Transcript Urbanizing Habitat Conservation Planning

Urbanizing Habitat Conservation Planning,
Using Landscape Ecological Interventions:
An Ecosystem Approach
Ashwani Vasishth
[email protected]
California State University, Northridge
2008 Joint ACSP-ASEOP Conference, July 8, 2008, Chicago, Illinois
A central objective of
ecological planning is…
…to enhance the resilience
of systems with which we are
concerned
The question is…
…how do we better integrate
humans with nature,
in regional urban planning?
We begin by recognizing
two facts…
Dirt…
…is organic!!!
Lawns…
…are synthetic!!!
Evolution of Habitat
Conservation Planning
• The Endangered Species Act (ESA) is written in
1973 as part of the effort to block trade in
endangered species and in animal products
• The phrase “and
also the ecosystems on
which they depend” is added, almost as an
afterthought, during development of the ESA
• The “critical habitat” designation
provision of the ESA grows into the Habitat Conservation
Plan (HCP) process
Habitat Conservation Plans are
the product of an additive
piece-meal and patchwork
legislative process
No serious effort has ever been
made to design a legislated habitat
conservation planning process
from the ground-up,
based on ecosystem ecology!!!
We Need a Law Based In
Ecosystem Ecology and that
Addresses the Concerns of
Urbanizing Mega-regions
We need an “Endangered
Ecosystems Act”
Habitat Conservation
Relies On the Designation
of “Set-aside” Reserves
We agree to protect some parts of
the region in exchange for
permission to do what we want
everywhere else
Administrative Jurisdictions
In Southern California
Close to 190 Cities
Habitat Conservation Plans
In Southern California
In Places Where
Urbanization is Regionalized,
the Endangered Species Act Is
Necessary but Insufficient
• The urban-suburban-rural divide is
increasingly ill-defined
• Fragmented landscapes disallow contiguity
• Multiple, overlapping and conflicting
jurisdictions and boundaries limit the
“reserve-design” approach
In Cases Where
Urbanization Has
Permeated the Region
Quite Thoroughly…
…habitat conservation
must do the same
We Need to Better Integrate
Habitat Conservation
Planning and Urban Land
Use Planning


Habitat conservation planning
must urbanize itself
Urban land use planning must
ecologize itself
We Need to Move from
Habitat Conservation Planning
To Eco-regional Management
• Beyond setting aside wilderness habitat
for preservation, and besides
designating habitat for conservation,
we need to identify functionally critical
habitat elements which can then be
extensively percolated throughout the
regional landscape
An Ecosystem Management
Approach to Nature
Conservation Would:
• Urbanize habitat conservation planning
• Ecologize land use planning
• Promote wildlife-friendly native
vegetation
• Plan for bio-geo-chemical processes
• Aim for ecological resilience
Urbanization does three
things to the land…
It lays down copious
amounts of impervious
surface…
…completely
disregarding the fact that
“dirt is alive”
It lays down broad
swaths of lawn grass…
…completely disregarding
the fact that
“lawns are synthetic”
It transforms the land
for an exclusively
human purpose…
…completely
disregarding the fact that
we are inextricably a part
of nature
If we do nothing else,
we must do these three
things…
Minimize impervious
surfaces
• Permeable and porous paving material
technologies are quite well-developed and
readily available for wide-spread use
• Green roofs have proven themselves to be
effective in Europe and in the US
• Bioswales and underground cisterns
allow the gradual percolation of retained
stormwater back into the soil
Maximize native trees,
plants and vegetation
• Particularly in semi-arid regions, we
must begin to reculturate ourselves to
better appreciate nature for what it is,
rather than for what we idealize it to be
• Conventional urbanization displaces
many native species, and the use of
native flora may help bring them back
Manage land use for
ecosystem values
• While human purpose is properly central to
the built environment, we have enough
room to be considerate of nature
• Ecosystem services are grossly
underutilized, and “green infrastructure”
technologies can save us significant costs
Transcending the Paralysis
Induced By the Existing
Built Environment and its
Extreme Fragmentation
• Habitat connectivity is less
important than habitat quality
• Patch dynamics give rise to
robust mosaics
We must learn to
“think like an ecosystem”
• Begin to value processes and
functions over objects and entities
• Begin to plan for enhanced resilience
• Think adaptive management, not
“problem solution”
Such an ecosystem-based
approach to eco-regional
management…
…would show us the way to
an effective
ecological planning
Ashwani Vasishth
[email protected]
Department of Urban Studies and Planning
California State University, Northridge
(818) 677-6137
http://www.csun.edu/~vasishth