Using urban growth boundaries, zoning laws, and other techniques,
ensure that cities and towns are compact, which allows for a highly
efficient infrastructure. Protect diverse working rural landscapes
right up to the urban edge. Over time, weave remaining lands into
a connected matrix of wildlands that connects outward to neighboring
bioregions.
Cities and towns, rural areas, and wildlands each suffer unless
land-use planning is performed in a sufficiently coordinated way
at a large enough scale to reflect the inherent needs of each.
As cities and towns sprawl into the countryside, they create strong
development pressures on surrounding farmland and open spaces,
making it increasingly difficult for farmers, ranchers, and small
woodlot owners to hold onto their land. This gradually erodes
the health of agrarian communities.
The costs of sprawl are enormous: infrastructure; new roads;
congestion; ecosystem degradation and fragmentation; and dispersed
services. Myron Orfield, a geographer at the University of Minnesota,
has shown that the costs for suburban development are disproportionately
carried by those in the inner city. Numerous studies have shown
that the costs of suburban development greatly outweigh benefits
from the increased tax base, prompting many municipalities and
counties to charge development impact fees to help defray the
costs.
The alternative to sprawl is to establish Compact Towns and Cities
using Urban Growth Boundaries and other planning and zoning measures.
Such cities and towns have efficient energy, water, and transportation
infrastructures which become increasingly cost-effective as density
increases. This makes it possible for Productive Rural Areas to
be maintained right to the urban edge with future development
pressures largely removed.
By controlling the size of urban developments and maintaining
working landscapes up to their boundaries, it is possible to gradually
restore a vast system of Connected Wildlands . Such a system,
composed of Core Reserves, Buffer Zones, and Wildlife Corridors
for connectivity, will maintain biodiversity by allowing all species
to move freely throughout the bioregion.
Ecological Land-Use, by treating urban, rural, and wild areas
as a continuum, leads us to a very simple geometry: compact cities
and towns, encircled by working rural landscapes, leaving a connected
matrix of wildlands stretching across the continent. With this
geometry, relatively high population densities can exist side-by-side
with productive rural areas and fully functional wildlands.
Organizations whose work incorporate this pattern:
In usa
The Land Trust Alliance
The Trust for Public Land
Oregon Department of Land Conservation and Develop
1000 Friends of Oregon
1000 Friends of Washington
Greenbelt Alliance
Institute of Urban Ecology
UBC School of Community and Regional Planning
Portland Metro
Resource Renewal Institute
Planning Commissioners Journal
In Europe To be added after research
References: Aberley, Doug, ed. Futures by Design: The Practice of Ecological
Planning. New Society Publishers. Gabriola Island, BC. 1994.
Aberley, Doug, ed. Boundaries of Home: Mapping for Local
Empowerment. New Society Publishers. Gabriola Island, BC. 1993.
Dramstad, Wenche E, James D. Olson and Richard T. Forman.
Landscape Ecology Principles in Landscape Architecture and Land-Use
Planning. Island Press. Washington, DC. 1997.
Forman, R.T.T. Land Mosaics: The Ecology of Landscapes and
Regions. Cambridge University Press. Cambridge, UK. 1995.
Lyle, John Tillman. Regenerative Design for Sustainable Development.
John Wiley and Sons, Inc.. New York, NY. 1994.
McHarg, Ian L. Design with Nature. John Wiley and Sons. Washington,
DC. 1995.
The survival of many species and the very process of evolution
depend on large blocks of wild land where natural processes can
take place untrammeled. Yet the growth of human population creates
a tendency to develop and exploit those areas.
So much of our world depends on the wild. A study of Ecosystem
Services provided by wild nature found that their value, conservatively
estimated, topped $30 trillion per year. In addition, the health
of earth's living systems, of which humans are a part, depends
on the diversity of ecosystems, the species that comprise them,
and their genetic variability. This diversitylends resilience
to life on earth in the face of changing climatic conditions and
offers people a rich store of foods and pharmaceuticals, as well
as creatures we might appreciate for their aesthetic merit or
simply their intrinsic right to exist alongside us.
Landscape ecology demonstrates that biodiversity can only be
maintained by a network of Core Reserves that is well-connected
by Wildlife Corridors and surrounded by protective Buffer Zones.
Core reserves should be large enough to provide functional habitat
for the creatures that inhabit them. Where necessary, they should
be re-wilded, with top predators and critical "keystone"
species reintroduced. They should receive the highest possible
wilderness designation (e.g. National Parks, Wilderness Areas),
with minimal impact forms of recreation. A network of Core Reserves
should include representation from all levels of biodiversity,
including populations, species, and landscapes. It should include
terrestrial, freshwater, and marine ecosystems.
However, even the largest Core Reserves cannot provide for ongoing
evolutionary processes unless they are connected by Wildlife Corridors.
For instance, grizzly bears require up to 100 square miles of
habitat, and a genetically viable population consists of at least
500 animals. Such corridors allow species to search for food,
disperse into new territory after natural disturbances, and breed.
Finally, the Core Reserves and Wildlife Corridors should be surrounded
by Buffer Zones that contain uses compatible with wildlife, including
subsistence gathering, cultural activities, and certain forms
of Sustainable Agriculture or Sustainable Forestry.
The network of Connected Wildlands forms the wild evolutionary
backbone of the bioregion, and in turn connects out to a continental-scale
network of wildlands. The scale of these networks is breathtaking,
sweeping for hundreds of miles. The Yellowstone to Yukon Conservation
Initiative is attempting to maintain a system of connected wildlands
along the spine of the Rocky Mountains, all the way from the Greater
Yellowstone Ecosystem to the Canadian Yukon. The more recent Rainforest
to Rockies Conservation Initiative seeks to connect the Coast
and Cascades Ranges of Washington and Oregon with the Rockies.
Establish networks of connected wildlands that radiate out from
core reserves with highly restricted uses to buffer zones where
people pursue livelihoods subject to an etiquette that honors
the needs of the wild. Weave these areas together by providing
wildlife corridors so that animals and plants can disperse effectively.
Examples of this pattern in action: The Klamath-Siskiyou Biodiversity Conservation Pla
A plan for a connected wildlands network throughout one of North
America's biodiversity "hot-spots" the Klamath-Siskiyou.
Yellowstone to Yukon Conservation Initiative
Trying to create a 2,000 mile connected wildlands corridor along
the Rocky Mountains from the heart of Yellowstone to the Yukon.
Kitlope/NW Coast
Kowesas Watershed Assessment report is intended to provide some
important signposts on the path to protecting the Kowesas. It
is a multi-disciplinary effort to assess the cultural and natural
values of the 40,494-hectare (100,000-acre) valley, including
a summary of the findings of a team of scientists, who spent a
field season in the watershed last year. The Kowesas River is
a glistening, glacier-fed artery that feeds into the milky green
waters of the Kowesas estuary. It is one of only 15 rivers in
the province that sustain a significant oolichan run. Of these
streams, only the Kowesas and the Kitlope are not affected to
some degree by logging or industrial activity. Six species of
salmonids occur in its cold waters, and the system is home to
populations of grizzly and black bear. In all, at least 127 species
of mammals, reptiles, amphibians and birds call the place home.
Culturally modified trees that date back 395 years, along with
Haisla Nation oral histories the extend even further back in time,
indicate that people have also found a home in the Kowesas for
several thousand years.
Organizations whose work incorporate this pattern:
The Wildlands Project
Northwest Ecosystem Alliance
Trees, Water & People (TWP)/Regional Affiliates
Yellowstone to Yukon
In Europe To be added after research
References: Grumbine, R. Edward. Ghost Bears: Exploring the Biodiversity
Crisis. Island Press. Washington, DC. 1993.
Soule, Michael E, ed and John Terborgh. Continental Conservation:
Scientific Foundations of Regional Reserve Networks. Island Press.
Washington, DC. 1999.
Other creatures need protected habitat to survive and evolve and
many can only do so in the absence of human development.
A few animals such as raccoons and coyotes thrive around human
settlement. But many creatures need spaces undisturbed by roads,
dams, and other encroachments of civilization.
It isn't the actual presence of people that is detrimental, but
rather the resources they take away and the footprints they leave
behind. If they cut trees, they keep the woods from developing
into a deep dark forest that is needed by species such as spotted
owls. If they hunt or trap, they are apt to skew the balance between
predator and prey, and to appropriate for human use the meat that
would otherwise feed bear, cougar, and other carnivores.
