Conservationists in California have long sought to acquire private lands threatened with land uses incompatible with conservation objectives and transfer them into public or private conservancy ownership. However, it is becoming clearer that available financial resources will be insufficient to purchase, monitor, and manage all of the land necessary to protect biodiversity and ecosystem functions. An alternative model considers privately owned working landscapes, such as forests and rangelands managed in a progressive, environmentally friendly fashion, as a means of achieving conservation objectives. Protecting working landscapes may also provide social benefits by keeping rural communities rural. However, working landscapes are viewed by some conservationists as more likely to degrade conservation values, and by some private landowners as infringing on the property rights. This project would review the literature on the role of working landscapes in conserving biodiversity and how they may influence the “smart growth” of rural communities.
Copyright © 2009 USP Student Research all rights reserved
Site Designed By Digital Mud Studio