One third of the world’s carbon tamed by grass

Grasslands might not capture the imagination of the public like the Rocky Mountains, the lakes of Manitoba or the rugged terrain of the Canadian Shield but efforts are underway to acknowledge the native prairie’s role in preventing climate change.

“Climate change is happening and that’s because of carbon in the atmosphere,” said Cameron Carlyle, associate professor of rangeland ecology at the University of Alberta. “Globally, rangelands hold 30 percent of soil carbon.”

But outside of conservation easements, which seek to protect diminishing rangelands, a formula to award carbon credits to those who steward the land to maintain that naturally stored carbon and even enhance that ability of the soil to absorb it, remains elusive.

Chad Macpherson, general manager of the Saskatchewan Stock Growers (SSG), said there are efforts to address the issue, notably a Canadian Forage and Grassland Association program.