Tuesday, March 12, 2013Welcome to Tuesdays at APA-DC!
____________________________Supporting ConservationAs a Land Use_____________________________________________________________________________________________
Speaker: Leslie Honey Vice President of Conservation Services
NatureServe
[ ]SUPPORTING CONSERVATION AS A LAND USE
March 12, 2013Tuesdays at APA
Themes
• What do we mean by Conservation?
• What are the challenges
• Conservation as a land use and role for planners
• How can planners better integrate conservation?
• Some examples and new directions
What do we mean by Conservation?
• Technically this means:– Retaining a sustainable amount of area of “conservation
elements”– In viable occurrence sizes– In a compatible land use context
• Not just species or habitat but can include ecosystem processes and services, connectivity, future climate refugia, etc. including resource dependent land uses
• Not necessarily strict “bioreserves” other land uses can support certain species and ecosystem processes
• Also increasingly includes restoring areas
Where does biodiversity occur
Challenges
• The usual suspects: habitat conversion to other uses, fragmentation, pollution
• Climate change is already impacting biodiversity
increasing the need for large, intact areas and good connectivity to allow species to adapt
Courtesy of Dave Theobald
Courtesy of Dave Theobald
Courtesy of Dave Theobald
Courtesy of Dave Theobald
[ ]
Climate effects including range shift of species
Conservation is a land use
How does conservation function as a land use?
• It provides for the public welfare like any other land use
• It provides economic and cultural values– Ecosystem services worth $$$– Direct economic services—hunting, recreation– Increased neighboring property values and property tax
income with much lower service costs– Amenity value attracting businesses and residents– Increasingly tangible physical and mental health benefits
Common Misconceptions
• Conservation is what happens when other needs are satisfied
• A land trust would have bought it if it was important
• Conservation is taken care of by state regulators (or it only matters if it is a regulated feature/species)
What is unique about a conservation land use?
• It is generally not transportable/convertible• The values driving conservation are
dependent on many site variables, much more so than any other land use
• In other words, we have to conserve it where we find it
• Reconstructing/restoring conservation values is vastly more expensive than saving them and with far less success
A conceptual framework to integrate conservation planning
• Treating conservation as a land use requires integration, but there will be conflicts with other uses
• The key to rectifying conflicts among uses is to reveal where uses must occur and what is the envelope of options where they can occur
• Collaborative planning will allow testing of options that identify where the objectives of each sector can be met without foreclosing the ability of any one to be met
Rare plant population
Regional habitat connection
Prime ag soils
Regional hwy corridor
Infrastructure servedEconomic devpmt area
Forest of sufficient size for interior bird species
Envelope of options
So, how do we integrate conservation into
planning?
Integrated Public/Institutional Processes
Integrated Public/Institutional Processes
Planning Phase: The Funnel vs Collaboration?
Needs– Political will– Agency
commitment
–$$Infrastructure Planning
Land Use Planning
Conservation Planning
Species Data Infrastructure Historic
sites
Ag landsScenic views
Land Use Planner
Key Concepts of Systematic Conservation Planning
Element/target based approach instead of place based ◦ Can provide some flexibility in where conservation goals are
met Seeks to meet quantitative goals for elements
◦ You know your gaps—how much more is needed, potential locations, and when you are done
Matches appropriate land use and management to element sensitivities◦ It is not a strict reserve oriented approach◦ Increases flexibility for land use
Increasingly uses optimization tools/approaches◦ Minimizes the conservation footprint◦ Avoids conflicts with development as much as possible
•WHAT IS THE PLANNING AREA?
•WHERE ARE THEY?
• WHAT ARE CURRENT CONDITIONS?
• WHAT ARE DESIRED CONDITIONS?
• HOW SHOULD CONFLICTS BE MITIGATED?
• WHERE DO WE HAVE CONFLICTS WITH CONSERVATION GOALS?
•WHAT FEATURES ARE OF CONSERVATION CONSIDERATION?
• HOW WILL WE MEASURE OUR PROGRESS?
• WHAT ARE THE TRENDS IN THOSE CONDITIONS?
Common Questions in Conservation Planning
Reducing conflicts
Sites meeting biodiversity goals
Sites meeting forestry/agricultural use goals
Potential conflict zones
The Role for Tools
Definition & roles
What do we mean by tools?
A software system that:
• Helps you do a specific activity without reinventing the wheel
• Makes your work more efficient
• Adds documentation and repeatability so more defensible
• But should not get in the way
• Primarily I’m talking about tools that work with spatial information
What might tools help us do?
• Obtain, document, integrate stakeholder input
• Get data into analyses more easily
• Perform increasingly complex analyses in repeatable, documented ways
• Generate reports, maps, and other visualizations easily
• Replace some of the need for live expertise with knowledge bases and models so information can be readily reused
• Integrate data and analyses among disciplines, sectors, and across domains
• Increase ability to collaborate with other organizations & across sectors
What tools can’t do
• Replace a lack of planning knowledge and clear goals and objectives– Make a GIS analyst into a planner– Make you an expert in whatever a tool
does• Reveal more than what is inherently in
the data• Convince people that do not want to be
Survey of US Land Use PlannersSurvey of US Land Use Planners
Webinar USFS, APA, Clemson University Study Ryan Scherzinger
Supporting Collaborative Planning Through Toolkits
• Planning projects have diverse needs and issues
• Generally not a single, one-size-fits-all tool available
• Still, there are many tools that can address parts of your needs, SO….
