Defenders' Experts
Oregon Biodiversity Project
Oregon
Defenders of Wildlife initiated the Oregon Biodiversity Project in 1994.
Working closely with The Nature Conservancy of Oregon and the Oregon Natural
Heritage Program, the project produced a statewide biodiversity assessment and a
conservation strategy that included 42 "Conservation Opportunity Areas" across
the state. The Conservation Opportunity Areas represent the diversity of
habitats and species found throughout Oregon's ten distinct ecological regions.
The strategy is designed to protect native flora and fauna and thus reduce the
risk of future endangered species designations, while giving landowners more
flexibility in resource management decisions.
During the assessment, the team evaluated public lands to determine how well those lands were managed to protect biological diversity. Areas were ranked on a ten-point scale. Areas dedicated to biodiversity protection received higher scores while land used for commercial, industrial or residential purposes that had little remaining wildlife habitat received lower scores.
Part of the project's strategy was to give conservation priority to areas with the greatest potential for biodiversity protection. Selection was based on land management, contiguity, habitat types represented, species present, and likelihood of conservation success. The prioritized areas, around 18 percent of the state's land, became the strategy's Conservation Opportunity Areas. Conservation Opportunity Areas in need of further protection amounted to approximately 15 ½ percent of the state's land. Because many of the Conservation Opportunity Areas include federal lands and over 50 percent of Oregon is federally owned, federal agency land stewardship practices have a large influence on the state's biodiversity. In addition, Oregon's private lands also contain significant biodiversity, but are not well represented in the existing conservation network. Project staff are now focusing much of their effort on conservation incentives.
Incentive programs are a significant part of the strategy for protecting biodiversity on private lands. A summary of conservation incentives used in Oregon was completed as part of the project (Vickerman 1998a) and prompted a national review of such incentive programs (Vickerman 1998b). In 2001, the Oregon legislature passed HB3564, a bill that expanded existing conservation incentive programs for private landowners.
The West Eugene Wetlands Plan addresses the need for protection of significant natural lands within designated growth areas while still allowing some development.
The Beginning with Wildlife Program provides habitat maps, species descriptions, and guidance to local communities to help integrate biodiversity protection into local land-use planning and guide habitat conservation decisions.
The purpose of Arizona's Sonoran Desert Conservation Plan is to ensure the long-term protection of "the heritage and natural resources of the west in Pima County."
The goal of the Chicago Wilderness is "to protect the natural communities of the Chicago region and to restore them to long-term viability, in order to enrich the quality of life of its citizens and to contribute to the preservation of global diversity."
The Willamette Restoration Strategy addressed water quality and habitat issues in Oregon's Willamette basin and adopted a strategy to protect and restore the basin's ecological health.
The BioMap project's goal was "to promote strategic land protection by producing a map showing areas, that if protected, would provide suitable habitat over the long term for the maximum number of Massachusetts' terrestrial and wetland plant and animal species and natural communities."
The Landscape Project's goal is "to protect New Jersey's biological diversity by maintaining and enhancing rare wildlife populations within healthy functioning ecosystems."
In 1994, Defenders initiated the Oregon Biodiversity Project which produced a statewide biodiversity assessment and a conservation strategy that included 42 "Conservation Opportunity Areas" across the state.
Maryland's two important planning programs are the Green Infrastructure Assessment and the GreenPrint Program.
The Southeast Ecological Framework Project used GIS technology and landscape ecology principles to identify ecologically significant areas and connectivity in Kentucky, Tennessee, North Carolina, South Carolina, Mississippi, Alabama, Georgia, Florida.
