This Friday, October 22, the Wolakota Regenerative Buffalo and Wildlife Sanctuary will hold a celebration honoring the release of a herd of buffalo onto the Rosebud Sioux Reservation.
Jointly supported by the NDN Fund and NDN Foundation, the Wolakota Regenerative Buffalo Range and Wildlife Sanctuary is a Rosebud Economic Development Corporation (REDCO) project, which is the economic development arm of the Rosebud Sioux Tribe. The project will convert 28,000 acres of Tribal lands from cattle to buffalo, creating the largest, Native-owned and managed buffalo herd to protect and strengthen the prairie ecosystem and create cultural and economic opportunities within the community.
Buffalo are a keystone species that, through returning to a landscape and implementing planned rotational grazing, support ecological regeneration including the sequestration of carbon.
The Wolakota Regenerative Buffalo Range and Wildlife Sanctuary is a socially responsible business venture with a triple bottom-line of creating profit, helping people, and benefiting the planet.
The Wolakota Regenerative Buffalo Range will:
- Promote economic growth by creating permanent jobs, increasing revenue generated by local enterprises, and creating opportunities for complementary businesses.
- Facilitate ecological regeneration by returning a keystone species to the land and implementing planned rotational grazing.
- Strengthen food sovereignty by increasing local access to fresh, healthy, and sustainably sourced meat.
- Generate pride amongst the Sicangu Lakota Oyate by establishing the largest Native-managed buffalo herd.
- Combat climate change by increasing the sequestration of carbon thereby reducing atmospheric greenhouse gases.
- Demonstrate the leadership in Indigenous People in developing and implementing sustainable solutions that create responsible socio economic prosperity.
We look forward to watching this incredible initiative flourish over the coming years! To learn more about Wolakota, visit their website:
NDN Collective will be going live on our Facebook, Twitter, and YouTube pages during the Buffalo Release Celebration happening this Friday, October 22. The event will take place at Mustang Meadows located on the Rosebud Sioux Reservation. Tune in at 10:30 a.m. CST for our live coverage of this event.
