On Earth Day, President Biden signed an executive order that not only highlights combatting our current climate crisis, but that could transform the way the U.S. values nature in policy.
The executive order will:
- safeguard mature and old-growth forests on federal lands in the U.S.,
- strengthen reforestation partnerships across the country,
- combat global deforestation,
- focus on nature-based solutions to combat climate change,
- and assess how to better value nature in U.S. policymaking.
To assist in delivering on the global goal of ending natural forest loss by 2030, the U.S. will spearhead the restoration of 200 million hectares of forests and other ecosystems. To that end, The U.S. Department of the Interior (DOI) and the U.S. Department of Agriculture (USDA) will conduct the first-ever inventory of old-growth forests on federal lands. After this catalog is completed, the DOI and USDA will develop new policies and partner with other federal agencies, states, and tribal nations to ensure the policies are effective.
The U.S. will also reduce or eliminate our contribution to global deforestation through our purchasing power by requiring federal agencies to minizine government procurement of agricultural commodities grown on illegally or recently deforested lands. This will make a fundamental and positive impact on the protection of both forests and human rights globally.
Those initiatives are cause for celebration indeed, but OneNature is most excited that the Executive Order calls for the development of a report on nature-based solutions to climate change, the creation of the first U.S. National Nature Assessment, and the development of guidance for valuing nature in US decision making. In a fact sheet issued by the Administration, this last initiative is described:
“The Office of Management and Budget will issue valuation guidance to help agencies better account for services provided by ecosystems and the environment (such as pollinators supporting our crops or forests cleaning our air and water). In support, OSTP (the Office of Science and Technology Policy) and the Department of Commerce will continue leading an interagency initiative to improve and update baseline information on the economic value of our existing natural assets and new nature-based solutions.”
OneNature celebrates President Biden’s administration for its efforts to value nature and recognize the importance of protecting and rehabilitating forests and other ecosystems.
Additionally, we hope they seize this incredible opportunity to reflect not just on the economic values of nature, but on the holistic values of nature and wildlife in this valuation guidance.
Furthermore, we applaud the Administration for the inclusion of Indigenous leaders and local communities in implementing the projects outlined in the Executive Order.
The first-hand experience and knowledge that Indigenous and local communities possess on the topic of wildlife and their shared natural habitat will be a vital element in understanding ways to better support people and nature/wildlife simultaneously.
To learn more about our work on valuing wildlife, nature, well-being, and local knowledge, please download the new OneNature report, “Advancing Well-Being for All Beings” here.