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Oakland County's Green Infrastructure Visioning Project
Phase III - Establishing Community Conservation Goals & Tracking Mechanisms
Establishing measurable conservation goals and methods to track progress toward these goals are two vital steps in implementing a long-term, successful Green Infrastructure conservation program.
Once communities have mapped their green infrastructure vision and identified conservation tools and best management practices appropriate for areas within their green infrastructure network, the next steps in implementing a successful green infrastructure conservation program are:
Prioritizing areas for conservation work
Prioritizing & targeting a subset of areas within the proposed Green Infrastructure network for conservation will allow communities to take a systematic approach to implementing their overall Green Infrastructure Vision. The following questions may provide a framework for ranking and prioritizing areas for conservation:
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Are certain areas within the green infrastructure network more at risk than others?
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Which areas contain the highest quality resources?
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Which areas might add onto existing protected areas?
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Which areas might provide critical habitat corridors or connectivity between existing resource hubs?
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Which areas can be effectively targeted given the current funding situation?
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Are there priority areas lying adjacent to other communities' green infrastructure networks? Could a partnership result in shared resources for greater land protection?
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Which land management tools should be implemented first within targeted conservation areas?
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Identifying conservation goals for the green infrastructure network and targeted priority areas
Conservation goals will vary by community. They may include qualitative planning goals as well as, quantitative land-based goals. Goals may exist at multiple geographic scales. Some examples include:
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Incorporate the Green Infrastructure Vision into the community Master Plan.
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Review planning and regulatory documents to identify gaps in protection measures for green infrastructure.
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Adopt ordinances that address gaps in existing natural resource conservation measures.
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Preserving a certain % of land within the community as open space.
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Requiring a certain ratio of open space to be set aside in areas undergoing new development.
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Preserving or restoring buffers around all wetlands and along all watercourses in the community.
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Creating vegetated corridors between all existing park and recreation areas within the community.
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'Measures of Success' - establishing progress tracking mechanisms
Once goals are set for targeted natural areas, communities are encouraged to track their progress toward these goals over time. Doing so will enable communities to evaluate their progress toward achieving their overall Green Infrastructure Vision. Measures of success may include:
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% of Green Infrastructure Network Protected vs. % of Green Infrastructure Network not Protected
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# acres undergoing ecological restoration
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# acres placed under conservation easement
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ratio of open space preserved to acreage developed
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% of community wetlands and watercourses bordered by the the buffer width recommended in the community's 'Natural Feature Setback' ordinance
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To Continue, View Phase IV -
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