Abstract
The 8-county Gulf-Houston Regional Conservation Plan (RCP) is a long-term collaborative of environmental, business, and governmental entities working together to implement an ecosystem resilience plan for the large Gulf-Houston region through 3 Key Goals: 1) Increasing the current 14.7% in protected/preserved land in the eight-county region to 24% of land coverage by 2040; 2) Increasing and supporting the region-wide land management efforts to install nature-based stabilization (NBS) techniques, such as low-impact development, living shorelines, and bioswales, to 50% of land coverage by 2040; and 3) Providing research and advocacy for an increase of 4% annually in air quality offsets through carbon absorption in native soils, plants, trees, and oyster reefs throughout the eight county region. The Gulf-Houston RCP prioritizes the environmental projects in the region that are in need of full or partial funding (called the Working List of Projects), and tracks the funded projects bi-annually. By doing so, HW is able to measure the progress being made in the region toward achieving the 3 key goals. The Gulf-Houston RCP creates a road map for resilience against major storm events and other stressors across the 8-county region now and for years to come. For projects funded over the last 5 years, more than 39,000 acres of protected/preserved land has been acquired or is under conservation easements and more than 39, 000 acres are under restorative enhancements with various funds received. Over 731,000 acres of additional land acquisition and conservation easements are possible if targeted projects become funded. The 4% annual increase in organic carbon sequestration will occur mainly through large-scale targeted native tree plantings and will assist in reducing the CO2 concentrations in the atmosphere, which for the Gulf-Houston region is a substantial stressor.
