Mission
Bring together diverse perspectives and voices to create a connected network of lands, waters and people that foster healthy wildlife populations and vibrant communities.
Background
Within the conservation community, there are many voices, views, and perspectives. Yet the goal to create a connected network of lands and waters capable of supporting healthy wildlife populations and vibrant communities is common among all organizations, agencies, and groups. In fact, the diversity of organizations and their missions speak to the many challenges and problems that exist today. But it also offers an opportunity for a community to come together to address some of the most pressing challenges that cannot be dealt with alone. Achieving a connected network of lands and waters for the benefit of nature and people will require the conservation community coming together to develop a shared vision of the future and everyone has a role and a place in developing that vision.
Developing a shared vision of the future and a strategy to achieve that vision will require coordination to achieve. True collaboration requires us to be inclusive, listen to all voices, and to find ways to bring those voices together. This means state, tribe and federal agencies need a new and more consistent way to incorporate the needs of the community groups, land trusts, private landowners, and NGOs as integral to our collective success. Coordination requires compromise. Being flexible will allow us to come together to work towards biodiversity and racial equity goals, ensuring that all Americans are able to enjoy the many health and recreational benefits of nature.
To coordinate the efforts of local communities, federal, states, tribes, non-profit and private organizations to prioritize conservation actions and investments, we propose adopting a durable National Conservation Framework. The Framework provides consistency of approach and durability to regional collaborative structures. Further, a Framework will help ensure that important information and voices come together at the right scale to create a vision for landscapes that work for resources and people and then delivers this consistently to the tables where balanced local decisions are made. The Framework will ensure that collaborative conservation efforts stitch these efforts together working towards the larger vision of landscapes that support our natural resources and people equitably into the future. It incorporates key information about at-risk and species of greatest conservation need, connected ecosystems, climate projections and resilience, equity (via park potential, urban heat islands, etc.), aquatic diversity, and fire regimes. The Framework is adaptable and flexible and provides value as both a forum for collaboration and as a resource for improving decision-making. There is a lot to do. Success depends upon us working together to achieve shared priorities that are inclusive of the needs of underserved communities, making conservation relevant and beneficial to all Americans.
Developing a shared vision of the future and a strategy to achieve that vision will require coordination to achieve. True collaboration requires us to be inclusive, listen to all voices, and to find ways to bring those voices together. This means state, tribe and federal agencies need a new and more consistent way to incorporate the needs of the community groups, land trusts, private landowners, and NGOs as integral to our collective success. Coordination requires compromise. Being flexible will allow us to come together to work towards biodiversity and racial equity goals, ensuring that all Americans are able to enjoy the many health and recreational benefits of nature.
To coordinate the efforts of local communities, federal, states, tribes, non-profit and private organizations to prioritize conservation actions and investments, we propose adopting a durable National Conservation Framework. The Framework provides consistency of approach and durability to regional collaborative structures. Further, a Framework will help ensure that important information and voices come together at the right scale to create a vision for landscapes that work for resources and people and then delivers this consistently to the tables where balanced local decisions are made. The Framework will ensure that collaborative conservation efforts stitch these efforts together working towards the larger vision of landscapes that support our natural resources and people equitably into the future. It incorporates key information about at-risk and species of greatest conservation need, connected ecosystems, climate projections and resilience, equity (via park potential, urban heat islands, etc.), aquatic diversity, and fire regimes. The Framework is adaptable and flexible and provides value as both a forum for collaboration and as a resource for improving decision-making. There is a lot to do. Success depends upon us working together to achieve shared priorities that are inclusive of the needs of underserved communities, making conservation relevant and beneficial to all Americans.