The Role of the Convener in Landscape Scale Conservation
One of the inspirations for starting the Living Landscape Observer over a decade ago was the editors’ experience with the power of the National Heritage Area (NHA) idea. As the National Park Service's 2006 report Charting a Future for National Heritage Areas stated, the NHA model "knits together the whole landscape and provides an integrated approach to conserving the natural, cultural, historic and scenic resources...".
This idea - of recognizing the role of both nature and culture on a landscape scale - is now at the forefront of the conservation movement. It is touted as key to achieving biodiversity goals; addressing climate change; and sustaining traditional communities. However, many policymakers and practitioners have missed a critical ingredient - recognizing and supporting conveners.As Charting a Future highlights, the NPS plays an important role in NHAs as "an expert, convener and catalyst’. This role of bringing together the partners in a landscapearound conservation goals is essential for success. Conveners can be nonprofits, government agencies, tribes and others, but the bottom line is somebody needs to do it! This month's newsletter examines the topic from multipleperspectives.
The Living Landscape Observer is a website, blog and monthly e-newsletter that offers commentary and information on the emerging field of large landscape conservation.
The verdict is in. The major land and water conservation challenges facing the nation require action on a scale that is large and multi-jurisdictional. The benefits of landscape connectivity are resilient habitats, essential ecosystem services, and stronger cultural connections. Such large-scale efforts are the only way to address what have been called wicked problems such as the impact of climate change on species conservation and cultural and natural resources. A strong network of partners is needed to tackle these regional issues and offer efficiencies of scale .And yet all of these efforts face the same uphill battle, it is a struggle to gain and sustain funding for large landscape work. Read More Here.
Charting an Uncertain Future for National Heritage Areas
In 2006, the National Park System Advisory Board released Charting a Future for National Heritage Areas (NHA). This ambitious report highlighted the success of the NHA model and called on the National Park Service to more robustly embrace the NHA approach. Sixteen years later, we revisit the goals laid out in the document.
The fields of historic preservation and conservation have long been intertwined, but divisions between practitioners in both areas remain persistent. The need for a closer partnership between those working in preservation and conservation helped motivate the creation of the Living Landscape Observer (LLO) in 2012. As an e-newsletter and blog, the LLO provides news, information, and commentary on topics in landscape scale conservation, heritage preservation, and sustainable community development. A recent article in The Alliance Review, the journal of the National Alliance of Preservation Commissions, highlights the importance of this work.
Ukrainian National Parks prepare for Russian Invasion - a recent article in the National Parks Traveler shows just one small window on the threats and losses facing this country. Many thanks to Kurt Repshank for this important reporting.
(Photo above - Zalissa National Nature Park, credit Wikipedia)
