Our Mission
The National Indian Carbon Coalition cultivates holistic systems projects that strengthen Indigenous land stewardship, promote measurable resiliency, and create benefits for communities to thrive.
Our Values
We center the perspectives of Tribal Nations and Indigenous communities within the protection of natural spaces. Finding the intersections between Traditional Ecological Knowledge and Western science is crucial in safeguarding Earth’s ecosystems.
An Opportunity for Tribal Nations
In collaboration with Tribal Nations and Indigenous communities across North America, our work centers long-term economic growth within environmental stewardship. Specifically, we work with Tribal partners to improve ecosystem management practices and increase the rate of carbon cycling to generate carbon credits. The sale of carbon credits brings additional funding into Indigenous communities, supporting land reacquisition, infrastructure development, and cultural programming.
Where many economically driven management practices are extractive, finding value in harvesting timber, drilling for oil, or mining for minerals, Indigenous Stewardship Solutions are different. Instead, these nature-based practices generate income over the long term by sequestering carbon in healthy ecosystems. By being generative, rather than extractive, our work plays a significant role in supporting Tribal Nations and Indigenous communities in building restorative economies.
Not sure what a carbon credit is? Learn more here.
Why Our Work Matters
The National Indian Carbon Coalition (NICC) was established as a program under Indian Land Tenure Foundation(ILTF) & Intertribal Agriculture Council (IAC). Our program’s goal is to increase access to resources for Tribal Nations and Indigenous communities through long-term ecosystem stewardship. By improving the management of forests, grasslands, and other ecosystems, we work with communities to increase carbon sequestration in nature and generate revenue through the development and sale of carbon credits.
A Program Under ILTF
ILTF is a national, community-based organization serving Tribal Nations and Indigenous communities in the recovery and rematriation of ancestral homelands. ILTF has established programs, such as NICC, to promote education, increase cultural awareness, and create economic opportunity to support the long-term ownership and stewardship of Tribal lands. We are reforming the legal and administrative systems that prevent Indigenous people from owning and controlling reservation lands.
Benefits for Tribal Nations
Because Tribal Nations and Indigenous communities steward significant agricultural, rangeland, and forestland, many are well-positioned to participate in environmental commodities markets. These lands offer pathways to generate long-term economic value while maintaining Tribal control and advancing land-based priorities defined by each Nation.
- New, land-based revenue streams that align with long-term stewardship goals
- Continued Tribal ownership and control of land
- Strengthened land management and stewardship practices
- Reduced greenhouse gas emissions through nature-based strategies
- Improved soil function, biodiversity, and water and air quality
NICC's Primary Activities
- Work alongside Tribal Nations, Indigenous communities, and individual tribal member landowners to navigate environmental commodities markets and identify credible project partners
- Share independent, data-driven information to support Tribal decision-making
- Apply web-based mapping and satellite imagery to evaluate land-based project opportunities and estimate potential economic value
- Deliver education and technical guidance on nature-based solutions, project management, and feasibility assessment
- Aggregate carbon projects by linking geographically dispersed activities with similar emissions outcomes to streamline qualification, measurement, and verification processes