Austin Jenkins is the executive director and naturalist of The Katawba Valley Land Trust (KVLT), a nonprofit dedicated to the protection of natural resources, open lands, waters, and historic resources of South Carolina’s Catawba River valley. KVLT owns nearly 1,000 acres, most of which it plans to make publicly accessible in the future. In addition, KVLT holds 27 conservation easements which protect approximately 4,000 acres.
To increase KVLT’s capacity and enable the group to protect more land, Austin plans to tap what he sees as an underutilized volunteer resource: senior citizens.
For his TogetherGreen fellowship, Austin will empower senior citizens to take an active part in land conservation. Recruitment and planning meetings in several different communities will generate interest in activities like monitoring, trail management, public outreach, and river clean-ups.
Through his program, seniors will play a critical role in essential conservation work, providing them with a sense of accomplishment and pride in their local ecosystems. And for those who are unable to experience directly the natural lands KVLT protects, Austin’s project will be documented and shared in several five-minute videos.
By encouraging older Americans to become involved in conservation, Austin’s project will both enable KVLT to protect more land and engage a vital part of the community in environmental efforts.
“I envision a world where every individual makes conservation a priority in their lives,” says Austin.