How to plan development around conservation priorities

From the newsletter

Protecting important habitats obviously becomes harder once land has been committed to development. Conservation planners need alternatives that show where projects could go instead. The Endangered Wildlife Trust’s Landscape Planning Tool helps identify those options, comparing land allocations for conservation and other development priorities.

• Users can set land-use targets and compare possible allocations. For conservation organisations, this offers a way to propose alternative locations for development while identifying land needed for biodiversity protection.

• Developers and environmental consultants are among the intended users. Examining competing land needs together could help them assess alternatives earlier, before detailed project planning. Evidence of decisions changed by the tool remains to be established.

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