Sustainability at Champaign County Forest Preserves

Going Above and Beyond Our Mission

Champaign County Forest Preserves has consistently fulfilled its mission to conserve, restore, and protect Champaign County's native ecosystems. Native ecosystems directly mitigate climate change through carbon sequestration and storage and mitigate the effects of climate change such as flooding and drought. The changing climate also threatens the stability of forested and prairie ecosystems. Changes in temperature and rainfall patterns can disrupt life cycles, alter movement patterns, extirpate sensitive species, and facilitate the spread of pests and pathogens. Globally, climate change is the fourth greatest driver of biodiversity loss.

The forest preserves can help reduce the impacts of climate change through the choices it makes in daily operations and in long-term planning, as well as through outreach to the community.

On Earth Day 2022, the district made a commitment to go above and beyond this mission to achieve comprehensive sustainability goals.The district strives to minimize its environmental impact and serve as a community leader in the transition to a low-carbon future. Champaign County Forest Preserves has taken action on sustainability through:

District-Wide Emissions Reductions

In 2020 CCFPD purchased renewable electrical power, replaced standard grid electrical power with low carbon power at the Lake of the Woods Forest Preserve, and saw a decrease in facility usage due to COVID-19. These factors led to a 33% reduction in total, district-wide CO2 emissions in 2020. That is the equivalent of taking 48 passenger cars off of the road for a year.

Continuing Our Commitment

Champaign County Forest Preserve District is Committed to reducing its carbon emissions. The district will have at least a 5% reduction in current emissions by 2025.

See the full Climate Change Commitment Resolution, Sustainable Purchasing Policy, and Climate Change Report.