February 14, 2023

Croatan Institute is working in Lenoir and Duplin counties within North Carolina to reforest a plot of agricultural land with native, diversified hardwoods to increase biodiversity, ecological resilience, and regenerate a distressed agricultural landscape. 

On March 4^th, Croatan Institute and members of the community will undertake the second phase of this afforestation project, planting close to 2,000 trees on the site. In preparation for the tree planting, the approximately sixteen-acre site was fallowed for two years, following decades of chemically intensive traditional agriculture growing cash crops such as corn and soy. 

This project is one of several exciting efforts of the Institute where we are working directly with landowners to support regenerative, native restoration of agricultural and forested lands across North Carolina using conservation finance strategies coordinated through our Soil Wealth Areas.

To learn more and volunteer, contact James Smith at james@croataninstitute.org.