Illinois

Providing access to land for all: The accredited Lake Forest Open Lands manages the Center for Conservation Leadership to provide sustained programming to students who have shown an interest in nature and the environment but are not yet ready for, or do not have access to, internships at some of the major conservation organizations. The land trust also reached beyond Lake Forest, an affluent north shore suburb of Chicago, to include students from an economically and socially diverse range of neighboring communities in Lake County.

Tackling climate change: The accredited Openlands provides TreePlanters Grants to communities in Chicago and the near south suburbs to provide new trees. The grants encourage resilience through planting trees and creating a network of neighbors to care for the trees. Planting trees is one of the simplest nature-based solutions to climate change and is a tangible way for individuals to make a positive impact on the environment.

Saving family farms: The accredited Land Conservancy of McHenry County has been holding workshops for women who own farmland. The concept came from an organization based in Iowa called the Women, Food and Agriculture Network. The workshops are meant to provide a crucial link between women farmland owners and the resources they need to achieve their conservation goals by holding women-only meetings.