Last week at the South Carolina Waterfowl Association’s Wildlife Education Center, several thousand trees were planted as part of a Bottomland Hardwood Restoration and Carbon Sequestration Project sponsored by Duke Energy.
The site will serve as a demonstration area at Camp Leopold for thousands of South Carolina students to learn about the process of carbon sequestration – the capturing and storing of carbon dioxide, which reduces the levels of the compound in the atmosphere. The intricate process involved preparing and planting nearly 20 acres of bottomland habitat with cypress, tupelo, willow oak, and cherrybark oak. In addition to carbon sequestration, the planted hardwoods will provide mast for different wildlife species throughout the habitat. Students at Camp Leopold will play a prominent role in data collection on tree survival, growth, and carbon sequestration rates. The South Carolina Waterfowl Association is extremely grateful for the support of Duke Energy with this initiative.
The South Carolina Waterfowl Association exists to enhance and perpetuate South Carolina’s wildlife heritage through education and habitat conservation. The mission of Camp Leopold is “To create an ecologically literate citizenry by heightening student awareness of the natural world, fine-tuning the skills necessary to read the landscape, and instilling a love, respect, and admiration for the land so that each individual might develop a personal land ethic.”
