By Cami Froneberger
Integrity of the land is a vital aspect of agriculture. Farmers and ranchers strive to ensure the longevity of their resources. Oftentimes, this means helping restore soil ecosystems or making repairs to a disturbed landscape. This is where revegetation comes in. A regenerative practice, revegetation is used throughout areas that have seen damage due to urbanization, invasive weed species, mining, or other degradation like drought, flooding, or erosion. Revegetation is bringing biodiversity back to native soils, and here’s how it can also bring diversity to your portfolio.
Aiding a Vital Ecosystem
Soil is home to living and non-living matter, microorganisms, insects, and also houses gasses, liquids, and minerals. Revegetation restores this ecosystem following disturbances to the land by adding nutrients back to the soil. Adding organic matter back into the soil can also help improve soil fertility.
Worldwide Impacts
Revegetation brings a positive impact, not only to agriculture, but also to the planet. This purposeful process has a number of benefits including:
Rebuilding a natural habitat for native wildlife species
Combating against the buildup of carbon in the atmosphere through the partnership of revegetation and reforestation
Restoring soil fertility
Providing shade for livestock and crops
Reducing land degradation such as erosion and protecting water quality
Growing Your Wealth with Soil Health
In 2019, a team of researchers from Croatan Institute, Delta Institute, and the Organic Agriculture Revitalization Strategy (OARS) released a detailed report for investors, agriculturalists, philanthropists, and entrepreneurs. The report, Soil Wealth: Investing in Regenerative Agriculture across Asset Classes, highlighted 127 investments totaling $321.1 billion that exclusively integrated sustainable food and agriculture in their investment processes, with 70 of those strategies having combined assets of $47.5 billion, including regenerative agricultural criteria in their investment strategy as well. Investing in regenerative agriculture can help provide opportunities for farmers to improve soil health and help build the wealth of the rural community.