Core Reserves may be established in either pristine or recovering
areas. In either case, their purpose is to maintain fully functional
ecosystems with a complete suite of native species. Reserves provide
essential habitat for a wide range of plants, mammals, insects,
birds, fish, and other organisms. Within a reserve system, there
should be full representation of populations, species, habitats,
landscapes, and ecosystem types, particularly those that are scarce
or endangered.
The reserve system should capture a complete transect of a bioregion,
from low-to-high elevation; terrestrial, freshwater, and marine;
wetlands, rivers, forests, prairies, and other ecosystem types;
and the full range of climate, soil types, geology, and so forth.
At this point in history, human numbers are so great, and the
reach of our technology so pervasive, that these Core Reserves
are essential for the preservation of Biodiversity.
Core Reserves must be large enough, and sufficiently Green connected
to other protected areas, so that they can support viable populations
of all native species. They should also be large enough to support
the fires, floods, and storms that play a critical role in natural
systems. These processes must either be present, or carefully
mimicked through management techniques, to provide evolutionary
continuity.
Core Reserves should be managed in a way that honors long-stranding,
benign uses by local people. They are essential places of spiritual
and cultural renewal. With appropriate safeguards, they may be
managed as an Ecotourism destination. However, they must remain
off-limits to all extractive activity and high-impact recreation.
Set aside large tracts of land and aquatic habitat where the needs
of the more-than-human world come first, the commercial extraction
of commodities is banned, and people may visit only if they keep
their impact to an absolute minimum. Ensure broad representation
of species and ecosystem types in a bioregional Core Reserve system.
Examples of this pattern in action:
GAP Analysis/National Biological Survey
Gap Analysis is a program that identifies "gaps" in
the protection of biodiversity on a state by state basis. The
key components of this program are the mapping of land cover according
to dominant plant groups, the mapping of the distribution of vertebrate
animal species, and the delineation of the level of protection
within a state. Display of this information using a GIS format,
and analysis of the data collected, provides a snapshot of the
status of plant and animal communities. It also provides land
and resource managers with the key information they need to make
scientifically-based resource decisions. A cooperative effort
among regional, state, and federal agencies, and private groups,
GAP is coordinated by the U.S. Geological Survey.
Clayoquot Sound
As a result of the 1993 Land Use Decision, almost 900 square kilometres
(350 square miles) 34 percent of Clayoquot Sound is now preserved
for all time. The protected area forms a natural reserve linking
the interior mountains to the ocean shore. It includes the largest
intact watershed on Vancouver Island, significant old growth forest,
lake and river salmon spawning habitat, rare marine ecosystems,
and 29 rare plant species. It also includes over 700 square kilometres
(270 square miles) of coastal temperate rainforest.
Greater Kitlope Ecosystem
The Haisla Nation of British Columbia led indigenous peoples and
environmentalists to a great victory in 1994. Their work saved
most of the million-acre Greater Kitlope Ecosystem, the world's
largest known, intact, coastal, temperate rainforest watershed.
The Haisla and Henaaksiala people have worked for years to ensure
protection of the cultural and ecological integrity of the Kitlope.
They achieved a critical first step when West Fraser Timber voluntarily
relinquished logging rights to 800,000 acres of the Kitlope without
seeking compensation. On August 16, the Haisla Nation and B.C.
Premier Mike Harcourt announced permanent protection of the Kitlope
Valley, three-fourths of the Greater Kitlope Ecosystem.
Organizations whose work incorporate this pattern:
Oregon Natural Resources Council
BC Spaces for Nature
The Nature Conservancy
Trust for Public Land
In Europe
To be added after research
References: Noss, Reed F and Allen Y. Cooperrider. Saving Nature's Legacy:
Protecting and Restoring Biodiversity. Island Press. Washington,
DC. 1994.
Noss, R.F, M.A. O'Connell and D.D. Murphy. The Science of
Conservation Planning: Habitat Conservation Under the Endangered
Species Act. . Washington, DC. 1997.
Peck, Sheila. Planning for Biodiversity: Issues and Examples.
Island Press. Washington, DC. 1998.
Soule, M.E., ed. Conservation Biology: The Science of Scarcity
and Diversity. Sinauer. Sunderland, MA. 1986.
Wildlife corridors are necessary because they maintain biodiversity,
allow populations to interbreed, and provide access to larger
habitats.
Wildlife Corridors connecting Core Reserves are crucial since
they increase the effective amount of habitat that is available
for species and effectively reverse habitat fragmentation. This
is especially important for migratory animals and those with large
home ranges. Larger habitats support greater Biodiversity, larger
populations, and a wider range of food sources and shelter. They
also allow populations to interbreed, improving long-term genetic
viability. However, Wildlife Corridors cannot substitute for large
areas of protected habitat like those in core reserve systems.
At the largest scale, Wildlife Corridors must be wide enough
to allow easy movement for even the largest mammals, including
grizzlies, cougars, and wolves. Widths of several miles are typical.
However, Wildlife Corridors can serve at smaller scales to provide
habitat connectivity for other species, including amphibians,
fish, and birds. They are particularly beneficial along riparian
corridors, where they provide both aquatic and terrestrial connectivity.
In urban areas, they can provide significant recreational opportunities
and important linkages in a highly fragmented landscape. Whenever
possible, urban and rural parks and open spaces should be linked
to form functional Wildlife Corridors, which can then be joined
to outlying core reserves.
Since Wildlife Corridors are typically narrow and vulnerable,
they must be managed with extreme caution. For instance, pesticide
use next to a corridor might have destructive impacts on pollinators,
in turn reducing plant diversity. In many cases, Sustainable Forestry,
Sustainable Agriculture, and other non-extractive land-uses can
be made compatible with Wildlife Corridors with special management
practices acknowledging the needs of species using the corridor.
When roads or other infrastructure cross a Wildlife Corridor,
it is essential to maintain transportation connections that do
not diminish the effectiveness of the corridor. Multiple intersecting
Wildlife Corridors offering multiple pathways between Core Reserves
provide important resiliency to a wildlands network.
Identify critical existing or potential Wildlife Corridors between
Core Reserves, protect them, and mange them for ecosystem connectivity.
Examples of this pattern in action:
Mattole Valley wildlife "mosaic"
For watershed organizing and restoration, the Mattole Restoration
Council of Northern California stands out as a pioneering model.
In this classic article of bioregional literature, Freeman House,
one of the initiators of the Mattole effort, details the Council's
history and broader lessons drawn from that experience. This article
appeared in Whole Earth Review, Spring 1990.
I-90 Ocean to Mountain Corridor
The Greenway Education Program focuses on the challenge of sustaining
a healthy, natural environment in balance with the needs of a
growing population. A key element of the Greenway plan is preserving
forests along the Interstate 90 corridor in Washington State.
Victoria's Sea-to-Sea Green/Blue Belt Alliance
A greenbelt of wilderness and parkland from Goldstream Park to
the Sooke Basin. One of the links is a small property between
Ayum Creek and the Galloping Goose trail. Sea-to-Sea Green/Blue
Belt Alliance (a new coalition of seven local conservation organizations).
Organizations whose work incorporate this pattern:
American Wildlands
The Wildlands Project
Yellowstone to Yukon
In Europe To be added after research
References: Hudson, W.E. Landscape Linkages and Biodiversity. Island Press.
Washington, DC. 1991.
Little, C.E. Greenways for America. John Hopkins University
Press. Baltimore, MD. 1990.
Smith, Daniel S and Paul Cawood Hellmund, eds.. Ecology of
Greenways: Design and Function of Linear Conservation Areas. University
of Minnesota Press. Minneapolis, MN. 1993.
Hard edges are rare in nature, yet we have often expected to create
sharp transitions between protected areas and those where resources
are extracted for human use. In practice, Core Reserves suffer
greatly from extractive activities on their borders, and lose
substantial amounts of their effective area.
The results of human activity often reach beyond the site where
they occur. For instance, the freshly exposed expanse of a clear-cut
leaves the adjoining trees vulnerable to being toppled by the
wind. It allows extremes of heat and cold to penetrate into the
forest, along with predatory species that hunt the species of
the deep woods.
When Core Reserves occur right next to large clear-cuts or working
mines, they become functionally much smaller than their apparent
boundaries. In these cases, invasive species such as magpies and
opossums range into the reserves, diminishing their effective
size. Other impacts can include toxic contamination and habitat
fragmentation.
