Nature Positive, Carbon Negative: The Duke Farms Approach

Duke Farms has published a new paper in the international business journal Amplify about our work to restore nature and cut greenhouse gas emissions across our beautiful 2,700 acres. The article, “Nature Positive, Carbon Negative: Re-imagining the Role of Campuses and Peri-Urban Communities,” (HYPERLINK TK) uses Duke Farms to illustrate how other communities and campuses (corporate, education, health care, etc.) can follow the Duke Farms approach to improve biodiversity and reduce their carbon footprints. 

As Duke Farms visitors and partners know, we have been working to restore nature for many years, including Raritan River restoration that supports our world famous Bald Eagles, white-tailed deer management that supports forest health, rotational grazing to support threatened grassland bird habitat, invasive species management, and our native plant nursery. Our new paper summarizes our approach to restoring nature at Duke Farms to inspire other landowners and land managers to take a similar journey. 

In the last few years, Duke Farms has also worked hard to demonstrate climate change solutions. We have quantified and reduced our carbon footprint, which we believe is an imperative for every institution across the country and around the world. This new paper explains how we’ve approached that work at Duke Farms, presenting a roadmap for other campus owners and managers to take a similar approach. This fall, Duke Farms switched on an advanced new solar array and battery system that provides all of our electricity needs. And as regular visitors and community members know, we have EV fast chargers in our parking lot, available to all. 

We’re also pioneering natural climate solutions, which means using nature to help address climate change. These win-win approaches, like planting trees in the Raritan River floodplain and regenerative agricultural practices, give nature a boost and pull carbon dioxide out of the atmosphere, storing it in soils and plants. Our new paper in Amplify gives an overview of what we’ve learned about implementing effective natural climate solutions in partnership with Rutgers University scientists. 

Duke Farms also has a mission to engage leaders who make decisions about land management, energy use, and other key topics that affect nature, climate, and our communities. By sharing our experiences and a call to action in publications like Amplify, we are telling our story in a way that can inspire and equip others to make a difference. 

If you are a professional working in a related field, please contact us to discuss further, and if you are a Duke Farms visitor or volunteer, we hope this will give you an even deeper appreciation for everything going on here at Duke Farms.