Natural Lands - the magazine of Natural Lands spring-summer 2020 issue | Página 3

NATURAL LANDS . SPRING/SUMMER 2020
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from the president
big problems. natural solutions.
The world has changed in previously unimaginable ways since we planned
the articles that appear in this edition of Natural Lands. The coronavirus
pandemic has required that Natural Lands adapt alongside the rest of
the world. Yet, thanks to the support of our extraordinary community of
supporters, we continue our mission undaunted. Land is being preserved,
our stewardship team is tending to nature as it springs back to life, and
we have been able keep our nature preserves open to visitors seeking
sunshine and solace.
Indeed, these past few months have proven once again the important
role that nature and its conservation can play in addressing even our most
complex challenges… whether a world-wide outbreak or another global
threat, climate change, which is our focus in this issue.
We are heartened that, in planning its response to the pandemic, every
level of government recognized the vital mental and physical benefits that
time outdoors delivers and that are so urgently needed during a health crisis. Natural Lands has
been fortunate to play a role in providing these benefits for the unprecedented numbers of people
who have been visiting our properties. We continue to receive grateful, enthusiastic feedback
from those who have discovered—or rediscovered—the joy of nature.
Nature and the work of conservation are no less essential when it comes to climate change.
It is likely that, in the coming decades, we will lose irreplaceable natural resources like the
old-growth forest at our Glades Wildlife Refuge in New Jersey. Yet, as the scientists behind the
concept of natural climate solutions have proven, nature isn’t just a victim of climate change; it
has a vital role to play in mitigating it.
The core work of Natural Lands—saving open spaces, caring for nature, and connecting people
to the outdoors—takes on even greater urgency and relevance in this context. We are turning
more of our organizational attention to understanding how conservation at a regional and local
level in eastern Pennsylvania and southern New Jersey can help address the climate challenge
ahead of us.
With your help, Natural Lands will continue to do its part to tap nature’s immense power to
address some of our biggest problems… whether it’s through the capacity of a single silver maple
tree to store 400 pounds of carbon dioxide or through the ability of a walk in a meadow to inspire
hope in a difficult moment.
OLIVER BASS, PRESIDENT
Ed Cunicelli