Green Planning

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Green Planning
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Green Planning means crafting the vision, goals, and strategies in your community’s planning documents to conserve priority habitats and species as development occurs.

 

 

Two ways local governments can engage in green planning are:

  1. Create a county or city-wide conservation plan.
  2. Include a “habitat conservation” section in existing planning documents.

Creating a conservation plan involves six basic steps:

  1. Establish a conservation vision and goals for your community.
  2. Identify and describe the status of important habitats.
  3. Develop conservation strategies.
  4. Identify mechanisms to implement these conservation strategies.
  5. Write the plan.
  6. Implement the plan and monitor progress.
Most communities already have plans that guide land use, such as comprehensive plans, watershed management plans, park and open space plans, transportation plans, and growth management plans. Writing a “habitat conservation” section for these existing plans may be easier than creating a new plan.

Example Plans:

City of Raleigh Comprehensive Plan - Section C.6, 'Wildlife Habitat Protection and Preservation', in the Environmental Protection section of Raleigh’s Comprehensive Plan outlines policies and actions to guide the City’s future efforts in conserving and maintaining “priority” wildlife habitat and species identified in the North Carolina Wildlife Action Plan.

Village of Schaumburg, Illinois Biodiversity Recovery Plan: --Part of the Village of Schaumburg’s Comprehensive Plan, the Biodiversity Recovery Plan guides the community’s efforts to preserve, restore, and maintain biodiversity within the community.

Orange County 2030 Comprehensive Plan - Chapter 6 of the Orange County Comprehensive Plan provides examples of goals and objectives that address conservation of priority natural areas and wildlife habitat.