Why Green Growth?

North Carolina is facing unprecedented population growth: Between 1990  and 2000 our population grew by 21 percent, and the population is expected to increase by over 30 percent, from our current level, by 2030.

•    This population growth is fueling patterns of land development that threaten our natural heritage and quality of life.

•    Instead of concentrating development in town centers, our communities are sprawling outward.

•    Froom 1992 to 2007 over 100,000 acres of forests and fields are being developed each year—an area the size of Winston-Salem and High Point combined. Today that number has gone down to 62,000 acres of development conversion per year.

•    North Carolina is the only state in the nation with three of the nation’s top 20 “sprawl centers”: the Triangle, the Triad, and the Charlotte metro region.

•   Our challenge is to work together and build communities that conserve  declining habitats as we grow.

•   We are an innovative state and nation and we can meet this challenge. Learn about what communities in NC and nation wide are doing to address this challenge in the GGT handbook.

•   Join with us as biologists, planners, developers, and other land use decision makers meet this challenge together.

•  Green Growth presents a way to prevent the loss of our wildlife and unique  natural assets.

•   The Green Growth Toolbox will help bridge the gap between scientists and decision makers—and enable us to cooperatively conserve our state’s wildlife and natural resources for future generations.

•   By working together to apply the Green Growth Toolbox in your community:

        Water quality will improve

        Ecotourism opportunities will abound

        Wildlife resources will be conserved

        Natural heritage will remain intact

                          Quality of life will be enriched

Link to scholarly articles about the economics of conservation development by clicking here.