Climate Resilience Project Scope
The main goal of this project is to protect lands for agricultural use, with the intended resilience benefits of preserving food production and security, improving farm business viability, and preserving natural habits and ecosystem services. Specific actions this year included the funding of an APR for Lauzier Farm in South Hadley. A whole farm approach to land protection was implemented resulting in the protection of 205 acres of productive farmland, woolds, and wetlands as well as the implementation of a plan for the prevention of soil erosion.
Metrics and Results
The success of the project is measured by a metric on the list of currently tracked ResilientMass Metrics, “Acres of land protected for agricultural use”. This project protected 205 acres.
Best Practices and Lessons Learned
A lesson learned here was the ability to meet many intertwined goals through land protection; this project also afforded the opportunity for a land transfer to a local dairy operation (Barstow’s Longview Farm, Inc. in South Hadley), which enables greater economic viability for the dairy operation and improves food security.
Further Action
There are plans and funding to continue similar efforts in FY26.