These impacts can be avoided by cushioning the edges of the Core
Reserves with Buffer Zones where human activity is limited in
scope and impact. These areas serve the same function as a foyer,
in which people remove their wet and muddy outer-garments before
entering the rest of the house. Road densities are kept low to
discourage incursion of poachers and others who would violate
the protections established for the reserve. Buffers also reduce
conflicts between humans and large predators such as grizzly bears.
Designed properly, Buffers can serve as extensions Core Reserves
and Wildlife Corridors.
As with the Core Reserves, these areas are managed to satisfy
the needs of wildlife and ecosystems. To enhance their value,
the Buffer Zones themselves can be zoned with increasingly restrictive
land-uses as the Core Reserve is approached. Drive-up camping
might be allowed in the outer ring, while recreation in the inner
zone could be restricted to primitive camping and low-impact pursuits
such as hiking, bird-watching, or cross-country skiing. Sustainable
Forestry and fishing would likewise be more restrictive nearer
the core reserve. Traditional cultural uses and Ecotourism are
compatible uses throughout a Buffer Zone.
Around areas that are protected for their conservation values,
establish buffer zones where products can be extracted from the
wild, subject to limitations that ensure the continued ecological
integrity of core and buffer areas alike.
Riparian Buffer Zones
A healthy riparian buffer zone consists of a complex community
of plants providing both overstory and understory for complex
communities of insects, birds, fish and mammals. Can this be done
in 35 feet? Is it no wonder that we no longer have a viable steelhead
population or salmon in the Napa River? California’s riparian
forests support a greater number of bird species than any other
habitat type. Many bird species are threatened with extinction
because of the losses of up to 95 percent of riparian vegetation
in the Western U.S. The Ecopreserve on the Yountville Crossroad
adjacent to the Napa River is an example of a healthy riparian
habitat. In Napa County, protection of riparian wildlife depends
on property owners managing their land with care.
Organizations whose work incorporate this pattern:
The Wildlands Project
UNESCO/Man & Biosphere Program
In Europe To be added after research
References: Clark, T.W and S.C. Minta. Greater Yellowstone's Future: Prospects
for Ecosystem Science, Management and Policy. Homestead Press.
Moose, WY. 1994.
Kempf, Elizabeth, ed. Law of the Mother: Protecting Indigenous
People in Protected Areas. Sierra Club Books. San Francisco, CA.
1993.
Knight, R.L., eds and P.B. Landres. Stewardship Across Boundaries.
Island Press. Washington, DC. 1998.
In much of this bioregion, rural areas are not sharing the prosperity
of urban centers. Young people are moving away, and there is a
decline in services like schools and healthcare.
Productive Rural Areas offer a wide range of economic opportunities
while preserving the health of local ecosystems. They preserve
their Sense of Place and even as they diversify their Local Economies.
They maintain a sufficient range of services, including healthcare
and education, to provide for the Fundamental Needs of local people.
Productive Rural Areas create viable opportunities for continuity
from generation to generation, reducing the average age of farmers,
ranchers, loggers, and fishermen.
The health of rural areas is related to that of nearby towns
and cities. Rural areas need strong and stable market linkages
for their produce, timber, and fish. Community-Supported Agriculture
and Community-Based Forestry provide higher, more reliable prices
with long-term subscriptions and production arrangements.
People need some assurance that rising and uncertain land prices
will not drive them off their land, or make it impossible to pass
it on to their children. Ecological Land-Use tools of zoning,
land trusts, conservation easements, and the purchase or transfer
of development rights have all been effective in protecting the
character, beauty, and economic viability of rural areas.
Rural areas can contribute to the Ecological Infrastructure of
nearby towns and cities, as well as to regional systems of Connected
Wildlands, by preserving riparian corridors, wetlands, and lands
of special ecological and cultural significance. Rural areas may
also serve as both destinations for Ecotourism and gateways to
nearby wild areas. Such wild areas may offer important , supplementing
the local diet and providing a Sense of Place. Rural areas may
also be able to market Ecosystem Services. Along the Columbia
River, farmers are now leasing land for wind farms, providing
a significant income while keeping the land in agriculture.
Maintain the character and productivity of rural areas by protecting
key areas from development and providing continuity of land ownership.
Establish beneficial market linkages with nearby towns and cities.
Keep ownership of land and resources broad-based and local.
Rural California suffers from a lack of jobs, as well as a decline
in the agrarian economy. The region is currently characterized
by rapid population growth and slow economic growth, as well as
slower recovery from recent recessions. Public policy has failed
to address the problems of rural California and the rural West.
Our research on rural economic development issues seeks to promote
appropriate, sustainable economic growth.
Organizations whose work incorporate this pattern:
Center of Excellence for Sustainable Development
Appropriate Technology Transfer for Rural Areas
Oregon Rural Development Council
Center for Rural Affairs
In Europe To be added after research
References: Arendt, Randall G. Conservation Design for Subdivisions: A
Practical Guide to Creating Open Space Networks. Island Press.
Washington, DC. 1996.
Dresser, Peter van. Landscape for Humans: The Lightning Tree.
Lyon Jene Publisher. Santa Fe, NM. 1976.
Hart, John. Farming on the Edge: Saving Family Farms in Marin
County. University of California Press. Berkeley, CA. 1991.
Kemmis, Daniel. Community and the Politics of Place. University
of Oklahoma Press. Norman, OK. 1945.
Vitek, William and Wes, eds. Jackson. Rooted in the Land:
Essays on Community and Place. Yale University Press. New Haven,
CT. 1996.
Conventional agriculture relies on massive application of pesticides,
fertilizers, and fossil fuels. It tends to be very large-scale,
use large quantities of water, and depend on a handful of highly
competitive crops. It results in significant levels of soil erosion,
as well as the contamination of groundwater and ecosystems.
Sustainable Agriculture eliminates the use of pesticides and hormones
and largely maintains soil fertilityby application of on-farm
residues and rotation of nitrogen-fixing crops. Any external fertilizers
must themselves be sustainably produced. It minimizes soil erosion
through crop choices, cover-cropping, and low-till methods. It
emphasizes crop diversity - both of species and varieties - which
provides inherent resilience in the face of pests, disease, and
weather extremes.
Sustainable Agriculture is extremely Resource Efficient, and
avoids any water withdrawals which impair habitat. It provides
buffers of native vegetation along streams to maintain favorable
water temperatures and water quality. Sustainable Agriculture
also requires that plant and animal wastes be carefully contained
and treated to avoid any contaminated run-off.
Sustainable Agriculture is a compatible land-use in Buffer Zones.
Farms and ranches in these areas should be managed with special
attention to maintaining habitat connectivity and quality. For
instance, in some areas, ranchers are accepting full compensation
for livestock losses rather than opposing wolf reintroduction
efforts.
Sustainable Agriculture can be profitable on an extremely small
scale, and backyard gardens and small urban farms contribute greatly
to the self-sufficiency and character of Human-Scale Neighborhoods.
While Sustainable Agriculture can be practiced at the scale of
thousands of acres, on the whole it tends rebuild Local Assets.
Its reliance on local labor rather than expensive imports (seeds,
pesticides, fertilizer, fuel) greatly contributes to Local Economies
and Productive Rural Areas. Sustainable Agriculture emphasizes
the health and safety of farm workers, providing a living wage
and contributing to Social Equity. Farmer's markets, Community-Supported
Agriculture (CSA) arrangements, and relationships with restaurants
and stores help to establish Rural-Urban Linkages.
Most, but not all, aspects of Sustainable Agriculture are addressed
by organic certification standards like those administered state-wide
by California Tilth and Oregon Tilth and nationally by the U.S.D.A.
This form of Product Labeling is well-accepted in the marketplace,
and can attract a pricepremium of 50% or more. The organic food
market is the fastest growing sector of the food industry, with
a growth rate of 20% per year over the last two decades. Processors,
handlers, marketers, and restaurants can also receive organic
certification, creating a wide range of opportunities for Value-Added
Production in Sustainable Agriculture.
Farms and gardens should maintain their own soil fertility, avoid
pesticide use, and prevent erosion. They should be planted in
a wide variety of crops, and maintain their genetic diversity
over time. They should use water efficiently, maintain the health
of nearby riparian zones, and provide as much wildlife habitat
as possible.
Examples of this pattern in action:
The Chefs Collaborative's Adopt-A-School program
An Educational Program about Sustainable Cuisine Adopt-A-School
offers chefs, food professionals and parents a professionally-
designed curriculum for teaching kids about sustainable cuisine.
