Landscaping or land development is an intricate process. Many important factors come to play like design, planning for resource allocation, assess soil conditions and weather, and so much more.
However, another thing that should be addressed when embarking on a landscaping project is its environmental impact. Specifically, you need to look into how your landscape project would contribute or help reduce carbon emissions.
Why Is There a Need to Mitigate Carbon Emissions
Carbon emissions are gases that contributes to the greenhouse effect and climate change. We all know that climate change is a serious global issues that affects every aspect of human existence including landscaping.
Climate change is becoming a major issue in the landscaping industry. There are landscaping processes do contribute to carbon emissions. And landscape projects are affected by extreme weather due to climate change. But what makes landscaping unique is its capability to mitigate its effects and even reduce carbon emissions through careful planning.
The impact of carbon emission is seen mainly in urban areas. But lately the debilitating effects has spilled over to rural areas. In response, more and more farmers and property owners are looking into rural landscaping. Because rural landscaping, done right, can help combat the effects of climate change. It can also help ensure continued productivity for years to come.
As a result, carbon emission reduction is now seen as an integral part in rural landscape project planning. It’s not done simply as a response to the global environmental crisis. Planning for carbon emission reduction is part of creating sustainable, resilient, and functional design.
How Can Rural Landscaping Mitigate Carbon Emissions
Property owners can no longer ignore the effects of climate change. Even though it’s a global problem, there are steps that you can take to help your property adapt and thrive in this changing environment. Our survival depends on acting now by making sure the land can continue to sustain us despite climate change.
Any land developer serious about carbon emission reduction has plenty of options:
• Planting of native or indigenous plants. Native plants are resilient to a variety of weather conditions and most of them have commercial value in agriculture. It all comes down to choosing the right type of plants in your property. We at Rural Design have thousands of valuable native plants in our nursery to choose from. We also have a nursery botanist available to help you select the right native plants for your landscaping project.
• Forest or wetland restoration. If you have wetlands or areas in your property that still has some forest cover, consider restoring them. The government provides incentives to property owners with restoration projects. Incentives like the Emissions Trading Scheme for restored forests and rates relief for wetland restoration.
• Consider permaculture. Permaculture is sustainable, efficient, and has minimal impact on the environment. With the good planning, permaculture farms can be just as productive or even more productive than most commercial farming practices.
• Proper waste reduction and use. Agricultural waste and waste processing contributes to carbon emissions. For farms to be more efficient, self-sufficient and sustainable, there has to be waste reduction, efficient recycling, and proper waste utilization. Good landscape design can help minimize waste and provide options for waste reuse.
Long Term Benefits of Addressing Carbon Emissions
There are many long term benefits to be had in addressing the problem of carbon emissions.
• Healthier environment. Carbon emission reduction in your landscape design makes it easier to adopt green practices. This improves biodiversity and creates a cleaner, more productive rural environment.
• Encourages environmental accountability. Making carbon emissions reduction an important component in your landscape plans encourages environmental awareness. This promotes more environment friendly practices and activities within the community.
• Creates a sustainable and resilient farm. Climate change will affect agriculture. How bad the effect would be depends on whether the farm is ready to adapt to these changes. Making the necessary changes now prepares your property for the futures and ensures its viability for years to come.
Our planet is changing whether we like it or not. Keeping things the way they are is no longer possible. But with intelligent and thoughtful rural design, you can help your property adopt to these changes. It’s not just about function and design anymore, it’s the key to our survival.