Environmental nonprofit White Buffalo Land Trust acquired a 1,000-acre ranch in Santa Barbara that it will use to create a research and education center focused on regenerative agriculture.

Regenerative agriculture focuses on improving, rather than simply sustaining, agricultural land.

That in turn regenerates topsoil, captures carbon, increases biodiversity, and improves water cycles, according to White Buffalo.

Regenerative agriculture was the idea behind White Buffalo’s $6 million purchase of Jamala Canyon Ranch in Santa Barbara.

The ranch will be the home of a center that the organization calls “a hub for education, training, research and enterprise development.”

Jesse Smith, White Buffalo’s director of land stewardship, said the center will provide things like workshops, technical training and apprenticeship programs for aspiring land stewards.

“So the center specifically will host workshops and courses and field days. We will be modeling different cropping systems and livestock management systems that are appropriate for the climate context and culture of this place,