This new Chefs Collaborative program recruits chefs, parents and
others who will "adopt-a-school" in their own community
and teach eight one-hour classes about sustainable cuisine. Adopt-A-School
is integral to the Chefs Collaborative's mission: Promote sustainable
cuisine by teaching children, supporting local farmers, educating
food professionals, and inspiring customers to choose good, clean
food. Specifically, Adopt-A-School: Creates a clear, simple and
sensory structure to waken children's natural excitement, curiosity,
respect and interest in their food. Teaches children the elements
of sustainable cuisine--organic gardening, the tastes of fresh
food, simple cooking, and cultural models of healthy lifestyles.
Why Sustainable Cuisine Matters
In her keynote address to chefs during the Fifth Annual National
Chefs Collaborative Retreat, Joan Dye Gussow said that if chefs
care deeply enough about a safe, sustainable food supply, they
should work first to support their local farmers, and then work
on bringing them into the organic fold. Farms first, she said,
and reform later…
Farmworkers are on the front lines of the fight against the
use of dangerous pesticides
Ten Commitments, a collabartive effort by farmworker organization
and advocates from throughout the country. It provides an analysis
of why current federal legislation is inadequate to protect farmworkers,
and proposes ten steps, or commitments, that must be taken to
protect farmworkers and their children.
Sustainable Agriculture Research and Education Program
Sustainable Agriculture Research and Education Program (SAREP)
provides leadership and support for scientific research and education
to encourage farmers, farmworkers, and consumers in California
to produce, distribute, process and consume food and fiber in
a manner that is economically viable, sustains natural resources
and biodiversity, and enhances the quality of life in the state's
diverse communities for present and future generations.
Organizations whose work incorporate this pattern:
Community Alliance with Family Farmers
Food News
Oregon Tilth
Oregon Sustainable Agriculture Land Trust
Chefs Collaborative
The Food Alliance
In Europe To be added after research
References: Jackson, Wes. New Roots for Agriculture. University of Nebraska
Press. Lincoln, NE. 1985.
Mollison, Bill. Permaculture: A Practical Guide for a Sustainable
Future. Island Press. Washington, DC. 1990.
Savory, Allan. Holistic Management: A New Framework for Decision
Making. Island Press. Washington, DC. 1998.
Soule, Judith D and Jon K. Piper. Farming in Nature's Image:
An Ecological Approach to Agriculture. Island Press. Washington,
DC. 1992.
The negative consequences of conventional tourism to local communities
are well known, including excessive development, degradation of
ecosystems, cultural homogenization, and the concentration of
economic benefits in outside hands. On the other hand, more benign
forms of tourism potentially represent an alternative to extractive,
boom-and-bust economies.
Tourism is the world’s number one employer, accounting for
10 percent of jobs globally. There is an enormous opportunity
to convert much of this activity to Ecotourism, which emphasizes
the interpretation of local ecosystems and culture by trained
guides; minimal-impact visitation; commitment to local conservation
issues; and direct benefits to local people. Ecotourism also promotes
Green Building techniques for facilities and mitigation of travel
impacts. For instance, travel agencies are beginning to offer
an option for travelers to purchase sufficient carbon credits
to offset emissions from their flight or car rental.
Ecotourism typically takes advantage of proximity to areas of
special ecological or cultural significance. Such Core Reserves,
archaeological zones, or historic sites are inherently fragile.
The scale and kind of visits to these areas must not overwhelm
their limited capacities to host people. Ecotourism operations
that are owned and run by local people tend to offer the most
authentic cultural immersion and provide the most significant
local benefits. They permit communities to base part of their
on their ecological and cultural assets without allowing them
to be damaged in the process.
Heiltsuk First Nation entrepreneurs Frank and Kathy Brown created
SeeQuest Adventures in their community of Bella Bella. Now a stop
on a new B.C. Ferries route along the mid-coast of British Columbia,
the SeeQuest facility at McLoughlin Bay is a prime example of
a locally owned and operated, culturally-based ecotourism enterprise.
Many other First Nations ecotourism operations are springing up
on the British Columbia coast.
The Ecotourism Society has developed a process for initiating
"green evaluations" in the field of tour operations.
Such certification of ecotourism operators can help consumers
make more informed decisions, but is still in its early stages.
Seek opportunities for ecotourism operations, but only if they
can be owned and managed by local people, and adverse impacts
to sensitive ecological and historical areas can be avoided.
Heiltsuk First Nation entrepreneurs Frank and Kathy Brown created
SeeQuest Adventures in their community of Bella Bella. Now a stop
on a new B.C. Ferries route along the mid-coast of B.C., the SeeQuest
facility at McLoughlin Bay is a prime example of a locally owned
and operated culturally-based ecotourism enterprise…
Ecotours of Oregon
In late 1991, the Davies investigated local needs and entrepreneurial
opportunities, matching their findings to their own environmental
consciousness and lifestyle with a venture which filled a void
in the tourism industry locally--forming EcoTours of Oregon…
Alaska towns fight cruise-ship tourism
TENAKEE SPRINGS, ALASKA - When a cruise ship full of tourists
dropped anchor nearby early one summer morning, the hundred or
so inhabitants of this southeast Alaskan town were caught off
guard. They had known the ship intended to bring its 120 passengers
to their town, they had registered their objections, but they
weren't expecting their unwanted guests until afternoon…
Vargas Island kayaking/hiking adventures
Wilderness Kayaking and Nature Tours
Organizations whose work incorporate this pattern:
Conservation International's Ecotravel Center
The Ecotourism Society
In Europe
To be added after research
References: Honey, Martha. Ecotourism and Sustainable Development: Who
Owns Paradise?. Island Press. Washington, DC. 1999.
McClaren, Deborah. Rethinking Tourism: The Paving of Paradise
and What You Can Do About It. Kumarian Press. West Hartford, CT.
.
As cities and towns sprawl into the countryside, it becomes more
expensive and less equitable to provide services to outlying suburbs.
Congestion increases, farmland is lost, and the stability of surrounding
rural areas is threatened. The livability of both city and countryside
is greatly diminished.
As the Congress for the New Urbanism has argued, coherent urban
regions are a fundamental social, economic, and ecological unit.
Such regions are naturally bounded by topography, watersheds,
greenbelts, and surrounding farmland and wildlands. They contain
compact cities, towns, and villages held within a connected matrix
of agricultural lands, forests, and open spaces. Each city, town,
or village is woven from well-differentiated Human-Scale Neighborhoods
and centers, and is bounded by clearly defined edges. Green Building
techniques greatly reduce use of water, energy, and materials.
The advantages of compactness are significant: more efficient
and less expensive infrastructure, utilities, and public services;
more effective public transit; pedestrian-friendly, mixed-use
neighborhoods; and better integrated regional economies. Compact
cities, towns, and villages ease development pressures on forests
and farms, helping to stabilize rural communities and maintain
wildlands. Recent studies demonstrate that states with land-use
laws favoring compact development patterns, including Oregon,
lose farmland much less rapidly than states without such laws.
Urban Growth Boundaries help prevent development patterns from
blurring or leapfrogging beyond the edges of a town, city, or
metropolitan region. Infill development and new building that
complement and heal existing centers and neighborhoods offer significant
ecological, social, and economic advantages. In many cases, increasing
density in a neighborhood creates a better palette of shopping,
working, and transit choices. Gracefully integrating increased
density requires the utmost respect of historical precedents and
neighborhood character. Metropolitan regions can help direct regional
growth patterns, and should create appropriate strategies to encourage
infill development rather than sprawl. Large-scale new development,
when necessary, should either extend organically from existing
urban boundaries or be organized as new towns with their own urban
edges. In all cases, vibrant, mixed-use neighborhoods with a gradient
of densities from park to commercial center form the basic building
blocks of towns and cities.
Throughout the region, a local balance of jobs and housing, including
a diversity of housing types and costs should be maintained. Diverse
Local Economies that offer opportunities for people of all income
levels help to avoid concentrated pockets of poverty.
Historically, regional imbalances between where tax revenues
are raised and where they are spent have emerged. Careful statistical
analysis and mapping has demonstrated the dramatic extent of these
imbalances, and the manifold ways in which they undermine Social
Equity.
In particular, core urban areas and inner-ring suburbs typically
have a high tax base (with high density offsetting lower average
income) and the greatest needs for schools and other services.
These areas are often splintered by transportation projects that
do not benefit neighborhood residents, and face an unfair burden
of pollution and contamination. Despite this, local governments
typically spend a disproportionate amount on outer-ring suburbs,
whose low density leads to expensive and inefficient services
and infrastructure.
