Green Infrastructure: An Integrated Approach to Wildlife Habitat Conservation and Community Planning.
Green infrastructure is the open space managed for conservation, recreation and in many instances as private working rural lands. Some components are as big as a watershed while other components may be as small as footpaths. Some pieces are publicly owned, but others may be established as easements on private lands that encourage thoughtful land stewardship and the continuance of traditional rural land uses. Some green areas may be managed to protect or restore native ecosystems, while other areas may be managed under multi-use scenarios to provide sustainable military ranges, meet local and regional recreational needs or remain rural working farm and forestlands. Overlap of the various green areas is oftentimes a given, desirable outcome and of low or minimal conflict. The green infrastructure concept works to link and integrate open space pieces to one another as functional systems of forests, parks, trails and working rural lands.
Very little will happen at the level of the community (City, County or multiple adjacent jurisdictions) to conserve, integrate or enhance wildlife habitat unless people plan, design and manage for this purpose. Fortunately, more and more communities are moving to essentially master plan native wildlife features into their local landscapes. The current overall catchphrase for such an effort is Green Infrastructure Planning and can among other things involve:
· Local Community Master planning
· Envisioning/Creating new green infrastructure
· Linking regional parks, green grids and community forests
· Parks and natural green spaces (existing and future)
· Greenway linkages (within the particular community and then outward)
· Street trees, canopy roads designations
· Transportation and Stormwater infrastructure examined planned and designed for Wildlife Integration/enhancement opportunities.
· Incorporation of private green areas (golf courses, botanical gardens, easements and set-asides).
Impacts to wildlife habitat occur because most development approvals are given at the local community level, incrementally, through multiple approvals over time. Further, throughout Florida it is a fact that individual local governments each have (or have access to) professional planners, transportation and stormwater engineers, parks and recreation designers within their normal organizational structure. In fact, local governments are instructed to provide through their local government comprehensive plans to preserve, promote, protect, and improve the public health, safety, comfort, good order, appearance, convenience, … prevent the overcrowding of land and avoid undue concentration of population; facilitate the adequate and efficient provision of transportation, water, sewer, schools, parks and recreational facilities, housing, and other requirements and services; and conserve, develop, utilize, and protect natural resources within their jurisdictions. (Chapter 163, Part II F.S.).
This project web site aims to investigate and suggest a logical framework whereby the variety of existing organizational units found within most local governments can be integrated/cross-linked to better plan for the inclusion of wildlife and habitat (preserved, conserved or restored) as development or redevelopment occurs. To work in this direction there is a need for improved community-based wildlife and habitat planning, with consistent interdepartmental cognizance of the area's wildlife resources and a potential future vision(s) of what habitats and linkages ought to be maintained or enhanced overtime.
This project web site aims to investigate and suggest a logical framework whereby the variety of existing organizational units found within most local governments can be integrated/cross-linked to better plan for the inclusion of wildlife and habitat (preserved, conserved or restored) as development or redevelopment occurs. To work in this direction there is a need for improved community-based wildlife and habitat planning, with consistent interdepartmental cognizance of the area's wildlife resources and a potential future vision(s) of what habitats and linkages ought to be maintained or enhanced overtime.
The first actions that a community may need to follow would to perform a:
1.) Wildlife and Habitat Context Study from the local Community’s Perspective Identify and map landscape characteristics
- Identify and map the existing green infrastructure (parks, major water/drainage ways, pedestrian paths, canopy or parkway roads and highways, wetlands, mitigation areas and lands under conservation easements, etc)
- Identify and map areas/items of local distinctiveness
- Identify and map common and protected habitats and species within or likely to exist within, the various community landscapes types.
2.) Wildlife and Habitat Context Study from the Regional and Cross-community Perspective Identify existing wildlife areas, parks, conservation lands, potential corridors, linkage needs, fire management needs, etc.
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Identify steps that can be taken to look for regional and cross jurisdictional opportunities.
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Identify and bring into the wildlife context planning effort adjacent local governments and state and regional entities.
3.) Integrate and capitalize on community land use planning tools and infrastructure development planning to account for and conserve wildlife habitat. Local community master planning
- Envisioning,Visioning the creation or restoration of green infrastructure
- Existing development review processes (via the local planning agency, planning department, city county administrator reviews, etc)
- Park and natural green spaces planning (existing and future) inclusive of greenway linkages (within the particular community and then outward cross-jurisdictionally)
- Planning and design for street trees, canopy roads, pedestrian paths and greenways
- Transportation and Stormwater infrastructure examined for wildlife integration/enhancement opportunities. (These infrastructure facilities are very large budget items wherein multi-use wildlife enhancements or design features can be planned and built).
4.) Possible tools by which a community may develop integrated wildlife habitat include: Existing state and federal wildlife enhancement and support programs
- Conservation easements
- Greenways, wildlife corridors plans
- Wetland protection/storm water management design, waterway buffering
- Community design standards
- Community acquisition programs
- Wildlife habitat management plans
- Subdivisions (Conservations design and otherwise?)
- Clustering development and deeding conservation areas
