Chevrolet has made the first purchase in a U.S. government-backed carbon market that aims to reduce greenhouse gas emissions and protect Midwestern grasslands, the Department of Agriculture announced Monday.

The automaker’s purchase of carbon credits is helping to prevent 11,000 acres of prairies from becoming cropland. The idea is to fight climate change through conservation—the tillage of land for crops releases carbon dioxide into the atmosphere, but protected grassland sequesters carbon by capturing it from the atmosphere and storing it in the soil. The credits Chevrolet purchased from North Dakota landowners, for example, are equivalent to almost 40,000 metric tons of carbon dioxide.

“The idea behind this project is to create a market that rewards landowners for stewardship, where they’re