Regional approaches to tax revenue address issues of social equity
by ensuring that taxes and fees are fairly assessed by towns,
cities, and counties, and that the revenues raised are fairly
shared. This requires careful coordination, which is best addressed
by a layer of regional government like Portland’s Metro.
In addition, explicit formulas for the true costs and benefits
of new development, transportation projects, utilities, schools,
policing, and other services must be worked out and agreed to
on a regional basis. Minneapolis, Minnesota has pioneered the
effective use of regional tax revenue sharing strategies, with
promising results to date.
The organization of the metropolitan region into well-defined
neighborhood centers translates into an effective physical framework
for many different transportation modes: pedestrian, bike, bus,
and light rail or commuter rail. With strong alternatives in place,
dependence on automobiles and their attendant infrastructure of
parking areas, roads, and highways decreases, which in turn frees
more space for infill development and improves the effectiveness
of the transit system. As the groundbreaking Land-Use, Transportation,
Air Quality Connection (LUTRAQ) study for Portland demonstrated,
increased density accommodated near transit nodes can actually
decrease vehicle miles traveled.
Cities and towns can also make use of Ecological Infrastructure,
enhancing existing urban Ecosystem Services like water purification
and flood control rather than degrading them at enormous cost.
In addition, effective Rural-Urban Linkages help to maintain both
the livability of the city and the economic vitality of the countryside.
Metropolitan Regions should have towns and cities with well-defined
edges and vibrant neighborhoods. They should be set in a matrix
of open space, agricultural and forest land, and wildlife corridors
extending outward to regional wildlands networks. Towns and cities
should make use of efficient, ecological infrastructure, offer
a range of transportation connections, and offer a mix and distribution
of land-uses that supports diverse regional economies.
Since its inception in 1991, the James Taylor Chair in Landscape
and Liveable Environments has initiated several projects that
aim to demonstrate what our neighbourhoods and communities could
be like if they were designed and built to conform with emerging
local, provincial, and federal policies for sustainable development.
Through a series of design charrettes and workshops, the Chair
has sought to reveal, then resolve, the often competing imperatives
of sustainable development policy.
Cities Feeding People
A community enjoys food security when all people, at all times,
have access to nutritious, safe, personally acceptable and culturally
appropriate foods, produced in ways that are environmentally sound
and socially just. A combination of hunger in Canadian society,
continued degradation and loss of agricultural lands, limited
economic viability of small and medium sized farms and a general
dissatisfaction with the food system in general has propelled
community organizations to action. Excerpt taken from "Urban
Agriculture and Food Security Initiatives in Canada:A Survey of
Canadian Non-Governmental Organizations" by Jacinda Fairholm.
Organizations whose work incorporate this pattern:
Congress for New Urbanism
Peter Calthorpe
Patrick Condon
Smart Growth BC
In Europe to be added after research
References: Congress for the New Urbanism, . Charter of the New Urbanism.
McGraw-Hill Professional Publishing. New York, NY. 1999.
Jacobs, Jane. The Death and Life of Great American Cities.
Modern Library. New York, NY. 1993.
Krieger, Alex, ed. Andres Duany and Elizabeth Plater-Zyberk:
Towns and Town-Making Principles. Rizzoli. New York, NY. 1991.
Neighborhoods dominated by the car, without a mix of uses and
housing types, tend to lack both diversity and a sense of community.
They consign those who drive to endless shuttle trips, and those
who don't - the young and old - to dangerous and unpleasant attempts
to cross busy streets. They create sprawl and inefficient forms
of infrastructure.
In Human-Scale Neighborhoods, a wide mix of housing types is clustered
around one or more well-defined neighborhood centers which support
jobs, commercial activity, and a range of amenities. The neighborhood
is scaled to the pedestrian, offering sufficient variety within
a five to fifteen minute walk - a quarter to half mile - to sustain
lively streets and gathering places. It offers a gradient of density,
from open spaces to high-density commercial cores. The layout
of pathways, streets, and transportation corridors minimizes conflict
between walking, biking, and driving, and provides effective and
affordable Transit Access to other neighborhoods and regional
centers.
Neighborhoods are the most significant building blocks of Compact
Towns and Cities. Their physical design can greatly enhance Community
and Civic Society, and their spectrum of jobs and housing types
can support Social Equity. Without vibrant neighborhoods, towns
and cities are split into single-use zones - housing here, retail
and office there, manufacturing at the margins - which each lose
their character. Emerging Sustainable Materials Cycles and Green
Building techniques make it possible to create neighborhoods with
a vibrant mix of residential, retail, office, and light-industrial
land-uses which are free of water, soil, or air contamination.
Such a mix of land-uses, combined with decentralized Renewable
Energy production, pockets of Sustainable Agriculture, Resource
Efficiency, and participation in the urban Ecological Infrastructure
can help support diverse Local Economies.
As neighborhoods change, small parcels of land and old buildings
constantly become available for new uses. These parcels and buildings
can be used to repair and renew pieces of the urban fabric and
provide a better mix of housing types for residents. This revitalizes
neighborhoods; makes full use of existing infrastructure and services;
increases density; and provides a sense of history, place, and
cultural context. Using green building techniques to retrofit
a building saves construction materials and preserves land, and
can produce spaces which are healthy and vibrant. Infill, which
can include small second units in backyards, duplexes, small rowhouses,
and related types, offers similar advantages, but must be performed
carefully, and in a way that respects the character of the neighborhood.
Adaptive re-use of brownfield sites can transform contaminated
industrial sites - often posing significant health hazards - from
wastelands into thriving new residential and commercial developments.
Such sites are typically located in urban cores and have excellent
infrastructure in place, giving them a pivotal role in the renewal
of towns and cities. Successful borwnfield reclamation provides
economic benefits through revitalization, new employment opportunities,
an increase in the tax-base, and a decrease in environmental health
risks. It decreases pressure for sprawl and Greenfield development.
Take the neighborhood as the central building block of towns and
cities. Make each neighborhood safe for pedestrians, with a vibrant
mix of activities within a five to fifteen minute walk. Provide
a gradient of density, from parks to commercial centers. Ensure
effective transit access, and create opportunities for informal
gathering places. Continually recycle parcels and buildings that
have become underutilized.
Examples of this pattern in action:
U.S Coast Guard Housing in Astoria, OR
The U.S. Coast Guard received an award for developing innovative
and attractive family housing in Astoria. Building on a 45-acre
site within the city limits, the development team surveyed Astoria's
neighborhood characteristics and worked with the city and its
residents to ensure it would be compatible with Astoria's existing
community. The development emphasizes the connection between homes,
schools, commercial services, and open spaces in the area.
Orenco Station in Hillsboro, OR
With a site designated as a town center in Metro's region 2040
plan, the developers of Orenco Station set out to realize the
vision of living and workng in wakling distrance of transit, and
Orenco Station is already demonstrating that mixed-use development
near light rail can work - and sell. The plan was created to take
advantage of the light rail's proximity as well as to support
transit by providing a higher density of residential and commercial
uses within walking distance. The project features a mix of housing
types, parks and open spaces, a traditional neighborhood main
street, and an adjacent community shopping center. The design
includes pleasant sidewalks, narrow tree-lined streets and through
connections to surrounding streets and businesses. And all of
this is next to some of the area's largest high-tech employers.
Fairview Village in Portland, OR
Fairview Village is gaining National attention for its unique
approach to neighborhood design. It is a mix of houses, rowhouses,
& apartments built among retail, office, and other civic amenities.
In short, a town designed the old-fashioned way - with all the
comfort and community feel of a small town, and all one's daily
necessities just a short stroll away. The homes are designed with
timeless charm and grace and built with traditional craftsmanship
- but using contemporary floorplans and amenities. These are not
tract homes...we have an endless variety in the Village. We believe
they are simply...the best-built homes in the Portland marketplace.
Organizations whose work incorporate this pattern:
Livable Oregon
Partners for Livable Communities
In Europe to be added after research
References: Calthorpe, Peter. The Next American Metropolis: Ecology, Community,
and the American Dream. Princeton Architectural Press. Princeton,
NJ. 1993.
Corbett, Judy and Michael Corbett. Designing Sustainable
Communities: Learning from Village Homes. Island Press. Washtington,
DC. 2000.
Conventional buildings are wasteful of water, energy, and materials.
They make use of toxic substances, and have inferior indoor air
quality. They are not oriented for passive solar heating, or sited
to improve the surrounding neighborhood fabric. They are not designed
for eventual re-use and disassembly.
