Tuesday, March 12, 2013 Welcome to Tuesdays at APA-DC! ____________________________ Supporting Conservation As a Land Use _____________________________________________________________________________________________ Speaker: Leslie Honey Vice President of Conservation Services NatureServe.
Download ReportTranscript Tuesday, March 12, 2013 Welcome to Tuesdays at APA-DC! ____________________________ Supporting Conservation As a Land Use _____________________________________________________________________________________________ Speaker: Leslie Honey Vice President of Conservation Services NatureServe.
Tuesday, March 12, 2013 Welcome to Tuesdays at APA-DC! ____________________________ Supporting Conservation As a Land Use _____________________________________________________________________________________________ Speaker: Leslie Honey Vice President of Conservation Services NatureServe SUPPORTING CONSERVATION AS A LAND USE March 12, 2013 Tuesdays 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 $$$ – Direct economic services—hunting, recreation – Increased neighboring property values and property tax income with much lower service costs – Amenity value attracting businesses and residents – Increasingly tangible physical and mental health benefits Common Misconceptions • Conservation is what happens when other needs are satisfied • A land trust would have bought it if it was important • Conservation is taken care of by state regulators (or it only matters if it is a regulated feature/species) What is unique about a conservation land use? • It is generally not transportable/convertible • The values driving conservation are dependent on many site variables, much more so than any other land use • In other words, we have to conserve it where we find it • Reconstructing/restoring conservation values is vastly more expensive than saving them and with far less success A conceptual framework to integrate conservation planning • Treating conservation as a land use requires integration, but there will be conflicts with other uses • The key to rectifying conflicts among uses is to reveal where uses must occur and what is the envelope of options where they can occur • Collaborative planning will allow testing of options that identify where the objectives of each sector can be met without foreclosing the ability of any one to be met Envelope of options Regional habitat connection Forest of sufficient size for interior bird species Regional hwy corridor Infrastructure served Economic devpmt area Prime ag soils Rare plant population So, how do we integrate conservation into planning? Planning Phase: The Funnel vs Collaboration? Needs Scenic views Species Data – Political will – Agency commitment Ag lands Infrastructure Historic sites Infrastructure Planning Conservation Planning Land Use Planning Integrated Public/Institutional Processes Land Use Planner –$$ 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 Common Questions in Conservation Planning • WHAT IS THE PLANNING AREA? • WHAT FEATURES ARE OF CONSERVATION CONSIDERATION? • WHERE ARE THEY? • WHAT ARE CURRENT CONDITIONS? • WHAT ARE THE TRENDS IN THOSE CONDITIONS? • WHAT ARE DESIRED CONDITIONS? • WHERE DO WE HAVE CONFLICTS WITH CONSERVATION GOALS? • HOW SHOULD CONFLICTS BE MITIGATED? • HOW WILL WE MEASURE OUR PROGRESS? 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 Planners Webinar USFS, APA, Clemson University Study Ryan Scherzinger Supporting Collaborative Planning Through Toolkits • Planning projects have diverse needs and issues I built my toolkit in just one weekend! • Generally not a single, one-size-fitsall tool available • Still, there are many tools that can address parts of your needs, SO…. 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 Planning Process/Stakeholder Engagement Development Tools -Planning -Energy -Infrastructure -Forestry Integration Tool Conservation Planning Tools -Mitigation -Land Allocation/Optimization Data and Modeling Tools -Geophysical Processes -Ecosystem Processes -Socioeconomic models -Biodiversity -Ecosystem Svcs 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 SURDNA FOUNDATION NatureServe Vista Toolkit “family” Info Exchange Tools Data Portals & Exploration Vulnerability Assessment Tools Expert Assessment Tools Climate Change Vulnerability Index Structured Decision Making Climate Expert Workshops Data & Modeling Tools Geophysical Process Tools N-SPECT, Climate Predictions Models Landscope, DataBasin, Atlas, etc. “Development ” Planning Tools Land Use Planning Tools CommunityViz Energy and Infrastructure Planning Tools QuantM Forestry Tools Ecological Process Tools Habitat Priority Planner, CircuitScape, VDDT Framework Integration Tool NatureServe Vista Biodiversity Tools Mapping and Distribution Modeling Tools – e.g., See5, MaxEnt Ecosystem Services InVEST Conservation & Mitigation Tools Land Allocation/ Optimization Tools Marxan, Zonation, C-Plan Mitigation Planning Vista Site Explorer, Mitigation Query Tool ® Promoting informed, collaborative and equitable decision making since 2001. A project of In partnership with An extension for ArcGIS® Thousands of users Fly-through 3D in North America and 40 other countries Fully supported; commercial quality 9 new versions since 2001 Analysis Wizards Multiple Scenarios Used by non-profits, for profits, landowners, and all levels of government Taught at dozens of universities Retail prices from Dynamic Charts $379 - $850 Intuitive Interface Interactive Controls Planning Tool Interoperability Demonstration Colorado Pueblo El Paso Pikes Peak & Pueblo COGs: Iterative Analytical Process Data is exchanged 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 Data is exchanged Data is exchanged CommunityViz receives mitigations from Vista and analyzes growth impact from 6 conservation mitigations Vista creates mitigations to preserve key conservation elements 5 Vista analyzes impact of growth models on conservation elements 4 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 Integrate Mitigation Parcels & Scenario • Simple process: – Incorporate mitigation shapefile into Vista scenario and reevaluate 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 INTERMEDIARY NGO IN A RURAL, LOW CAPACITY REGION 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 Please also visit APA in Chicago! 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