which accelerates and drives strategic decision-making.
Through this initiative, all 1200 U.S. land trusts will be empowered with the requisite data, tools, and collaborative support services to significantly contribute to the resilience and health of our communities, the nation and the planet.
Planned Program Features of LandRise
Geospatial HubA curated collection of data, maps, apps, tutorials, best practices and case studies integrated, for the first time, into a hub that is accessible to a network of land trusts and land-use decision-makers. |
Capacity DevelopmentSupport for land trusts from students, faculty, and volunteers with technical aid, training, and tools. Support that bolsters land trusts' use of strategy, data and science, documentation and reporting, communication, and donor engagement. Additional support includes geospatial mapping, analysis, visualization, and storytelling. |
Community of Practice DevelopmentLandRise will bring land trust organizations and the conservation academic community together through workshops and networking opportunities and will provide a platform to expand connections and impact. |
The Partnership
LandRise partners are leaders in education, conservation and technology. This initiative and its supporting funding structure are currently in development at the IIC in collaboration with the Society for Conservation GIS.