Green Buildings, both new and retrofitted, are the cornerstone
of Human-Scale Neighborhoods. They are designed for passive solar
heating and cooling, and therefore require smaller mechanical
systems. They offer abundant natural light and a connection to
seasonal rhythms. When possible, they produce and store their
own Renewable Energy. They use non-toxic materials, paints, and
finishes, which greatly enhances indoor air quality. Construction
methods are Resource Efficient, and materials are chosen to be
low in embodied energy, regional, and contain recycled materials.
Wood is sustainably certified.
Green Buildings are designed to be adaptable to new uses, and
their materials can easily be reclaimed at the end of their useful
life. Construction waste is treated as a resource and completely
recycled. Green Buildings are sited and designed to blend with
neighboring buildings. They use native landscapes that minimize
water use and are designed to filter and retain stormwater. They
are designed to elevate the human spirit and create a profound
Sense of Place. Given the range of objectives for Green Buildings,
The U.S. Green Building Council has developed a certification
system for measuring their performance.
Green buildings typically cost at most 10% more than comparable
conventional buildings. They tend to be more comfortable, beautiful,
and desirable in the marketplace. For instance, houses in Village
Homes in Davis, California, a green neighborhood dating to the
1970s, are now worth 30% more than comparable nearby homes. Reduced
operating costs associated with resource efficient building design
may make ownership possible for some individuals who might not
otherwise be able to qualify for a mortgage. Fannie Mae and others
are now offering energy-efficient mortgages and location-efficient
mortgages, which offer better terms for houses with lower utility
bills and households with one or no cars.
The U.S. E.P.A. has ranked "sick buildings" as one
of the top five environmental threats to human health. By using
non-toxic materials and providing abundant quantities of fresh
air, Green Buildings make a substantial contribution to human
and environmental Health. Green Buildings also tend to enhance
worker productivity.
Create buildings which provide their own energy, purify their
own wastes, and participate in sustainable materials cycles. Make
buildings flooded with natural light and fresh air, which make
people feel fully alive. Design buildings which heal part of the
fabric of the world.
The City of Portland's Green Building Initiative is an integrated,
conservation-based effort to promote resource-efficient building
and sustainable site design practices throughout the City. The
effort coordinates the expertise and resources of six City bureaus
- Energy, Environmental Services, General Services, Planning and
Development Review, Portland Development Commission, and Water
- to deliver comprehensive services to the development and building
community, home owners, businesses, and the City's own project
and facilities managers.
Checklist for Environmentally Responsible Design and Material
Selection
Sleeping Lady Retreat and Conference Center
Conservation Methods at Sleeping Lady..
Natural Capital Center
The development of the Natural Capital Center will respect the
integrity and elegance of this century-old structure while striving
to advance the arts of ecological design. Passive systems and
low-tech solutions will optimize natural energy and light, and
reduce long-term operating costs. Interior spaces will be designed
with a "loose fit," enabling the center to evolve and
adapt as both occupants and times change. The building will be
smart-wired to accommodate changing telecommunications.
"Green' building approach starting to put down roots
Environmentally friendly construction, or "green building"
as it is often called, aims to achieve sustainability by incorporating
principles, techniques and materials that conserve natural resources
and improve environmental quality throughout a building's entire
life-cycle..
Organizations whose work incorporate this pattern:
Betterbricks.com
PGE EarthSmart
Center of Excellence for Sustainable Development
Northwest EcoBuilding Guild
U.S. Green Building Council - NW Chapter
Center for Resourceful Building Technology
Green Building Information Council
Northwest Ecobuilding Guild
In Europe to be added after research
References: Alexander, Christopher, Sara Ishikawa and Murray Silverstein,
et al. A Pattern Language. Oxford University Press. Oxford, UK.
1977.
Barnett, Diana Lopez and William D. Browning. A Primer on
Sustainable Building. Rocky Mountain Institute. Old Snowmass,
CO. 1995.
Wilson, Alex, Jen Uncapher and Lisa, et al McManigal. Green
Development: Integrating Ecology and Real Estate. John Wiley and
Sons. New York, NY. 1998.
Zeiher, Laura C. The Ecology of Architecture. Whitney Library
of Design. New York, NY. 1996.
The car, directly and indirectly, accounts for about one-seventh
of the U.S. GNP. It requires a vast and costly infrastructure
of roads and asphalt, which is heavily subsidized by taxpayers.
It leaves fragmented communities, degraded habitat, an altered
global climate, smog, wasted time from traffic congestion, and
much else in its wake. The car also offers a remarkable level
of personal independence and convenience, making people reluctant
to try alternatives.
When transportation is seen as whole system, the challenge is
to find the optimal mix of transit modes for the least total cost.
This cost should take into account the full current and future
costs of each alternative, including all hidden subsidies.
Improved transit access will occur through the creation of effective
competition between many different travel modes. The hierarchy
of least cost transportation mode alternatives runs from: walking
(least expensive), biking, bus, para-transit (vans, pooled transit),
light-rail, commuter train, inter-city rail, ferry, carpool, to
personal car (most expensive). The car itself is being reinvented
as the Hypercar, initially a hybrid gas-electric car, which will
eventually run off hydrogen-powered fuel cells and be designed
for disassembly and remanufacture.
With the creation of a more efficient, effective, and accessible
public transit system, a strong alternative will be provided to
the single-occupant vehicle. These alternative multi-modal transportation
systems (increased use of bikes, ride-sharing, rail, etc.) will
save individuals money, Health, and reduce stress.
Such systems greatly enhance the appeal of Human-Scale Neighborhoods,
connecting them to nearby work, shopping, and recreation without
making them car-dependent. In turn, as Compact Towns and Cities
provide a physical form allowing neighborhoods to grow more dense,
alternative transit modes grow increasingly cost-effective, with
more riders served per dollar of investment. Infrastructure should
be constructed without severing the neighborhood fabric. It should
preserve connectivity, providing safe and pleasant passage for
both people and wildlife. This implies that land-use planning
and transportation planning must be conducted in parallel and
optimized in tandem.
In order to maintain Connected Wildlands, it is essential that
transportation connections not disrupt the movement of both land-based
and aquatic animals. Examples include salmon-friendly culverts
and tidegates that provide transportation and flood-control services
while remaining accessible to migrating salmon. Wilderness overpasses
and underpasses permit free movement of animals above and below
highways.
Match the physical form of neighborhoods, towns, and cities to
the capacities of a multi-modal transit system, which offers simultaneous
access by walking, biking, bus, rail, and other modes. Allow different
modes to compete fairly with each other to optimize the whole
system's performance for least total cost. Ensure that transportation
and infrastructure systems do not fragment habitat.
Car sharing is a revolution in personal transportation - mobility
for the 21st century. "Get online" with a car sharing
network and you'll get convenient access to a fleet of vehicles
(cars, vans, trucks) in your neighbourhood and across the city
- and pay only when you use them. Reserve the vehicle that best
suits your needs, and use it for a few hours - or a week. And
when you feel like it, grab a taxi, take the train, walk, ride
a bike or take the bus. If you drive less than 12,000 km (7,500
miles) a year and you don't need a car for work every day, car
sharing will likely save you money, give you greater mobility
- and actually reduce pollution.
Bicycle Transporation Alliance
The Bicycle Transportation Alliance was founded in November of
1990 in response to the US appetite for oil and the pending Gulf
War. Our out-of-balance reliance on the automobile has gobbled
up petrolem resources, mucked up our air, caused innumerable health
problems and carnage, isolated neighborhoods and neighbors, created
suburban sprawl, choked our roadways-and this time had taken us
to war.
The members of the BTA recognize the bicycle as the most efficient
and least-cost transportation mode. A way to lead us out of energy
depletion and dependence. A way to accommodate the expected influx
of population on our transportation system. We believe that the
bicycle should be a safe and convenient transportation choice
for Oregonians. And we work to that end.
Organizations whose work incorporate this pattern:
Oregon Environmental Council
Carfree Cities
Better Environmentally Sound Transportation
Bicycle Transportation Alliance
CarSharing Portland
In Europe to be added after research
References:
Cervero, Robert. The Transit Metropolis. Island Press. Washington,
DC. 1998.
Engwicht, David. Street Reclaiming. New Society Publishers.
Gabriola Island, BC. 1999.
Newman, Peter and Jeffrey Kenworthy. Sustainability and Cities:
Overcoming Automobile Dependence. Island Press. Washington, DC.
