Environmental credits, particularly carbon credits, have become popular tools in the fight against climate change by allowing corporations to offset their emissions via collaborative carbon sequestration. These programs can also play a crucial role in endangered species protection and habitat restoration.

During a recent episode of the National Land Podcast, NC Land Broker Doug Bruggeman and wetland scientist Steve Martin explained how environmental credit programs work, their intersection with the Endangered Species Act (ESA), and the ways Enhancement Survival Permits can allow landowners to practice conservation while still profiting from their carbon sequestration efforts.

Here’s what to know!

How Do Carbon Credit Programs Work?

Carbon credit programs incentivize landowners to manage their land in ways that capture and store carbon dioxide. Landowners can generate carbon credits by implementing practices like reforestation, wetland restoration, and sustainable forest management. These credits are then sold on the open market to companies and governments looking to offset their carbon emissions.

Essentially, one carbon credit is earned for every ton of carbon dioxide sequestered. This creates a financial incentive for landowners to engage in environmentally beneficial practices, contributing to climate change mitigation while generating income.

The Endangered Species Act and Carbon Credits

The Endangered Species Act is a law made to protect endangered species and their habitats. These laws prevent any actions that may jeopardize the safety of any listed species/habitat. Since the species on this list can change over time, there are scenarios where an endangered species enters into a property and drastically reduces a landowner’s ability to make improvements or alterations to their land.

When this happens to a property engaged in a carbon project, it can lead landowners to lose some of their available carbon credits to sell on the marketplace. However, this doesn’t need to be the case, as endangered species protection and carbon sequestration projects need not be mutually exclusive! 

Establishing an Enhancement Survival Permit

In situations like these, there exist options for carbon project managers to ensure the integrity of their projects while also complying with federal regulations and protecting endangered species and habitats. Enhancement survival permits offer a safe harbor from additional regulatory restrictions imposed by the ESA for properties already engaged in carbon projects. 

Bruggeman explained this concept, stating, “The idea there is that you establish a baseline on your land, and if any species comes in or grows beyond that baseline because you’re doing good things on the land, you’re not required to maintain that under the Endangered Species Act since you’re voluntarily supporting the species. It becomes a safe harbor from additional regulation.” 

“The idea we’re promoting here is that by triggering this enhancement of survival permits within carbon projects we can now use carbon projects, hopefully, to recover species and improve habitats.”

Environmental credits are likely to continue gaining momentum as conservation efforts and ecological consciousness become more of a focus for corporations and governments worldwide. While many may think of endangered species protection as a hindrance to landowner profitability, it’s still very much possible to generate passive income via carbon sequestration while simultaneously improving habitats and protecting at-risk species.

If you’ve got more questions about carbon credit programs, get in touch with Doug Bruggeman at Dbruggeman@NationalLand.com or reach out to your local Land Professional today!