MORE THAN BUCKS AND ACRES: ASSESSING THE VALUE OF CONSERVED LANDS
Abstract
Many non-profit conservation organizations resort to measuring their success in term
of acres protected and dollars raised, also known as ‘bucks and acres’, for lack of
better indicators. However, it is unclear how well bucks and acres actually measure
progress toward mission driven goals such as the conservation of biodiversity. Many
land trusts are now in the process of creating new indicators to better measure their
progress. This study assesses the conservation benefits of the Southern Appalachian
Highlands Conservancy lands at both a landscape and parcel level. My analysis focused
on 1) parcel-specific and cumulative conservation benefits of biodiversity protection,
2) landscape connectivity, and 3) scenic viewsheds. The conservancy has protected
high proportions of Significant Natural Heritage Areas when compared to other private
lands in the study area. However, private lands tended to have higher modeled species
biodiversity than lands protected by the conservancy. Other commonly observed spatial
benefits provided by Southern Appalachian Highlands Conservancy projects were contiguity
with other protected parcels, buffering of publically protected lands, and protection
of scenic viewsheds from the Blue Ridge Parkway and Appalachian Trail. It is important
for land trusts to be able to demonstrate that they are meeting their goals to private
funders, their members, as well as to the general public. These findings will assist
the Southern Appalachian Highlands Conservancy in measuring their conservation success,
demonstrating their progress to funding organizations and the public, and to serve
as a baseline measure.
Type
Master's projectSubject
Southern Appalachian Highlands Conservancyconnectivity
land trust
Biodiversity
conservation planning
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https://hdl.handle.net/10161/2176Citation
Ryman, Ginevra (2010). MORE THAN BUCKS AND ACRES: ASSESSING THE VALUE OF CONSERVED LANDS. Master's project, Duke University. Retrieved from https://hdl.handle.net/10161/2176.Collections
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