1999.
As watersheds are deforested, floodplains are constrained, stormwater
is directed through pipes, and rivers are channelized, many ecological
services are severely impaired. Flooding becomes more frequent,
extreme, and expensive; the recreational benefits of surface creeks
are lost; habitat is degraded; water quality is impaired; and
wastewater treatment facilities may be overburdened.
Ecosystem Services like water purification, flood control, recreational
amenities, and climate stabilization are particularly valuable
when provided to thousands of people in urban or rural areas.
By recognizing such ecosystem services, it is possible to create
economic and social incentives to preserve and restore them. They
can be recognized as core features of an Ecological Infrastructure
that meshes seamlessly with existing urban infrastructure.
The most critical part of the Ecological Infrastructure is the
movement of water, stormwater, and wastewater throughout the city.
The urban hydrological cycle begins with water captured and purified
in nearby watersheds. Recent studies suggest that the water purification
services provided by National Forest lands near urban centers
rival timber harvests in economic value.
Ecological approaches to stormwater management treat rainwater
as an important resource to be held on-site as long as possible.
When residential and commercial developments employ permeable
paving (e.g. paving tiles), rooftop rainwater catchment systems,
or water-retaining eco-roofs, they allow water to infiltrate on-site,
often after one or more uses. Neighborhood-scale gathering and
infiltration of stormwater can be accomplished with bioswales
(gentle drainage trenches planted with water-purifying vegetation)
and retention ponds. Stream and wetland restoration, tree planting,
and landscaping can all slow the flow of water, helping to smooth
a storm's spike of rainfall into a gradual release lasting several
days.
When stormwater management is properly integrated into the Ecological
Infrastructure of a town or city, it can mitigate flooding and
improve the quality of water entering local waterways. The flow
of water through the city can be celebrated through a decentralized
system of open spaces, restored creeks and wetlands, swales, and
retention ponds. Such a system, combined with an emphasis on ,
can decrease the size and complexity - and therefore the expense
- of pipes, pumping stations, and other infrastructure.
Treepeople, in Los Angeles, has developed a series of rigorous
design standards, engineering analyses, and cost-benefit studies
for ecological stormwater management. They are now retrofitting
homes and schools throughout Los Angeles, with very rapid payback
on investment from improved water quality, stormwater retention
and filtration, and the cooling effects of trees. They have developed
an extraordinary collaboration with dozens of Los Angeles area
bureaus and agencies, Trans-Agency Resources for Environmental
and Economic Sustainability (T.R.E.E.S.), which is completely
transforming the city's water and stormwater infrastructure.
Technologies like constructed wetlands and living machines extend
Ecological Infrastructure to wastewater treatment. They rely on
the inherent capacity of complex aquatic ecosystems to purify
water, are cost-effective, and have been used successfully to
treat sewage, refinery wastewater, dairy wastes, brewery waste,
and many other wastestreams. They provide water of exceptional
quality to downstream ecosystems.
Other pieces of the Ecological Infrastructure include urban forests
and plantings which create favorable microclimates and purify
the air; areas of restored habitat in parks and open spaces which
form pearls in a Wildlife Corridor meeting up with regional systems
of Connected Wildlands; and fire control services obtained by
mimicking the effects of natural fires. Ecological infrastructure
embodies the hope that cities and towns may function as ecosystems,
purifying their own wastes, providing their own energy, metabolizing
their own materials, and providing excellent habitat for human
and other species.
Create an ecological infrastructure for cities and towns that
partially replaces materials, energy, and engineering with the
self-organizing intelligence of living systems.
A Living Machine is an effective and economical system for biological
treatment of high strength industrial wastewater and sewage. Finished
water from a Living Machine is clean enough for re-use applications
such as irrigation or toilet flush water. Living Machines incorporate
and accelerate the processes nature uses to purify water. With
the help of sunlight and a managed environment, a diversity of
organisms including bacteria, plants, snails, and fish break down
and digest organic pollutants. Depending on the climate, Living
Machines can be housed in a protective greenhouse, under light
shelter or in the open air.
Eco-Roofs
Noted landscape architect Cornelia Oberlander, ASLA, designed
an extensive greenroof on top of the Liberty Square Building in
downtown Vancouver, British Columbia (Landscape Architecture Magazine,
May 1998). This application is a prime example of the purely aesthetic
benefits provided by the welcome visual relief for the many high-rise
office views. Blue and green fescues and kinnikinnick, a native
ground cover, are planted to represent the local Fraser River
flowing through the mountains. Although this greenroof is installed
with a low-intensity irrigation system, it does not require fertilization
or cutting. The grasses are raked at the end of the winter (Landscape
Architecture Magazine, May 1998).
Bioswales
A bioswale is a drainage canal that diverts runoff water from
the sewer into a natural area where native wetland plants help
absorb and recycle it. Plants like grasses and rushes are commonly
found in bioswales because they help to trap the water and force
it to absorbe, rather than flowing through the bioswale to the
other side.
Organizations whose work incorporate this pattern:
Ocean Arks International
Stormwater Management
In Europe to be added after research
References:
Honachefsky, William B. Ecologically Based Municipal Planning.
Lewis Publishers. Boca Raton, FL. 1999.
Matilsky, Barbara C. Fragile Ecologies: Contemporary Artists'
Interpretations. Rizzoli Books. New York, NY. 1992.
Whole Earth Review, . Modern Landscape Ecology (Special Issue).
Whole Earth Review. San Rafael, CA. Summer 1998.
Without clearly defined and legally enforceable boundaries, towns
and cities inevitably sprawl into the countryside, impairing land
with agricultural, ecological, and historical significance.
An Urban Growth Boundary (UGB) is a zoning tool that maintains
a relatively high density of housing and commercial development
inside the boundary and a rural density outside the boundary.
Ecologically and culturally sensitive areas inside the UGB should
be set aside, and a mix of residential, commercial, and green
industrial uses permitted. This encourages the formation of Compact
Towns and Cities, with all the advantages for transit, infrastructure,
and Human-Scale Neighborhoods they offer. At the same time, it
removes development pressures from farms, forests, and wildlands
located outside the boundary, helping to preserve Productive Rural
Areas and ultimately contributing to a broader matrix of Connected
Wildlands.
UGBs can be implemented through (reversible) zoning laws or (irreversible)
land purchases and conservation easements. Oregon’s land-use
planning laws, administered through the Department of Land Conservation
and Development, require each town and city in Oregon to maintain
a 20-year supply of residential, commercial, and industrial lands
inside their UGBs. This ensures an orderly development pattern,
working from the core out. Lands outside the boundary receive
rural zoning types. However, these boundaries can be periodically
extended outward in response to growth pressures, potentially
reversing rural zoning in areas adjacent to existing UGBs.
Outright land purchases and conservation easements can maintain
de facto UGBs by protecting continuous greenbelts and corridors
or maintaining rural reserves with lands of special agricultural,
ecological, or cultural significance. When comprehensive enough,
such land purchases and easements provide effective barriers to
new development. Conservation easements permanently remove certain
development rights from parcels of land, allowing owners to stay
on their land while decreasing their property tax. These strategies,
unlike zoning laws, result in permanent land protection, but at
great cost. Zoning laws have the virtue of being implemented at
very little cost through popular vote, but have the corresponding
vulnerability of being overturned in the next vote.
Ideally, an urban growth boundary creates a strong transition
between urban and rural areas. The boundary itself should be a
place of great beauty and integrity, forming a strong gateway
inviting one both inward to the city and outward to rural areas
and the wilderness beyond.
Create, either through zoning laws or land purchases and easements,
an effective boundary around every city and town to channel residential
and commercial development. Maintain a working rural landscape
up to the edge of the city, providing additional protection as
needed for land of special significance. Make the boundary itself
a beautiful gateway to the city for rural dwellers and to the
countryside for city dwellers.
Examples of this pattern in action:
Portland Metropolitan Area
We can all see the effects of rapid growth on our highways, housing,
shopping and open spaces. But growth doesn't have to just happen.
The Growth Management Services Department provides planning services
and land-use information to local governments, policy makers and
citizens of the region so that we can maintain our livability
while planning for the next 50 years of growth.
Is The American Dream Endless Sprawl?
This is a speech given by Robert Liberty, Executive Director of
1000 Friends of Oregon regarding the detrements of urban sprawl
and the benefits of smart growth.
