(CNS) – The Mojave Desert Land Trust announced Monday that it worked to secure the permanent protection of 6,901 additional acres of California desert land this year.

10 Acre Acquisition In Jacumba Mountains Wilderness

Among the parcels protected from development through the trust’s effort were 232 acres in Death Valley National Park, a 640-acre property in the Mojave Trails National Monument and 1,440 acres in the Caliente Creek watershed, according to the organization.

“There is increasing urgency to this conservation work,” Mojave Desert Land Trust Joint Executive Directors Cody Hanford and Kelly Herbinson said in a joint statement. “The California desert and its immense biodiversity are under threat from development, wildfire and species loss.”

MDLT officials said the conserved desert lands help tackle climate change by keeping carbon within California desert plants and soil.

Since it was founded in 2006, the organization has conserved more than 110,000 acres across the California desert, according to MDLT officials.

“We need to work together to ensure the long-term prosperity of the Mojave and Colorado Deserts, and the unique plants, animals, and people that rely on them,” Hanford and Herbinson said in their statement. “Protecting land is a direct and lasting way of addressing the threats of climate change, and habitat and species loss.”

More information about the organization’s work can be found at MDLT.org.

Mojave Desert Land Trust Permanently Protected 6,901 Acres This Year