Saving Our Grasslands

The document highlights the critical role of grasslands in biodiversity and carbon sequestration, noting that over 70 percent of American prairies have been destroyed. It identifies federal crop insurance subsidies and the Renewable Fuel Standard (RFS) as primary drivers of habitat loss and proposes six policy interventions, including amending the RFS, strengthening the Sodsaver provision, and passing the North American Grasslands Conservation Act.

• Grasslands are vital for global environmental stability, holding about one-third of the world's terrestrial carbon stocks and providing resilience against climate-driven threats like heat, wildfire, and drought.
• North American grasslands are severely threatened, with more than 70 percent of US prairies destroyed. Specifically, the Great Plains lost 1.8 million acres of habitat in 2020 and 10 million acres between 2016 and 2020, primarily due to row crop agriculture.
• Certain US federal policies have inadvertently encouraged the conversion of grasslands to cropland. Crop insurance subsidies reduce the financial risk of farming marginal lands, while the Renewable Fuel Standard (RFS) increased demand for biofuel crops like soybeans and corn without effective conversion prevention.
• The document recommends several legislative and regulatory actions: requiring the EPA to validate that lands were cultivated before 2007 for RFS qualification, making newly cultivated intact grasslands ineligible for crop insurance subsidies for 10 years via Sodsaver, and expanding the Grassland Conservation Reserve Program (CRP).
• Additional proposed solutions include protecting the $20 billion Inflation Reduction Act investment in climate-smart agriculture, reducing the approximately 35 percent of US food that goes unsold or uneaten to lower production pressure, and passing the North American Grasslands Conservation Act.

APA

WWF International (2023). Saving Our Grasslands. https://www.worldwildlife.org/documents/127/21amyob6yu_ExecSummary_Grasslands_051123.2_18_.pdf

Chicago

WWF International. Saving Our Grasslands. 2023. https://www.worldwildlife.org/documents/127/21amyob6yu_ExecSummary_Grasslands_051123.2_18_.pdf.

Wikipedia

{{cite report |author=WWF International |title=Saving Our Grasslands |date=2023 |url=https://www.worldwildlife.org/documents/127/21amyob6yu_ExecSummary_Grasslands_051123.2_18_.pdf |access-date=23 October 2026 |via=Climate Insights Directory}}

BibTeX

@techreport{wwfinternational2023saving, author = {{WWF International}}, title = {{Saving Our Grasslands}}, institution = {WWF International}, year = {2023}, url = {https://www.worldwildlife.org/documents/127/21amyob6yu_ExecSummary_Grasslands_051123.2_18_.pdf}, urldate = {2026-10-23}, note = {Indexed by Climate Insights Directory} }