Carbon Revenue Funds Youth Education
Carbon revenue can be used in a variety of ways to support long-term tribal priorities. Working with the Mississippi Band of Choctaw Indians, carbon revenue has fully funded the construction of a 287,000 sq. ft. state-of-the-art educational facility for tribal middle and high school youth.
Working with the Bois Forte Band of Chippewa, carbon revenue is paying down the debt incurred from rematriating 28,000 acres of ancestral lands. Cultural teachers and Ojibwe language teachers have used this land to help tribal youth return to it and learn more about Traditional Ecological Knowledge.
Supporting Tribal Infrastructure
Generating carbon revenue consistently throughout a project’s life cycle is an ideal way to grow tribal staffing capacity. Working with the Keweenaw Bay Indian Community, carbon revenue generated over 40 years is being used to fund a Sustainability Specialist who is leading the Community’s green energy transition. This has unlocked access to resources and expertise that would not otherwise be available to the Community.
A Community’s Connection to the Land
The purpose of carbon projects is to increase carbon sequestration while reducing the stresses of harvesting. However, each project encourages cultural harvesting in ways that increase the enrolled community’s connection to their local environment. In this way, tribal artisans continue to master their craft while passing down traditional knowledge to the next generation.