Click here to download a PDF of the Conservation Resources Prioritization Map

SmartConservation®

The acceleration of development in Southeastern Pennsylvania in the 1990s challenged the operational strategy of Natural Lands Trust (NLT) and other land conservancies in the region. It became clear that the traditional reactive mode of land conservation would likely result in the loss of critical natural areas. To meet that challenge, NLT led the development of a science-based methodology, called SmartConservation®, for prioritizing sites within the region to support proactive land conservation. It was designed to fill the need for a standardized, replicable process that conservation organizations, municipalities, resource agencies, and others could use to help prioritize where to expend finite staff and financial resources.

The Conservation Resources Prioritization is a science - based method for identifying and assessing natural features to assist conservation organizations, counties, municipalities, resource agencies, communities, and others to prioritize for maximum impact in sustaining ecologically viable landscapes. The model values land from 10 (higher value shown in dark blue) to 1 (lower value shown in red). High ranking lands are found throughout the Schuylkill Watershed, but the largest concentrations are located in the eastern region of Berks County and the Upper Perkiomen Valley in Montgomery County.

A group of 85 conservation scientists and practitioners, the Conservation Science Forum,  assembled from regional organizations were organized into science Advisory Committees by taxon group including: Vegetation, Aquatic, Birds, Herps, and Mammals. The Conservation Science Forum identified 22 factors, split into three subgroups, that together provide a science-based method for prioritizing natural features for conservation creating the Conservation Resources Prioritization model

For more information on SmartConservation® see http://www.natlands.org/categories/article.asp?fldArticleId=36