Organizations whose work incorporate this pattern:
Milpitas Urban Growth Boundary Project
1000 Friends of Oregon
Sprawl Guide
Greenbelt Alliance
GreenInfo Network
In Europe to be added after research
References:
American Planning Association, . Staying Inside the Lines: Urban
Growth Boundaries. American Planning Association. Chicago, IL.
1997.
Greenbelt Alliance, . Urban Growth Boundaries Information
Packet. Urban Growth Boundaries. San Francisco, CA. .
Critical services like water purification, biodiversity maintenance,
and climate stabilization are spontaneously generated by healthy
ecosystems. Because these services are chronically under-valued
in the marketplace, they are highly vulnerable to degradation.
Ecosystem services are those valuable, ongoing streams of benefits
provided by thriving ecosystems. Just as economic capital provides
steady financial returns, Natural Capital provides steady environmental
returns in the form of ecosystem services. These services are
inherently renewable, but require that the physical basis for
the productivity and diversity of nature must not be systematically
deteriorated.
Some of the most significant ecosystem services include: - purification
of air and water - mitigation of floods and droughts - detoxification
and decomposition of wastes - generation and renewal of soil and
soil fertility - pollination of crops and natural vegetation -
control of agricultural pests - dispersal of seeds and nutrients
- maintenance of biodiversity - protection from ultraviolet rays
- stabilization of climate - moderation of temperature extremes
and the force of winds and waves - support of diverse human cultures
- beauty and spiritual sustenance A recent study in the journal
Science estimated the value of replicating just the most readily
quantifiable of these services at $30-$40 trillion per year, which
is roughly equivalent to the total Gross Planetary Product. Of
course, ecosystem services are also beyond price, providing a
source of cultural identity, of kinship with life, of learning,
of evolutionary processes, and of soil, air, water, and Biodiversity
which as yet have no engineering substitutes.
Ecosystem services are ultimately dependent on a system of Ecological
Land-Use that maintains the integrity of the entire landscape.
They also require freedom from systematic contamination, which
can be achieved through Sustainable Materials Cycles.
Ecosystem services can provide an important new source of economic
incentives for land conservation. In the case of the New York
City water supply, water purification services provided by the
Catskills watershed over the last century have been the basis
for the municipal water supply. When the municipal system began
to deteriorate in the 1990s, the City faced a choice between investing
up to $8 billion in a state-of-the-art treatment system or about
$1.5 billion to protect and restore the Catskills watershed. In
this case, the choice to protect the watershed was made essentially
because of the economic benefits provided by the watershed’s
stream of ecosystem services.
Protect the health of ecosystems in order to maintain their flow
of ecosystem services. Identify and value streams of ecosystem
services as a way to provide incentives for conservation.
The Pacific Forest Trust works to enhance, restore and preserve
the private productive forestlands of the Pacific Northwest, with
a focus on California, Oregon and Washington. PFT's goal is to
keep private forests healthy, whole and providing a wide range
of services.
Organizations whose work incorporate this pattern:
Oregon Water Trust
Trexler and Associates
In Europe to be added after research
References: Daily, Gretchen C and Ellison Katharine. The New Economy of
Nature. Island Press. Washington, DC. 2002.
Daily, Gretchen C. Nature's Services: Societal Dependence
on Natural Ecosystems. Island Press. Washington, DC. 1997.
Heal, Geoffrey. Nature and the Marketplace: Capturing the
Value of Ecosystem Services. Island Press. Washington, DC. 2001.
Soil fertility is being threatened by erosion, loss of nutrients,
overgrazing, deforestation, and contamination on a global scale.
This places food supplies and biodiversity at unacceptable risk.
Soil provides a number of critical Ecosystem Services. It provides
the physical support system for plants and retains and delivers
nutrients to them. Soil can hold and release water flexibly, providing
flood control and water purification benefits. Soil is the medium
through which nutrients like nitrogen, phosphorous, and potassium
are continually exchanged, and is a critical participant in biogeochemical
cycles. Soil, aided by the complex ecosystem of bacteria, nematodes,
insects, beetles, and other organisms that inhabits its pores,
is able to continuously maintain its fertility.
Soil is the foundation for all terrestrial ecosystems, and its
health is essential for a stable food system. Unfortunately, soil
is a renewable but not a resilient resource. It takes several
centuries to generate a single inch of topsoil. It is estimated
that 17 percent of the earth’s vegetated land surface has
undergone human-induced soil degradation since 1945. Many bioregions
have already suffered a catastrophic loss in soil cover and fertility.
Sustainable Agriculture practices like organic farming, composting,
crop rotation, minimum tillage, and natural pest control can maintain
soil cover and fertility in healthy areas and even restore lightly
degraded areas. Sustainable Forestry maintains soil health in
forested areas. Where greater degradation has occurred, intensive
ecosystem restoration efforts may be necessary. Given that the
cost and complexity of soil recovery increases rapidly with the
level of damage, it is essential to maintain the quality of Soil
Services.
Like other ecosystem services, soil services are undervalued
in the marketplace. This creates unintentional subsidies for soil
degradation or destruction. Ecological Land-Use minimizes the
loss of productive soil cover from construction, infrastructure,
and industry by encouraging dense, clustered development to occur
on lands inappropriate for agriculture or forestry.
Sustainable Materials Cycles and the transition to Product as
Service prevent the accumulation of synthetic chemicals in the
biosphere. This benefits the health of soil by preventing contamination.
Maintain soil cover and fertility through agricultural and forestry
practices that prevent erosion and loss of nutrients. When necessary,
restore soil health. Emphasize ecological land-use strategies
to minimize the size and impact of development. Use sustainable
materials cycles to avoid chemical contamination of soils.
Phytokinetics provides comprehensive soil and groundwater phytoremediation
services, including: Consulting. Site-specific recommendations
for phytoremediation depending on soil, water, and contaminant
analyses, climatic data, remedial objectives, and other site-specific
factors. Treatability Assessment. Greenhouse and laboratory experiments
to determine phytotoxicity, ecotoxocological effects, plant tolerance
to contaminants and/or the ability to meet remedial objectives.
Project Design and Installation. Selection and installation of
appropriate plant species and necessary system components, including
irrigation systems and monitoring devices. Monitoring and Data
Analysis. Assessment of plant health and system effectiveness
by monitoring and analyzing climatic data, plant water use, and
contaminants (and their byproducts) in soil and water.
Organizations whose work incorporate this pattern:
Pacific Northwest Chapter, International Erosion Control Association
Soil and Water Conservation District Program
In Europe
To be added after research
References: Jenny, Hans. The Soil Resource. Springer-Verlag. New York,
NY. 1980.
Industrial emissions, deforestation, and other human activities
have systematically increased the atmospheric concentrations of
carbon dioxide, nitrogen oxide, methane, CFCs, and other compounds
known to induce global climate change. An international scientific
consensus predicts extensive and dangerous consequences, including
increased incidence of coastal flooding, hurricanes, drought,
and other extreme weather events.
Substances like carbon dioxide and water vapor allow visible light
from the sun to pass through them while trapping some of the reflected
heat radiation from earth. This atmospheric "greenhouse effect"
has been used by living organisms to maintain a temperature conducive
to life. Ancient ice samples from Antarctica demonstrate that
mean temperature undergoes short and long term variations, but
is always closely correlated with atmospheric carbon dioxide levels.
Carbon dioxide concentrations have already increased some twenty-five
percent over their pre-industrial levels, resulting in an estimated
half-degree temperature change. If current trends are extrapolated
for fifty years, a three to six degree change will occur with
disastrous consequences. By examining global climate models and
quantifying the resulting economic damage, detailed studies place
annual costs due to climate change at several hundred billion
dollars by 2050.
Because of their economic importance, climate services are beginning
to be directly valued by the international community. Taxes in
the range of $10-$100/ton of carbon dioxide have been proposed,
along with a variety of pollution emissions trading schemes including
the Kyoto Accord. The Chicago Climate Exchange has already been
established to promote trading of carbon emissions credits. Such
True Cost Pricing schemes must be designed with Social Equity
considerations paramount in order to address the gulf between
the industrial and non-industrial nations and rich and poor within
nations.
In a , climate is fully stabilized by using Renewable Energy
and Sustainable Materials Cycles. Activities that release carbon
dioxide and other compounds inducing climate change are phased
out within one generation using a combination of emissions taxes
and trading schemes. In particular, fossil fuel combustion, a
non-reversible process liberating carbon dioxide from ancient
biological deposits, is replaced with hydrogen combustion. This
process is fully reversible, converting between water plus renewable
energy and