I built my toolkit in just one weekend!
Linking groups of tools through an interactive process gives the flexibility to address an almost unlimited number of issues, with existing tools.
Simple Toolkit Structure
Integration
Tool
Development Tools
-Planning-Energy
-Infrastructure-Forestry
Data and Modeling
Tools-Geophysical
Processes-Ecosystem Processes
-Socioeconomic models
-Biodiversity-Ecosystem Svcs
Conservation Planning Tools
-Mitigation-Land Allocation/Optimization
Planning Process/Stakeholder Engagement
A Methodology and Decision Support System for Integrated Conservation Planning
On the land, in the water, anywhere on the globe
Vista Key Functions and Purposes•Facilitates many common planning processes with focus on conservation•From information gathering through analyses and development of alternatives•Brings powerful GIS to non-experts but integrates expert knowledge and models•Conservation focused but integrates multiple values and objectives
Framework Integration
ToolNatureServe
Vista
Biodiversity ToolsMapping and Distribution Modeling Tools – e.g., See5,
MaxEnt
Ecological Process Tools Habitat Priority
Planner, CircuitScape, VDDT
Geophysical Process ToolsN-SPECT, Climate Predictions Climate Predictions ModelsModels
Ecosystem Services InVEST
Data & Modeling Tools
Land Allocation/ Optimization ToolsMarxan, Zonation, C-PlanZonation, C-Plan
Conservation & Mitigation Tools
Mitigation PlanningVista Site Explorer, Mitigation Query Tool
Expert Assessment ToolsClimate Change Vulnerability IndexStructured Decision MakingClimate Expert Workshops
Vulnerability Assessment Tools
Energy and Infrastructure Planning Tools QuantM
“Development” Planning Tools
Land Use Planning Tools CommunityViz
Forestry Tools
Data Portals & Exploration
Landscope, DataBasin, Atlas, etc.
Info Exchange Tools
NatureServe Vista Toolkit “family”
®
A project of
Promoting informed, collaborative and equitable decision making since 2001.
In partnership with
An extension for ArcGIS®
Thousands of users in North America and 40 other countries
Fully supported; commercial quality
9 new versions since 2001
Used by non-profits, for profits, landowners, and all levels of government
Taught at dozens of universities
Retail prices from $379 - $850
Dynamic Charts
Interactive Controls
Multiple Scenarios
Intuitive Interface
Fly-through 3D
Analysis Wizards
Planning Tool Interoperability Demonstration
Colorado
El Paso
Pueblo
Data is exchanged
Data is exchanged
Data is
exchan
ged
Build common land use classification scheme for Vista and CommunityViz 1
CommunityViz uses land use classification to run growth model and sends outcome to Vista 2
Vista analyzes impact of growth models on conservation elements 4
Vista creates mitigations to preserve key conservation elements 5
CommunityViz receives mitigations from Vista and analyzes growth impact from conservation mitigations 6
Pikes Peak & Pueblo COGs: Iterative Analytical Process
Baseline vs. Business As Usual: CommunityViz
Import Scenarios into Vista
Evaluate Scenarios in Vista
No conservation elements present
Elements present; goals met
One or more elements present; goals unmet
Site Explorer Mitigation
Select alternate land use and policy/funding implementation mechanism and save shapefile result
Select alternate land use and policy/funding implementation mechanism and save shapefile result
Integrate Mitigation Parcels & Scenario
• Simple process:– Incorporate mitigation shapefile into Vista scenario and re-
evaluate to confirm desired results– Export to CommunityViz to evaluate socioeconomic
outcomes– Conduct further iterations to reach desired multiple
objectives
That sounds complicated, how can planners get
help?Partnerships
Intermediaries
Service providers
[ ]EXAMPLE EXAMPLE INTERMEDIARY INTERMEDIARY NGO IN A RURAL, NGO IN A RURAL, LOW CAPACITY LOW CAPACITY REGIONREGION
What about where you work?
• A recent USFS study found many local governments rely on local land trusts
• Natl/Internatl NGOs might be able to partner– Audubon, Ducks Unlimited, NatureServe, TNC, WCS
• NatureServe and its state-based network members can provide:– Data on ecosystems and rare and imperiled species and
communities– Expert biological and ecological knowledge– Mapping and assessment– Conservation and multi-objective planning and decision
support
Conclusions• Conservation is a land use supporting public values, not
what is regulated or left over after other goals are met
• Systematic conservation planning is a defensible method of achieving measurable conservation goals
• Integrating conservation as a land use in land use plans can be facilitated by interoperating land use and conservation planning support tools
• Integration requires collaboration among agencies, NGOs and other stakeholders, and science and conservation experts
Questions?
• Some URLs and contacts
– www.natureserve.org--conservation planning
– www.natureserve.org/vista--free DSS– [email protected]
of conservation planning
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